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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 10, Issue 8 (November 1, 1935)

The World's newest City. — The Miracle Of Modern Town Planning

The World's newest City.
The Miracle Of Modern Town Planning.

A Clear blue day, and the vision through the carriage window of the snowy Kai-manawas in the far faint distance show us that we have entered the porta is of Hawke's Bay. The journey is an intensifying progression of ordered beauty until the capital is reached. They have a new calendar in this province and it is time that it was suppressed. Its abbreviations, as I shall use them in this article are B.Q. (Before the 'Quake) and S.Q. (Since the 'Quake). If there is a place on earth that can laugh at earth rumblings it is Napier. Its reconstruction is such that if it ever strikes trouble through the land getting into motion, then the rest of New Zealand will be under the sea, and a section will have slipped from Sydney.

The one lasting and wholesome result of that old time cataclysm, is that it made possible the building of a modern and lovely city, justifying my title to this article, “The World's Newest City.” It acted like an annealing fire on the courage and enterprise of the inhabitants, and the matchless results of their high endeavour are on view for all beholders.

There are many splendid towns among our provincial capitals and they all have some distinguishing feature. If I were asked to specify the particular, personal and individual possession of Napier, I would name “The Hill.” This really, of course, consists of two hills, and theirs is a twin beauty. After the long fertile cultivated Hawke's Bay plains, the Napier Hill suddenly rises, as if some Titan had decided, at the dawn of time, to vary the prospect. Seen from a little distance it has a fairy air, its dwellings looking like dolls' houses, their eaves showing above the multicoloured shrubs and flowers.

But to get its proper savour one has to go about its winding roads. These wind and twist, and climb, and wander, and every intersection is a gateway to romance. They are lined with glowing gardens, and nearly every home has that most precious of gifts—a sea view. Then it must be remembered that, under Napier skies, the ocean is mostly a washing blue, and so it was when my friend of the camera and I clambered out to the Bluff Hill point to take the accompanying “shot” of the Parade.

This sea-front view is one of the world's sights. The city glows in the sun and you get an impressionistic blur of the faint greens, pale creams, dull pink and other tints of the cement buildings. The esplanade seems to stretch indefinitely, the last tall pine appearing to stand in the ocean. Our view shows something of the charm of the vista, but of course lacks the vivid green of the lawns in the foreground, the darker tone of the mile of giant Norfolk Island pines, and the silver edges of the sea rollers.

At night-time, it is a scene of Titania's realm. Some of the mighty pine are festooned to the top with coloured lights. A floodlight plays on masses of scarlet and purple and blue cinerarias. On the great tesselated pavement in front of the pergola building, gay folks in couples and racing singles, skate gracefully. There is a modern Shell for the band, and the children's recreational facilities are all that the brightest youngster can dream about. With all this, there is an air of modernity, of skilled planning, and of very fine cultural taste.

The natural loveliness has been utilised by beauty lovers with loving care and an appreciation of simplicity and grace of outline. The citizens are still at work, devising, improving and working with unimpeachable taste,
(Rly. Publicity photo.) The distant Kaimanawas as seen from the train on the way to Napier.

(Rly. Publicity photo.)
The distant Kaimanawas as seen from the train on the way to Napier.

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The famous Marine Parade, Napier. (Rly. Publicity photo.)

The famous Marine Parade, Napier. (Rly. Publicity photo.)

and with unexampled devotion to make this sea-front a still more attractive wonderland.

We made our way back from the eyrie where the picture of the Parade was taken, passing through a formal garden which would be remarked upon for its dignity and range of blooms in Monaco or Nice. The house itself would take its place anywhere in the world among spacious and luxurious homes; and on “The Hill” there are very many of the same rank.

We dawdled about on our way back to the town, trying new roads and seeing changing vistas of the waterfront with the placid silved-edged sea that borders a scene of life and colour and movement.

I do not, as a rule, worry about the look of streets in a city, nor do I feel much impressed when a local enthusiast shows me the biggest building in the town, and “all that.” Napier thoroughfares compel attention. They are new, and here architects have discovered and explored the possibilities of coloured cements. In the vivid sunshine, these soft tints have a jewel-like appearance. The variety of tones is wide, but they remain harmonious. The compulsion of town-planning and re-building (S.Q.) has led to many other modernities. There is no disorderly tangle of overhead wires, telegraph poles, tramway cables, or trolley standards. They are underground and the streets wear, therefore, a demure and pleasant air of neatness and order.

Zoning is also apparent, as will be seen from our picture of the Bank corner. The other bank is only a step away, out of the view. As is perfectly natural, nearly all these new buildings have positive beauty of design, and Napier streets have a symetry and aesthetic value which, sadly enough, is denied to most of our towns of any age.

The feature of the flat suburbs of Napier is the palm-bordered street. These feathery things of beauty are planted in wide ribbons of grass beween the footpath and the asphalt and give an exotic touch to the street-line which is most charming. Napier, too, is a paradise of cottage gardens.

There is evidence of cultured taste in the public parks. Clive and Nelson Squares are the products of knowledge and imagination, knowledge which has utilised every advantage of climate and soil constituents, and imagination which has made the grouping of blossom and foliage as gracefully artistic as a modern stage setting. My friend of the camera was always finding, “Here's a good shot,” “Better have this one”; but, unfortunately, this is an article, not an illustrated volume.

