Tour beginning: OMG - Organic Market Garden
You would be hard pressed to buy fresher produce than Symonds Street’s Organic Market Garden (OMG). Twice a week, the densely-planted garden is harvested to feed the local community. In 2018, landowner City Rail Link approached charitable trust For the Love of Bees, which came up with a pitch for an organic market garden and learning centre.Four years on, Uptown has a healthy resource on its doorstep and a great case study proving that urban farming works. Set among the concrete jungle, this community-supported agriculture (CSA) project has flourished, producing fresh food to feed the Uptown community. The 310sq m site employs two people and grows 50 crops year-round that are harvested weekly into 35 vegetable boxes for local families. Local is defined by being able to walk to the farm and collect your veggies.Words: Suzanne McNamara
Basque Park
Basque Park is the largest and most prominent green space in Uptown. Built on the site of a former Karaka grove, the site remained underdeveloped for the first 100-or-so years of Auckland's settlement by europeans. During the 1930s, this area was a dense neighbourhood of ramshackle worker's cottages. Concern from locals about the lack of amenity for children in the area and the belief from some city officials that this was a "blighted area" contributed to the decision to create a Children's Playground here. The park has a history that reflects the ups-and-downs of the entire Uptown district. As factories and workshops replaced homes, the value of a children's playground here diminished in the eyes of many, and maintenance of the park was not a priority as it became a place for workers to eat lunch and get some fresh air. Park advocates have saved the park from being paved over several times, and locals set up a market garden similar to the current O.M.G in the 1990s. Today, as the balance has swung back from industrial to residential, the park serves a similar function to it's original purpose. It remains one of a handful of green spaces in the entire district and is a popular spot for dog walkers and picnickers. We can see several apartments adjacent to the park, which serves as a sort-of communal backyard. As the city becomes denser and apartment living becomes more popular, it is important we think about how accessible green space and fresh air are to our homes, and how developments can be built to interact with the space.As you continue on this walk, think about how you use and value parks, and where more green space might be needed here in Uptown.
Orange Hall
Imagine it's the 1940's: trams are taking locals to the top of the rise up Newton Road and arriving at Auckland's Orange Coronation Hall (affectionately known as 'The Orange'), where patrons would dance the night away with queues stretching all the way down the road. In 1987, Brian Kearney wrote in the New Zealand Herald: “the Orange opened its doors six nights a week to the crowds queuing four deep down its steep steps and along Newton Road”. Owned by the Auckland Orange Hall Society, this historic building was the centre of the community and Auckland's dance scene hub for decades.Built in a number of stages, beginning in 1922, the dance floor was thought to be sprung, made of tawa wood and the best in Auckland. Ted Croad and his band, who played swing and jazz music, led regular dances beginning in 1934, with the nights really kicking off in the 40's during WWII. Before the days of TV and other kinds of entertainment, ballroom dancing was a huge reason for the neighbourhood to gather for a fun night out; and it all happened here.In 1987 the hall hosted the 'Last Waltz', and in later years was used for a Performing Arts school, then the City Christian Church. In 2011 it was sold, and in 2016 it was refurbished, earthquake strengthened, and the new 5-story building consisting of apartments and commercial spaces that wraps around the hall was built. A local landmark which brings back memories for many Aucklanders.
Cycle Path and Spaghetti Junction
This intersection is a cross section of the past, present, and future of transport in Tāmaki Makaurau. Look out over the spaghetti of our motorway network - an engineering marvel, and enabler of economic growth. The movement of goods and cars came at the expense of the homes of 50,000 people, ploughing through the suburb of Newton which planners had described as a slum. The motorway provided a convenient reason to remove people and environments which politicians considered "undesirable". Directing our attention north, beyond the asphalt lanes, we can see Karanga-a-Hape Station taking shape. One of two City Rail Link constructions in this area, the station will connect northern Uptown and Karangahape Road to thousands of people, and enable hundreds of homes.We can see the pink coloured Auckland lightpath which repurposes disused car infrastructure and shows how modes of movement can also be places of interest. This connects to the Northwestern Cycle Path, which we see terminate immediately infront of us. The path is an excellent piece of infrastructure, allowing safe cycle travel through Uptown from most of the north-western communities. The Cycle Path sees a significant amount of travellers per-day of all ages, for commutes, exercise, or leisure, exemplifying that when people are given the option to cycle safely in the city, they will do it. Associated infrastructure, like the water fountain, show the additional amenities which cycle infrastructure can provide.Still - there is some way to go. Consider how a cyclist who is travelling along the path might safely arrive at a friend's house on St Benedict's Street. The intersection of Ian Mackinnon Drive and Upper Queen Street continues to prioritise car movements, with no cycle or pedestrian crossing on the northern side of the intersection. As you continue along the tour, consider how easy moving is made for you, and what detours walkers are required to make to accommodate other modes. Be careful when crossing the road here, there are wide corners from Alex Evans Street to speed, and pedestrians are not easily seen.
