Mahurangi River

The town of Warkworth was originally called Brown's Mill, because of the sawmill which was located on the bank of the Mahurangi River. The town centre is on the western bank of the upper reaches of the tidal portion of the river. At low tide the water is shallow, allowing navigation from the estuary only by small craft. At high tide the water is deep enough for large vessels to come right to the centre of the town (behind me as I stood on the riverside path to take this photo).

The weir across the river at this point dates back to the early days of Pakeha settlement. The bridge above is much more recent. In fact it was not there when S and I first drove north from Auckland; to visit friends in Opua in the Bay of Islands. At that time (more than 40 years ago) there was an old bridge, which remains, is used by pedestrians, and can be seen in this photo (behind and below the nearer bridge). It was too narrow for more than one vehicle at a time, whereas the current bridge is two way. The pub which is just to the right of the river here is an old establishment, and was the only place in 1970 which provided hungry travellers with a bite to eat.

Neither of us had been in Warkworth before; we liked it and promised ourselves that we would return one day. Just over ten years later we began staying in nearby Snells Beach when my mother-in-law built her home there, and we spent our summer holidays staying with her. For ten years we have had our own beach house here. This is now a busy town, with lots more to do.

It is odd how a place calls to one. My paternal ancestors came from Nova Scotia to Waipu in the late 1850s, and spent many years working and living in the area around there and south as far as here.

ADDITIONAL
It has just occurred to me, what was the purpose of the weir. Across the top at less than 1 metre intervals are 250 - 300 mm long iron spikes. All are bent over now by generations of youths walking over the weir (my guess). Originally, these would have been upright and the effect would be to have trapped the logs which had been floated down river to Brown's Mill. Then the logs could be removed as the mill needed them.