Ngahere
Ngahere is located in West Coast
Ngahere
Ngahere
Coordinates: 42°23′57″S 171°26′16″E / 42.39917°S 171.43778°E / -42.39917; 171.43778
CountryNew Zealand
RegionWest Coast
DistrictGrey District
Population
 (2013)
 • Total363

Ngahere is a locality in the Grey District of the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.[1] The 2013 New Zealand census gave the population of Ngahere and its surrounding area as 363, an increase of 5.2% or 18 people since the 2006 census.[2] Ngahere is located on the south bank of the Grey River, and State Highway 7 and the Stillwater–Westport Line (SWL) railway pass through the village.

Railway

The railway reached Ngahere when an extension was built from Brunner on 1 August 1889, and it was the line's terminus until a further section to Ahaura was opened on 14 February 1890. On 1 August 1910, Ngahere became a railway junction when the Blackball Branch was opened, and this branch line operated until a flood in 1966 destroyed its bridge across the Grey River. The branch was formally closed on 21 February 1966.[3] The next year, passenger trains through Ngahere on the SWL were cancelled; since this time, freight trains of coal have been the predominant traffic through Ngahere.[4]

Churches

Sacred Heart Church

Distant view of Sacred Heart Church, 2012

Sacred Heart Church is a Catholic church in Ngahere, within the Greymouth St Patrick's parish.[5] The church was built in 1960, to replace an earlier church of the same name. Originally erected as St Patrick's in the gold-mining settlement of Notown in 1866, the kitset kauri church was relocated to Ngahere in 1922 after Notown had become a ghost town, and was relocated again to Shantytown Heritage Park after the present Sacred Heart Church was built.[6][7][8]

St Luke's

St Luke's is a small former Anglican church, opposite the Ngahere sawmill on State Highway 7, built in timber to plans from Ralph Tyler of Greymouth.[9] The foundation stone was laid on 21 September 1952 by the Bishop of Nelson, Percival Stephenson,[9] and the church was dedicated in 1954.[6] The church was sold in about 2010.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Place name detail: Ngahere". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
  2. ^ 2013 Census QuickStats about a place  : Nelson Creek-Ngahere
  3. ^ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas, fourth edition, edited by John Yonge (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 22.
  4. ^ Churchman & Hurst 2001, p. 191, 197.
  5. ^ "Greymouth – St Patrick's Parish – Sacred Heart Church (Grey Valley-Ngahere)". Catholic Diocese of Christchurch. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  6. ^ a b c "Ecumenical thanksgiving service" (PDF). 19 May 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Explore the village". Shantytown Heritage Park. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  8. ^ "West Coast notes". The Press. 27 June 1922. p. 5. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  9. ^ a b Donovan, Don (2002). Country Churches of New Zealand. Auckland: New Holland. p. 120. ISBN 1869660153.

Further reading

  • Churchman, Geoffrey B; Hurst, Tony (2001) [1990, 1991]. The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey through History (Second ed.). Transpress New Zealand. ISBN 0-908876-20-3.
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