Historic Waro Limestone Scenic Reserve
Waro is known for its striking limestone formations, but not many people realise that the word 'Waro' means 'coal' in Maori. Coal was in fact the focus of the Hikurangi community from 1895 until the 1950s.
In the 19th century, people came to Hikurangi to mill the timber, but they stayed to mine the coal.
With a few false starts - due to lack of transport - the coal mining industry blossomed after 1894 when the railway connected to Hikurangi.
Waro limestone
By 1925, the Hikurangi was the most important coal producing area in North Auckland 1. In all, the Hikurangi coalfields were relieved of about 4.5 million tons of coal. Over the years, there were at least five coalmines in the vicinity of the Waro limestone formations.
(The image on the right shows the entrance to Kerr and Wyatt's mine, which connected to the tramline still visible in the Waro Limestone Scenic Reserve. Front: Charlie Kerr, George Coutts, unknown, Captain Wyatt, Dooley Reed, Jack Swinbanks, Fred Kells. Back: Jack Kerr.)
Entrance to Kerr and Wyatt's mine
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If you walk the route around the limestone formations, you'll notice a raised platform faced with limestone blocks around the northern side of the rocks. This was the route of a horse tramline, built at around 1900.
The line connected Kerr and Wyatt's coalmine to the railway siding to the other side of what is now Lake Waro. Kerr and Wyatt's was a small mine, operated by a co-operative party of about six men. Skips were loaded with coal at the entrance to the mine, hitched to a horse, and pulled along the tramlines past the limestone formations.
Survey Plan from 1907
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(The image on the right depicts a Survey Plan from 1907, showing the locations of the tramlines and the small houses scattered around the limestone formations. The limestone formations to the right were quarried to create Lake Waro. (A) Kerr and Wyatt's Steam Powered Mine (B) Horse tramline which can still be seen in the reserve today (C) Railway siding (D) Route of an older tramline.)
In the early 20th century, there were little cottages tucked right in against the limestone formations. There was a bustling community focussed around the coalmines and the limestone formations. The sense of community was very strong in the early days, and if one family was going through a tough time, others would step in and help.
One day in 1933 was a particularly tough time. That day, the brothers Jimmy, Jack and Albert Ackers died after going down a shaft filled with blackdamp, a deadly mixture of gasses that displace oxygen in enclosed spaces.
Bob Ackers, the son of the only Ackers brother to survive, explains what happened. Listen to Bob Ackers (1 minute 37 seconds audio, MP3, 1907K) or read a transcript of the interview.
Footnote
1 Ferrar, H. et. al. 1925. Whangarei to the Bay of Islands Geological Survey. Government Printers, Wellington.
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