Weedons

[ngatimozart]

In late 1970s had to do guard duty out at weedons because some idiots tried to chop down one of the aerial towers. We had supply of grog stashed and cops were having time trials around perimeter track of paddock towers were in. One cop had to call up his duty Sgt and ask him to bring out 4 spare tires as he managed to burst all four of his. Another took a corner to wide and ripped sump out. USN signallers used to 24 hour watches out there. They had good supply of coffee which we swapped for beer ;D.

[beagle]

What were the cops driving then. Just looked up wikipedia and it says we had P76's 1976 - 1978. cannot remember them

[corsair67]

Mar 29, 2013 19:06:49 GMT 12 beagle said:

What were the cops driving then. Just looked up wikipedia and it says we had P76's 1976 - 1978. cannot remember them

I would have thought Kingswoods/Belmonts?

[davidd]

Re reply #18 on this thread (snaphead), the book being referred to here was was "Gateway to the Ice" by my good friend A A (Tony) Philiips, a senior ChCh Fireman. The photo is on page 19, and shows the American "semi-permanent" camp in September 1956; this camp was put up for the Americans by the RNZAF, and was used by personnel of the USAF C-124 squadron for the 56/57 season (DEEP FREEZE II) at least. This camp was built to accommodate 30 officers, 75 NCOs and 75 airmen, although more men than this would be passing through between USA and Antarctica during the season.
David D

[snaphead]

Thanks davidd, appreciate the correct info.

As a local in the Weedons area I tried to persuade the local Residents Association try to persaude the local district council (Selwyn District Council) to purchase the bar and pool as a residents facility. No deal!!

[ngatimozart]

Mar 29, 2013 19:06:49 GMT 12 beagle said:

What were the cops driving then. Just looked up wikipedia and it says we had P76's 1976 - 1978. cannot remember them

Holdens.

[Eng]

I lived at Weedons Camp from July 1965 to August 1968.
A wonderful place to have fun in. About 30 families all mixed ranks and a happy family atmosphere. Paul Brodie was our Officer in Charge of the married quarters there . He was always “arranging things” (Paul’s Projects ) for us to do and not always legal I was Technical Instructor at Pilot Training Squadron Wigram at the time and seemed to be roped in by Paul frequently.
As we were going to lose the services of the camp’s local store and Bar he managed to acquire free delivery grocery services from the Self Help at Templeton . We then went and built our own bar in the camp. Every family had to run it for a week and were responsible for its cleanliness etc. It worked like a charm and became a real social centre. Made many farmers etc were associate members and we all pitched in .
Marvellous barbeques with home kills galore.!!
The large fire pool only got used for swimming when the water warmed up . But we put our own filter in by using an old petrol tanker filled with sand etc and it worked well.
After emptying the pool because of the build up of algae . (Happened after rain )It would take ages to refill because as soon as the water cock was turned on to full the pressure in the mains would drop and the fire alarm would go off. Another visit from the fire Brigade!. Bad call ! It was a pain and we would have to wait a week while it dribbled in once more . I heard that there was to be an inspection by some bigwigs from Wellington who had heard about our pool and I decided that it didn’t look blue enough to fix this I purchased a big bag of copper sulphate to adjust the colour . It looked tremendous ( a sort of Blue Danube ) till all the camp mothers hit the roof about their children’s hair all turning a bright shade of green !! The Weedons School children all looked like aliens . Another bad call !
The Camp Committee decided to take over the old fire station and turn it into a kindergarten /play Centre.
Paul Brodie duly obtained permission from Higher up but it was on the understanding that we pulled down the Weedons whistle-stop railway station. After its demolition we were having a few wets in our new canteen and he decided to ring the Co Wigram ( Tozland )and inform him that he (Paul) was the station master at Rolleston and a band of Air Force personnel had arrived at Rolleston and taken down the platform roof and all the passengers were getting wet !
This was taken rather seriously by Toz until he realised he was having his leg pulled .All ended well but it was touch and go for a while !

[Eng]

I wont vouch for its veracity but there used to be a story about the CO of Weedons ( yes it did have its own CO!)who wasnt the full quid .
He apparently took a parade on a white horse one time. He also it is said that he carried a certificate on his person to state that he was NOT insane ! As there were many rabbits around Weedons he felt it his duty to shoot as many as he could . He was a quite a decent shot by all accounts .
Any way the driver of the Co's car had washed and polished his V8 and had to pick up a VIP arriving from Welling ton Air Dept at the Lytellton wharf early next morning off the ferry. He parked t in the garage so it wouldnt get dirty and retired early .
Reaching the wharf in good dtime he opened the rear door and saluted the VIP as he stepped inside. He watched in horror as the poor guy stumbled full length over 34 dead rabbits on the floor.
Isnt it a bugger when you dont know the end of a story !!!!