Stable Lane
Stable Lane was developed to provide access to Winstone Stables, which were built in 1882. A remenant of Auckland's pre-automobile era, these stables were home to large Clydesdales that would haul wharf lorries, furniture carts, log carts, and other goods around Auckland. The building serves as a reminder of Uptown's changing role in Auckland. Initially used as a key logistics hub for the construction of the city, once horse-drawn haulage was rendered obsolete, the building has held a variety of identities. Over time, it has been used as a manufacturing plant, food production, auto repairs, until in the 1990s it was used as a studio-residence for artists. During this time, Skycity planned to build an iconic shopping complex on this site, demolishing the stables for carparking. Fortuitous planning rules and a campaign from the resident artists saved the building and resulted in a heritage listing, with Auckland Council acquiring the land. However, the artists couldn't stay - in a then-controversial deal, the Council sold the dilipadated building, to be redeveloped by private interests. Now part of a larger commericial premises, the expertly preserved Stables form part of a quasi-public (but privately owned) courtyard and cut-through to from Newton Road to St Benedicts Street. Stable Lane itself remains underdeveloped. Vested in Auckland Council in the 1950s, it was part service-lane, part abandoned land. At the moment, it is used for servicing and carparking for Symonds Street businesses. But as public space - is there a potential for it to be better? This could be as simple as better surfaces and lighting for people getting to and from work or their favourite cafe to feel safer, or could we activate the space and take inspirations from the laneways of Melbourne and London. A space for people to engage with the area on a different scale than the loud, wide Newton Road, and appreciate the commercial and artistic histories of Uptown.
St David's Church Hall
At the heart of Uptown sits a cluster of historic buildings that have been focal points in the neighbourhood’s rich past. Traditionally, when a site was chosen for a church it was likely to be near a city’s highest point, so the four churches close to Maungawhau are a nod to a motorway-free, pre-apartment era.Here you stand in front of St David’s Memorial Church; fondly known as “The Cathedral of the Presbyterian Church”. It occupies a prominent landmark position on Khyber Pass, opposite the Anglican Church of the Holy Sepulchre (across the road from where you're standing). St David's foundation stone was laid on ANZAC Day 1927, and it was dedicated as The Soldiers’ Memorial Church in October of that year. In 2018 it was designated a Category A Historic Heritage Place for its significance to the Auckland region. It is a rare ‘living’ memorial, in that it was built in its entirety as a place of remembrance. The church is made from Oamaru Stone and heritage red Kamo Brick and designed in the timeless Roman-Gothic Revival style. Pointed windows reflect the Gothic influence and rounded windows the Roman. The great, generous windows of St David’s fill the interior with light. The interior features a subtly raked floor, single-span wooden ceiling and superb acoustics. The Church has very recently been saved from demolition by individuals and trusts throughout Aotearoa, and the aim of Friends of St David's Trust, newly named Kāhui Rangi Pūpū, is not only to retain its original purpose as a living memorial and place for New Zealand soldiers, but to open its doors to the community and become a much-needed acoustic music centre. It's an exciting prospect to see this space come to life once more, as a creative and musical hub for the Uptown community.Words: Freya Sawbridge & Suzanne McNamara (this piece was adapted from articles featured in Uptown Magazine)
Mount Eden Prison
Every day, thousands of Aucklanders drive along the Southern Motorway past the cluster of old and new prison buildings on Mt Eden’s lower slopes. The earliest prison on this site, a primitive wooden structure known as the Stockade, opened in 1856. From about 1877 it was replaced, bit by bit, by the much more impressive stone prison which still stands there 150 years later. In that time Mt Eden Prison has seen numerous hangings, floggings, riots and escapes, and has housed such distinguished inmates as the Tuhoe prophet Rua Kenana, WW1 naval officer Count Felix von Luckner, serial escaper George Wilder, feminist heroine Sandra Coney and former Waitemata mayor Tim Shadbolt. The last inmates were finally moved out in 2011 and the disreputable old relic has stood empty ever since while the Corrections Department contemplates its potential future use or demolition. The newer and far more secure prison buildings standing directly