The cleft between the hills has been made into Botanical gardens, and it is a bush dreamland. We passed through its cool and pleasant bowers and went to see The Port. This, like all its brethren is rambling, straggling and purely utilitarian. That is why the Hollywood-like front of the National Tobacco Company came as such a surprise. Our picture shows the handsome front elevation, and the entrance lobby is a domelit and imposing hall with exceedingly beautiful oak doors and walls. But the factory itself is a revelation. We took the girls at afternoon tea (provided by the management) and the clatter of tongues and ripples of laughter made one think of birds on a summer afternoon. The men were also at tea, Adam and Eve in this Eden having separate dining rooms. There are rest rooms, bicycle sheds, and every conceivable comfort. The word “National” in this company's title is a “mot juste” or, as an Australian would translate it, “fair dinkum.” Its annual business runs into millions, and it provides work for hundreds directly, and more, indirectly. I was thunderstruck at the scope of its operations and its widespread activities, and the number of allied New Zealand industries in North and South that are dependent upon it. It saves vast sums of money leaving the country, but all this, after all, shrinks into insignificance beside the spectacle of a management that has made a day's work a time of happiness. I believe plenty of the workers in this model institution find their holidays
The Children's Pool, Marine Parade, Napier. (Rly. Publicity photo.)

The Children's Pool, Marine Parade, Napier.
(Rly. Publicity photo.)

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(Rly. Publicity photo.) National Tobacco Company's Handsome Premises, at Napier.

(Rly. Publicity photo.)
National Tobacco Company's Handsome Premises, at Napier.

drag. That visit makes my “No. 3” taste better than ever.

Another surprise awaited us at Anderson's Nurseries. I have urged before in these pages that New Zealand is gifted, more than all other lands, as a nursery garden locale. Our special heritage of terrain and our unique range of mild airs, sunny skies and copious humidity enable us to grow anything. This great Napier concern has been established for half a century, and, if it can be said to have a speciality, it is in the art of decoration, particularly in palms. Anyone who remembers the Mayor's Ball at Wellington for the Duke's visit will know what can be finally done with ornamental plants in interior decoration. However, the range of plants is very wide, and the glass houses seem endless. They are indeed the largest collection in Australasia. Plants are exported to the world in general, mainly to India, England and Australia. The Duchess of Westminster's Hampshire home has now a display of plants which she saw growing in Napier soil. We were escorted round this botanical wonderland by the owner of a voice whose richness had lost nothing from his Dublin scientific training, and with his guidance, the trip amounted to an educational journey through the flora of New Zealand and the world.

But, I suppose, our research into Napier's industrial activities had its most pleasant hours at the Mission Vineyards at Greenmeadows. Below the noble Seminary Buildings, where eighty young men are receiving instruction, there are the buildings where the wines are made and stored. We took the accompanying picture of the enormous oval barrels, properly called “tuns,” I learned, where the amber, rose, and red precious liquids are matured for their minimum period of three years. The industry was started by the French clergy many years ago but the Brother who escorted us had an accent whose precision could only have been formed in an English school. The vines grow on the sunlit hillsides in the open air, and the distilled sunshine in the Mission bottles is their natural product. The sweet sherry we sampled was a definite temptation to linger awhile and put off the rest of the tour for a day or two. There is an old world air about the whole place.

We went to see Taradale, dreaming in the sun, and came back past the racecourse, one of the oldest in the Island, with the usual good running track, handsome stands and astonishing set of amenities and provision for public comfort.

Then we reached the area about West Shore, where there lies the greatest gift awarded by the tragedy of four years ago. Here (B.Q.) was a sea lagoon. Now West Shore has a perfect beach, and there are 7,500 acres rapidly being put into order for settlement. A network of drains, dozens of roads and all the huddle of public works activities are in evidence. It will carry some three hundred families. On the way back we visited the “475” acre block which is on the way to completion as a town-planned area. Much of it is already taken up and I should love to revisit it in ten years' time, remembering the miraculously quick growth of all plant life in New Zealand, and how lawns and gardens take on an air of ages in a matter of months. Nearby is the Richmond settlement, a small farm area; and a successful one, made possible by the generous donor whose name it bears.

I enjoyed the Breakwater afternoon. After almost a surfeit of beauty, natural and designed, it was a treat to see this scene of toil. Half a million pounds will be spent here, and there will emerge a safe harbourage. To-day it has that look of plentiful disorder, men scurrying for no apparent purpose, cranes behaving like mechanical lunatics, the whole bearing the appearance of a Meccano set that a cross schoolboy has taken apart and fired into a pool of mud and water. However, it is all very enlivening and behind it all is the settled objective and the really orderly planning of the engineers. Hawke's Bay Province needs a good port, and Napier will provide a modern set of facilities for this rich exporting district.

It is little wonder that there is a calm confidence in Napier's future among its people. However, they do not let it rest at that. They have had experience (S.Q.) of the value of continuous and untiring effort. Their team work is splendid. The Napier Progressive Association is the latest organisation to deal with the task of getting Napier known, and it has the energy and cohesion of an All Black combination. It is true that Napier citizens have a wonderful canvas on which to paint their picture. They have marvellous advantages of position, of climate, and natural riches. It is just possible that the variety of these, even in our land of exquisite

(Continued on page 50.)

The Band Shell and Pergola, Marine Parade, Napier. (Rly. Publicity photo.)

The Band Shell and Pergola, Marine Parade, Napier.
(Rly. Publicity photo.)

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