[beagle]

just drove past there 15 minutes ago and saw a rabbit.
was going to stop and take some images but just started to rain
stopped now, so will stop tomorrow.

[Eng]

I would advise extreme caution if your wife wants the car tomorrow !!!
A learning curve !!

[beagle]

Thats why I bought something she doesn't like to drive, plus got her, her own car.

[ngatimozart]

You should have shot the rabbit beags or run it over. I don't know what I dislike the most - rabbits or pollies. Shoot or run both over if got the chance ;D

[beagle]

was on other side of fence over a ditch near a tree. take my chances staying on the road I think

[Dave Homewood]

I am really enjoying these stories about Weedons in the olden days. That CO that took a parade on a white horse sounds a real hard case. Also the kids with green hair, classic!

Was the pool originally built as an emergency water supply for the fire system, like on larger bases, or just for recreational use?

[davidd]

I am reliably informed that the pool was, like some others at RNZAF stations (including one at RNZAF Norwood, near Burnham!) intended mainly as a reserve for fire fighting, but also could be used for swimming in the summer, if CO agreed!
David D

[Eng]

Quite right Dave re the swimming/fire pool
The problem was as Ive stated before that it was too cold to swim until it had heated up a bit thats where this tremndous idea of filtering the aqua came in.
I had a whole lot of photos of the BIG operation but unfortunatelymy mothers house burned down . Not good for pics!
It all started out one evening when Doug Laird a local motel owner came into the canteen with a Popular Mechanics Mag and said "Im thinking f building this for the motel ." It consisted of a very elementary 44 gallon drum plus pump and a few other items .
Paul Brodie looked at it and said "Eng. How about making it work for us ??"
With the aid of a few more wets and tons of enthusiasm we all went to work .
A great big design sheet was drawn up and a few more than necessary cocks/ Non/return vales etc were added for colour .
It all looked bloody impressive .
My father ( engineer retd) came to stay from Auckland and i showed him it and he loked a bit crosseyed at it and said "Bloody Goodoh !"
Paul went to the Wiggers CO and said that he had plans brought over from the States ( Pop/Mechanics) by alocal busines man . WE had called in the services of a consultant engineer from Auckland ( Dad suitably primed with a few wets ) An electrical engineer had carried out the necesary electrical wiring . It was under the supervision by an Air Force Flight Engineer and we had sufficient funds to complete it . ( Our community chest was flat broke by this time !)
I went and spent 130 pounds for an old 3 phase milk pump which we reckoned would do the trick and Nev Border a local sparkie organised a working bee which under cover of darkness dug under the railway line and hooked on to the rail way power line.Paul had persuaded the transport section to give us an extremely low priced petrol tanker tank which was auctioned off in a very mysterious manner ( to our advantage ). I organised all the kids in the neighbour hood to obtain a truck load of stones and sand and dully filled it up .
I almost suffcated myself as i was in side the tank welding up all the rust holes in it .
The big dya arrived and we turned the power on . Spectators all agaog . Tragedy !!! The outlet pipe spewed halh a ton of mud into the pool . We had forgotten to back flush the river stones which were covered in crappy clay . Recovering our composure we finally sorted that out and every one had fun . The pool being sort of solar heated also was keot at a reasonable temp for ages .
I didnt mention that the kids had been persuaded to paint the pool when it was empty. What a bloody mess! My son and two other finished up in medical with paint in their hair and other places . Another bad call I guess .
All in a good cause .

[Dave Homewood]

Hahaha, this story just gets better and better. Really good stuff Eng, I love it. You should write a book mate! ;D ;D

[Eng]

Hahaha, this story just gets better and better. Really good stuff Eng, I love it. You should write a book mate! ;D ;D

Thank you Dave for those kind remarks .What a splendid idea ! A bit late I'm afraid Ive only published four :-) :-)
Try your library for " A Piece of Cake" "A Flash in the Pan ", Cry a Distant Shamrock and finally "Slices of life" short stories .

Most of them have been stolen though . A real back handed tribute !! :-(

[Dave Homewood]

Great, I'll keep an eye out for them, cheers!

[nzav8a]

Came across this picture on ebay listed as RNZAF base Christchurch tent camp. Looks to be Weedons