This is a story from our monthly newsletter, Heritage this Month.

Sheridan Gundry | Tairāwhiti Gisborne 

The regular opening of the historic former Plunket Building as a Centre for Heritage beside Gisborne’s Taruheru River is paying big dividends for Heritage Tairāwhiti this summer with dozens of visitors and great interest. 

Friday and Saturday openings at the centre have been kick-started with a presentation on the history of the river, tours of notable sites along its lower reaches and an exhibition of historic photographs of early European settlement and industry. 

The exhibition features predominantly the work of Gisborne’s first mayor, brewer and photographer, William Crawford. The photos were selected from the Tairāwhiti Museum’s vast offering by Mike Spedding, a former director of the Museum and of the Wairoa Museum, and a past board member of the former New Zealand Historic Places Trust. 

The Centre for Heritage is gearing up to be a port-of-call for heritage, linking locals and visitors alike with other heritage entities, providing the opportunity for walking and cycling tours involving heritage places. 

The centre complements the work of the Museum. Working together to tell the stories of people and places, there is a self-guided walk brochure to help connect viewers of the Taruheru River exhibition of the physical places photographed.  

We love our situation beside the river, and it only seems right that we focus on the Taruheru as our first proper opening of the building. 

Heritage Tairāwhiti works closely with Tapuwae Tairāwhiti Trails Trust, whose major focus is developing a walking and cycleway along the Taruheru from Derby Street to Edmund Campion College. 

Our longterm aim is to have storyboards along the Taruheru, which emanates from within Waihirere Domain and flows 14kms to its confluence with the Waimatā River in Gisborne City. The Taruheru has a rich history and has been a significant waterway for generations of people who have lived and continue to live on its banks. 

To find out more about the Centre for Heritage and associated events and activities, contact Heritage Tairāwhiti.