Tokirima History - Return to Home page
It was through the efforts of Mr A. A. Siteman (Lon) that the club was formed in the mid ‘20’s and the first trails were held on Ingham’s farm opposite where Tibby’s garage used to be. This course proved unsuitable and the next 2 years the Trials were held on Speedy’s Hill above where Wally Tibby’s woolshed now stands. After this trials were held on the hill behind where George Gower’s woolshed now stands and also on Maraekowhai and Nicol Bros farm where Pennys have a set of stock yards. At this time it was still in native bush which gave plenty of shade to man and dog. The club was growing and as the cleared ground at Nicol’s was limited the club once again moved. This time to Mr R. Howard’s property and the trials were held where we now have our Class IV course.
As this was a dairy farm and fenced into small paddocks there was too much
work involved in pulling down and rebuilding fences to get unrestricted runs.
The trials also interfered with the milking of the cows, so another shift was
made to Old’s property. This was an ideal long head course up a steep open
faced hill with a run out of between 500 and 600 yards and flat ground at the
bottom for the ring. The unfortunate thing about this course was that the Tokirima
Stream cut most of the flat ground off the hill and for the yarding event a
bridge was built across the creek which formed the hurdles for the drive. A
lot of runs were spoilt or abandoned because the sheep would get amongst competitors
cars before the dog could cross the creek and get control of them. A special
bridge was built for the dogs but a lot of dogs didn’t see it.
Over the years I have seen many amusing incidents on the dog trial grounds but these two I think are worth recording:
Tommy Riley from Haera was judging the heading events and the ladies for a lark decided to have a cooking competition and get Tommy to judge them when he came in for lunch. So Mrs Chapman, who was the President’s wife, made a batch of sconces in the old black oven and gave four to each of the other three ladies present who accordingly put their name on them. At lunch time Tommy sampled one out of each lot and after much deliberation decided Mrs Chapman’s to be the best and to my knowledge he was never told that Mrs Chapman had made the lot.
Another year I think Wattie Ross was judging and the late Sol Steadman was running Laddie. The weather had been a bit iffy and Laddie had just headed his sheep when there was a terrific clap of thunder right over head and Laddie streaked back to Sol and, although we got no rain and the sheep never left the mark, no way would that dog go back up that hill.
From the time the club started until 1938 the late Mr A F (Sandy) McKenzie was the secretary. He had a very neat hand and his writing is as clear today as when it was first written. The club went in to recess after the 1940 trial season and in 1941 it was decided to hold a picnic meeting with the proceeds going to the Patriotic Board. For these trials Mr W Tocker acted as secretary. The club came out of recess for the 1947 trial season and after a year it was decided that a separate huntaway course was required. A course was laid out on the then Thompson estate up the Kokopouiti road. This course was not a success as it was in a cold gully over a mile from the main grounds so Ivan Chapman and myself approached Mr H. Johnson (Bert) about a ground on his property a few hundred yards down the road from the main grounds and which could be seen from there. Mr Johnson was agreeable to the use of his ground so we cut the stubble fern off it with reap hooks and that was the huntaway course until after the 1959 trial season.
Up till 1954 the clubs building consisted of a rough frame with a concrete chimney with a black stove in it and when the trials come round the frame was covered with tarpaulins for an eating booth. During the 1954 trials I told the then President Mr A G Chapman that I could donate the necessary pine trees to get the required amount of timber to build the necessary building for the smooth running of the trials. After a discussion it was decided to accept this offer so three trees were cut and milled with a minimum of cost. Mr G C Little who was a jack of all trades offered to supervise the building and donate the paint for it. Mr R Howard offered to do the painting so a building 36’ x 16” was built and 4” x 3” frame work with corrugated iron roof and walls. This was divided into three. One end for the kitchen, the middle for a dining room and a small section at the other end with a wooden floor in for a Secretary’s office and a President’s room. Broken concrete posts were used as piles. Another building on macrocapara runners 15” x 10” was also built for a bar. This was built with 9” x 1” up and down with a 3” x 1” over the joins.
During the big floods that raged through the King Country in February 1958 most of the flat land in the lower half of the Tokirima Valley was under water and in it were our Clubs’ buildings. The bar was all right as it floated on its runners but the cookhouse was on piles and also stacked inside was between 3000 and 4000 ft of timber. If it had not been for the concrete chimney and stove the whole thing would of floated away. As it was, after it got about 6 foot of water in it it reared up on its end piles. As the water went down the building settled down with the piles going back into the holes they came out of. This happened again in December the same year but this time the water wasn’t so high but the tow water marks are still on the hardboard in the building.
In November 1958 the Plunket Society was trying to raise money in this area and it was decided to hold a picnic dog trial where our Class 1V course now is and after a suggestions from Mr Charlie King (How was a farm manager in the area at the time) Mr D A Grant, the owner, was approached and agreed to shifting courses to the present site. After a discussion in the club and an inspection of the grounds it was decided to shift the building after the 1959 trial season. The bar building didn’t pose any problem as we just dragged it down the road on its runners but the cook house was another story. After much debating about how to tackle the job it was decided to brace the building across the top with 4” x 3” then jack it up off its piles. After this the chimney end and dividing wall was taken out, a trench dug inside and a truck with a cattle crate on backed inside and the building lowered down on it then driven away. This job was done on a Sunday when there was less traffic about. To get he building set on its new site the procedure was reversed. A trench dug, the truck backed in, the building jacked up, the truck driven out and the building lowered down on ti its piles once more. The driver of the truck had to be very patient as once inside the truck and the building on it he couldn’t get our as the walls were up past the doors. After this building had been in place a couple or so years the floor was concreted and made permanent. It must be mentioned here that before this move was made Charlie King had left the district and didn’t see the fruits of his suggestions. I also lost a very good and valued supporter.
After the death of our President in 1956 I had been voted in as President. The manager of one of the stations gradually withdrew his support and made the running of the trials the ensuing years very difficult, particularly the setting up of the new grounds. As has been said before this property was a dairy farm. A fence ran the full width of the paddock where Class IV is and one also down one side. These had to be pulled down and they were rolled up. There were three fences across the huntaway ground and one up each side. These also had to be pulled down and the wire rolled up. One also had to be rebuilt at the bottom of the huntaway course but this was later pulled down.
With help from my wife and family the grounds were ready for the 1960 trials. Originally the two heading events were run on one ground and the two huntaway events on the other ground but in 1969 a separate long head course was tried to the right of the huntaway course. This wasn’t successful and the next year it was shifted right to the top of the hill. This made a long hard course and over the years different liberating ways and points have been tried. Before our trials in 1980 we did some bulldozing on the liberating point and it is now vastly improved. In 1976 a short head course was set up on Mr H. T. A Johnson's’ farm about half a mile down the road from our main grounds and this proved very successful and the Class IV was shifted over to where we originally ran Class II. This also proved very successful so now there is as good a set up club and grounds as any in the country. On 19th and 20th Feb 1981 the Club will be holding its 51st trials. After nearly 26 years I have resigned as President. The club is in good heart financially and in good hands with the new President and Secretary. I wish them all the success in the world and hope they don’t have the problems in the future that I have had in the past.
Typed by Lyn Neesen - Feb 2004 Return to Timeline