alongside make a sharp contrast with Mt Eden’s outdated design and decaying materials. Yet the old villain remains an imposing and compelling structure – one of the most instantly recognisable buildings in the country. The massive stone boundary wall that still surrounds much of the old Mount Eden prison complex is older than the buildings inside it, dating from the period of the old wooden Stockade. This undeniably impressive work of Victorian penal architecture was designed with several features to render it unclimbable. Although the outside surfaces were rough-hewn, all the wall’s interior faces were dressed smooth and its corners were rounded to prevent nimble prisoners from wriggling up inside a right angle. The wall was topped with a coping of smoothly dressed stone to resist grappling irons or frantically grasping hands. Tunnelling underneath was never a realistic possibility given the site’s volcanic rock substratum. The quality of construction, by gangs of prison labourers overseen by highly skilled stonemasons, is apparent more than 140 years later, as the wall still stands tall, straight and regular in all dimensions. The entire external structure was built from the dark grey basalt that the prisoners quarried nearby. Every door and window opening was topped by an arch with a central keystone, although these magnificent examples of Victorian stonemasonry were mostly replaced later by concrete beams. The windows were heavily barred and the wrought iron cell doors pierced with a small window. At the end of each corridor hot and cold baths were installed, and prisoners were required to use them weekly. An unfortunate dogleg entrance to these bathrooms obscured them from the view of warders in the passageways, and they were favoured locations for numerous rapes and beatings, sometimes fatal, in years to come. The building had no heating, insulation or damp-proofing and proved bitterly uncomfortable in Auckland’s dank winters.Words: Mark Derby, who is a Wellington historian and writer. These words are adapted from his latest book, Rock College – an unofficial history of Mount Eden Prison (Massey University Press, 2020.)
Shot Tower
If you look up, you'll be able to see the Mount Eden Shot Tower. It's something you may have never noticed was there before! But holds great historical significance.The Shot Tower signifies the location of the former Colonial Ammunition Company (CAC) factory, and it is the only twentieth-century shot tower in Australasia. It is unique internationally because of it's light steel contruction; the others around the world (two in the UK, four in the USA, and three in AUS) are all built similar to brick chimneys. This one was built in 1914 to make lead pellets for shot gun enthusiasts. Mr Lylie and his two danghters were the first operators of the tower, where lead blocks were taken up a lift to the top of the tower, melted down in a furnace and then poured into a pan with many small holes in the bottom. Small droplets of this melted lead then fell 30 metres from the top of the tower, solidifying into perfect spheres in the air as they fell, before being caught at the bottom in spoapy water. Then, they would be sized and polished, with imperfect ones being returned to molten metal.CAC vacated the site in the 1980s, and in 2001 the buildings at its base were demolished. After a public outcry to save the tower, it still remains, today recognised by Heritage New Zealand as a Category 1 Historic Place: http://www.heritage.org.nz/the-list/details/87
Maungawhau Station
Maungawhau is the redeveloped Mt Eden Station, part of the City Rail Link project. Mt Eden Station was one of the older stations in Auckland, opening in 1880. The station was initially a shack on the side of the tracks before a centre island platform and building was completed in 1912. The name Maungawhau was gifted by mana whenua Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. It reflects its namesake, Maungawhau, which is visible from the station. Maungawhau literally translates to mountain (maunga) of the cork tree (whau). The design of the station includes volcanic basalt inserts to reference the atua Mataoho. Maungawhau was not initially part of the City Rail Link plans. Instead, a new Newton Station was proposed beneath Symonds Street. However, during 2014 the decision was made to instead upgrade capacity of Mt Eden Station. Cost-savings and less disruption were cited as the reason, as well as more opportunity for regeneration around the station. Once open, the trip from Maungawhau to Waitematā Station (Britomart) will be less than ten minutes, and able to serve thousands of passengers a day. In the coming years, 100,000 square metres of land will be redeveloped which provides an opportunity to connect the station to the broader Uptown community.
