Miles of Tiles. A journey through Longbeach and surrounding districts history by John Small and Gilmour Blee. Hard covered book of 200 pages and printed in 1999 (2nd edition).

The book is in lovely condition and I cannot fault it other than a small pencil inscription which is a numbered code and a price on the top corner on the first page.

James Edward FitzGerald, the first superintendent of the province of Canterbury, gave the name Longbeach to the two early runs that lay between the Ashburton and Hinds River and extended from the coast to within 3km from the present State Highway 1. In 1863 most of the land became the property of John Grigg, who set about transforming a huge swamp into what became reputedly ‘the best farm in the world’. More than 200 miles of tile drains were laid under the paddocks of the area, including both the Longbeach station and the holdings of many other who arrived later.

Schools, churches and various other organisations soon flourished in the small communities that formed, but many have since disappeared. In 1978 it was decided to record storied of people and events in the whole area – in Waterton, Willowby, Wheatstone, Flemmington, Eiffelton, Ashton, Lynnford, Huntingdon and Blackbridge, as well as on the Longbeach estate. The result is this comprehensive history of the region. Land transfers have been traced through to current owners, family histories and records for community organisations have been consulted, and early maps, documents and photographs have been included. National and local trends in agriculture and other aspects of daily life have been identified and compared. Attention has been given to the roles of women as well as men and over 150 biographies of early families have been compiled.

ALL OVERSEAS BUYERS NEED TO BE ABLE TO PAY DIRECTLY INTO OUR BANK ACCOUNT, SEND CASH OR BANK DRAFT IN NZ CURRENCY. SORRY WE DO NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING ELSE

Please have a look at my other trades

We can combine postage

Sorry no buy nows