Tūātapere History - old Main Road shops, from bridge to Ferry Road corner ; Var... on eHive

Photograph 1 of stores along Main Road, between Ferry Road & Bridge: A shops scene from Tūātapere's past, thought to be taken early 1980's. Information from donor states that, on the corner on the far right is Faulkner's store, they (being Bill and wife Jenny) took over from Ray Lawrence who had retired. Ray had run the shop on his own for some time as a menswear store, before that the business had been Souness & Lawrence. And in a much earlier time, this was McLeod's Tearooms, and much more besides in the years since). The Faulkner family, says Bill with wife Jenny had the above store about 78/79 into the early 80's at least, then they sold it to June Harpur, who was Bill Harpur's wife. However, we are not sure of all the owners or businesses on this site over time, so if you have any information or photos on these, please do share them with us so the community can find out their history. The above building on the corner of Ferry Road has since this first photo, been enlarged with a seating addition built on the side, which was for many years part of Yesteryear's Cafe, owned and run by Val & Helen McKay. It is now the new "Boundary Creek" Art Exhibition space, which opened late in 2022. You can see this building in other images shown here, under various ownership in photos 2 & 3. The next building in the centre is the old Post Office building, which is now and has been for some years, the home base of Country Corner Crafts, housing a craft co-operative which sells handcrafted goods. The old Post Office closed down after the Forest Service was wound up in the late 1980's, but I have not been able to find an exact date yet. If anyone knows this, please can they comment in the section below. Myself as a newcomer to the town of Tūātapere in 2006, I remember using the prior Chemist (I think Fraser's?) as the Post Outlet, but this too is now gone. Currently, (2023) Postal Services are run out of Chamber's Repair Service. And beside that on the far left, is the building that the donor recalls was a Toy & Gift Shop, owned/run by Ashley Mills (husband maybe Dave?), during the 70's or 80's. This store later became Murray and Erica Ottley's Second Hand shop which they have confirmed they owned during 1997 - 2002/3. It is interesting to note that this building is today in 2023, still being used to sell second hand goods as an "Arkwrights", but now under further new ownership. It also houses the local Radio Station as well. However, once again we are missing many years of ownership and businesses situated here on this site, so any information on those and further photos of any of these shops would be great, if you can share. And in comparison, check out the other photos in later years... Photograph 2 of stores along Main Road, between Ferry Road & Bridge: A shops scene from Tūātapere's recent past, taken during 2020 Covid. It shows Yesteryear's Cafe owned by the McKay's on the right hand side situated at the corner of Ferry Road, but with the previous For Sale sign in the window, after Helen closed down to retire, in what we believe was 2018. Then Country Crafts in the middle. We were told by the Country Crafts "girls" that during Covid was the best time for them at their co-operative craft centre, as many local people supported them and went in to purchase their gift needs instead of travelling elsewhere. Finally, the current (2023) Second Hand shop is at the left of the image. It is noticeable how few cars there were in the town during this time. Photograph 3 of stores along Main Road, between Ferry Road & Bridge: A shops scene from Tūātapere's recent past, taken recently in 2023. In this photo you can see the documented changes of both ownership and building use of the corner site on Ferry Road intersection, where McKay's Yesteryear's Cafe had operated for a long time. The newly upgraded building frontage can be seen advertising the recent takeover of this by Boundary Creek. The old Post Office, now Country Corner Crafts and advertising itself as a "Creative Arts & Crafts Centre" in the middle is showing its age and wear and tear, while the side wall of the still current Second Hand shop to the left, is also seen to have time taking its toll. There will be a lot more photos and information coming in the future on many old and existing local Tūātapere businesses. In the meantime, it would be wonderful if more people contributed memories, photos and other memorabilia to add to the story and history of these, for our collective community memories. If you can help us out with this, please comment in the section under this image, or make contact us. Thanks.