celebrating Southland's living history

Written for "Heritage Matters" Issue 6, Autumn 2006 by Cathy Macfie

How often do you see working horses and lace-making (almost) side by side? Both came together on 26 November 2005 to celebrate Rural Heritage Day at Invercargill?s Donovan Park. They were among 25 different heritage interests in action, together providing a snapshot of Southland rural life, agricultural and domestic, in the 1920s and 30s.

The "Home Sweat Home" tent brought to life kitchen and laundry appliances that were familiar before electricity revolutionised our way of life. Children helped to make and sample a typical school lunch of home-made bread, butter and jam. "It tastes normal", was one slightly surprised comment about the butter she had just made. Families thronged the tent all day, having-a-go at spinning and the variety of domestic crafts and activities on offer.

The smell of hot grease and ponderous chug of vintage steam engines provided a fitting backdrop to the huge Vintage and Traditional Trades paddock. Here, horse power went head to head with traction engines and vintage tractors in dusty, chaff-cutting demonstrations. Sweat poured from the cheerful face of Albie Edwards, traditional blacksmith and farrier, who won "Best Presented Activity" for his ability to draw and involve an audience with creations from the heat of his forge. Long queues formed to ride in horse- and traction engine-drawn carriages and everyone appreciated the skills demonstrated by blade shearing and working dogs.

Children saw their grandparents through new eyes as the window opened on a completely different and challenging way of life. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the sheaf-tossing arena where kids experienced first hand the strength and technique required using a pitchfork to toss a sack of hay over an adjustable rugby post. Youngsters made their own fun too with a wide range of organised games and a very popular "Punch and Judy" show.

Warm sunshine, roving musicians, entertainers and swaggers, wholesome farm fare and toffee apples all added to the spirit of celebration. Yet through celebration, Rural Heritage Day contributed equally to safeguarding rural heritage. Such opportunities are essential to practise traditional trades, operate vintage machinery and keep stories alive. The Have-a-Yarn tent in particular provided a gathering place for reminiscing and story-telling with heritage quizzes and many memory-jogging prompts. Oral historians were on hand to encourage follow-up interviews with those willing to share their stories.

Over 200 volunteers were involved on the day with untold volunteer hours needed to bring the event to fruition. At a time when volunteer help is becoming an increasingly rare commodity, why did Rural Heritage Day enjoy such generosity? The answer, perhaps, is that it tapped into a passionate resource; people who recognise the importance of Southland's rural roots in defining who we are. Whether their interest was in traditional trades, vintage machinery, heirloom breeds or domestic crafts, all cared sufficiently about keeping alive Southland's rural traditions to commit time and energy to the day.

The level of school involvement with Rural Heritage Day was also heart-warming, encouraged by the production of an associated resource called "What was it like?" growing up in rural Southland during the 1920s and 30s. Written by Lloyd Esler for the Southland Rural Heritage Trust, the resource covered various aspects of rural life based on quotations from local people. Among the follow-up activities was a Southland Times sponsored story competition that required children to interview an older relative or neighbour about "what it was like" for them growing up in rural Southland. There were some outstanding entries and winning stories were featured at Rural Heritage Day.

More than 5000 thousand visitors, volunteers and participants alike declared the event to be a great success. Here are some of their comments:

"It's been a great day. Good atmosphere, great activities, good food, good music."

"The blacksmith was my favourite. I helped to make this (a leaf) and he gave it to me." (Young girl)

"The children loved finding out how they used to live, like making butter and washing."

"We have lots of new contacts and some wonderful stories." (Have-a-Yarn tent organiser)

"Well worth $5 to get in."

It was thanks to generous support from Venture Southland, the Community Trust of Southland, Invercargill Licensing Trust, Creative Communities, Southern Trust, Pub Charity and a raft of local business sponsors that Rural Heritage Day was able to keep admission prices accessible to all. The fact that there was no charge for children under 15 years made it particularly appealing for family groups a key target.

Given the event's success, there is every reason why it should become a biennial icon on Southland's event calendar. The next Rural Heritage Day will be held in 17 November 2007.

Rural Heritage Day is a biennial event. The next Rural Heritage Day will be held on Saturday 17 November 2007 at Donovan Park, Invercargill.

For Further Information
About Southland Rural Heritage Trust