High Street ( in the East)

As dakness descends there is a calmness along High Street. There is much talk down at the Public house, known as The Lion, about the new immigrants arriving bringing much needed trades and crafts - shop-keepers and clerks, farm workers, labourers and domestic servants. Along with the new settlers was E J Parrott and family, a grocer, tea dealer and provision merchant. A store-cum-family home was constructed in October 1892, two storied of wood and brick with brick stables still being part of the current building today. This was to be a significant business in the small settlement of Rangiora. By 1894 the business had one of the first telephone connections with the other two connections being with doctors.

Crowds gathered on the road in front of the Public house known as The Lion or The Red Lion, watching the results of the 1911 election being projected by lantern on to an upper window of Parrott's and Holcroft's store. The Lyttelton Times had begun this service at the first poll when a large crowd assembled in High Street, on the balcony of the Public house and in the livery stable paddock across the road and on the corner of Ivory Street. It was an election night scene which was to be repeated several times before radio sets became common.

By 1922 Parrott and Holcroft's store was taken over by Ben Jordan and Bill Smith and was known as Parrott & Co (W. Smith), they had the first motorised delivery van. The building is now Rangiora Eyecare, on the right, and has a local Landmarks status since July 2011.

High Street had three separate points for businesses with long gaps between them, the east, the west and the centre, we are in the east looking towards the centre - where the car lights are, we'll head in there at a later date. Not sure how this journey will evolve but for now some shots will be in mono, mainly the east as it was the first area to have businesses, gradually there will be more people introduced as I become more comfortable with street photography. For local blippers, I have missed some scenes but will
return to them at a later date, there is an urgency to get to the heart of High Street......