> “The careful steady process of clearing back the vegetation from the gold-mining ruins continues. I have a month more to go of this work, and the focus is now on get the poplar trees down. Some of them are impacting badly on the collapsing walls, pushing the stones out of their alignment. I’ve organised the Arrowtown Fire Brigade to take down 5 of them to start with, and even that is a massive job. It’s done voluntarily in their spare time and they haven’t managed to get a crew up to the site yet but I’m assured they haven’t forgotten about it. Everyone is just so busy around here. Volunteers are thin on the ground ...... people are working hard at their own jobs to survive, COVID having taking quite a hit here. Still, volunteer Angus came up last week and cleared a path with his chainsaw for them to get their heavy machinery in.
> So it’s a bit of a waiting game. Heritage NZ are coming up on 26th for a site visit, and there will be some decisions made then. I have made no further progress on securing corporate funder for a full restoration of the site, but we’re not giving up. As long as, of course, we can raise enough from donations to keep going back and getting the site cleared of all vegetation. Volunteer Mike built me a lovely shelf for the camp...... > We are here for the long-haul....!”
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Jan MorrisonProject Manager of an archeological dig of a 1800s European mining settlement near Arrowtown, Central Otago. Archives
April 2021
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