City Rail Link viewing platform
From here, you can see a clearer view of the scale of work required to build Maungawhau station. Beneath your feet, a tunnel boring machine worked 24 hours a day to dig two 3.45km tunnels to Te Wai Horotiu station (Aotea). A complex web of tunnels, rail, and other infrastructure are being worked on by thousands to complete the station by 2025.Much of the pit will be filled in, and a 3.24 hectare regeneration project will begin. A new urban neighbourhood will spring from the ground, bringing with it 2,600 new Uptownites. What do you imagine this space will feel like when it's done? Maybe there will be a new school, supermarket, park, or your new favourite cafe. Will it feel sleek and modern, or cute and charming? A key challenge for Eke Panuku and delivery agencies in the area is ensuring the Maungawhau precinct meets the needs of those who are here already, and those who will be. It's essential that the precinct connects to the already vibrant and thriving community of Uptown, and honours the history and significance of this place.
The Corner Store/Galbraith's
In this vicinity of Uptown, you'll find more hisoric buildings bustling today as estalishments to grab a great coffee, beer, cocktail and delicious local food. Firstly, The Corner Store. Built around 1880 and located on the corner, as expected, it was initially an actual corner store; hence the old Sunlight soap advertisement still on the side of the building. It has also been a bookstore, a cafe and a restaurant. Next door is twenty three, a cafe now, but also was the location of the first Real Groovy Records. Feel free to pop into twenty three to pick up a free copy of the latest Uptown magazine! Secondly, Galbraith's. Now a pub and restaurant, this hisoric building was originally the Grafton Public Library, built in 1912 in a Edwardian Baroque style, to a design by architect Edward Bartley. Edward was a strong advocate for public libraries, and 1878 he had helped to establish a library in Devonport; the first public library in the Auckland province. Now as an Alehouse, Galbraith's has been brewing world-beating beers from their on-site brewery since 1995.Central to Uptown, these buildings once hosted a place for living and gathering; shopping at the local corner store and reading across the road at the public library. In today's society they still do exactly that; they are spaces for living and gathering. Uptown always was a neighbourhood - a central place of gathering - and it is now coming full circle.
Intersection of Symonds Street, New North Road, and Mt Eden Road
Here you stand at one of Auckland's most important intersections. As land became subdivided by farmers and landowners during the mid-19th century, this intersection became a vital commerical hub for the area. While wealthier landowners occupied this point at the top of the hill, a working-class suburb grew on the slopes of the gullies. Horse drawn trams first made their way through the area in the 1880s before the introduction of electric trams in 1902. Symonds Street was a busy tram-route, with tram lines from Avondale, Ōwairaka, Mount Roskill, Three Kings, Onehunga, and Remuera passing through the vicinity. The buildings around you indicate this was a thriving commercial hub. Transport was not the only essential infrastructure in this area. The concrete monoliths on the north-eastern side of the intersection are some of Auckland's oldest water resevoirs, which have been essential for the development of this city. As trams have been replaced by cars, this area has been through booms-and-busts, which we've experienced on this journey. As trams may return to Uptown, and Auckland Transport reshape our streets to make walking, cycling, and bussing easier, how might we reimagine the bustle of this area? Perhaps there will be more room for dining on the street, or instead of a park for cars, maybe we could have a park for people in front of the beautiful patterned mosaic wall. Use your imagination and think about what you'd like to happen here - and make your voice heard!
CRL Visitor Centre
Congratulations on completing your walk! Hopefully you've discovered some new hidden gems around this exciting part of Auckland, and learnt something about Uptown's past, present and and where this fast-growing neighbourhood is heading in the future.The last stop on this walk is Te Manawa - the CRL Visitor Centre. Here you can learn more about Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s first underground rail system by viewing the the model of the majestic Dame Whina Cooper tunnel boring machine (TBM), see some of photographer Mark Barber's work, and read more about the project. Go and enjoy their virtual reality set where you can 'experience' what the station could look like when it's finished. Kids are encouraged to visit too! This centre is all about visioning the future.It may not be open when you finish your walk. However if you'd like to come back to check it out, here are the opening hours:Opening timesEvery Monday, 11am-1pmLast Saturday of every month, 1-3pm.
