Also wanted to see Holy Trinity Avonside ghost, old, stone, Anglican Church tucked in Lychgate Cl suburbia, off Stanmore Rd & Avonside Dr. For months post quakes, ruined Parish Hall could be seen from Avonside Dr / Stanmore Rd crossing, while I waited at traffic lights. During my daily commutes, driving Luke across town to Sullivan Ave tech, I drove past those ghosts, but wanted a closer look, before they vanished in CERA demolitions.
20.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. London St view, part demolition, Richmond Working Mens Club, London St / Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
London St / Stanmore Rd: Over the last couple of weeks the SE section of Richmond Working Mens Club ghost was being demolished. A brick wall had collapsed in the Feb 22 Killer Quake. In June 13 Quake, more wall & roof collapsed. Leah said whenever a digger bashed, or a truck rumbled by, her school shook like another aftershock. Left kids & staff jittery.
20.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Two orange diggers, part demolition, Richmond Working Mens Club, London St / Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
More school misery: Council road workers repaired London St, 2 months post June 13 Quake & 6 months post Feb 22 Killer Quake. Several days, a digger was used, parked on London St after work. To reduce stress on school kids & teachers, why didn't Council do that noisy, dusty, thumping, road work during school holidays? In addition, noisy bldg construction progressed across the road. Triple trouble.
26.10.11. Result two months later, London St would still be lumpy, bumpy, potholed near Leah's school. Council wasted money, time, machines, labour, repeatedly patching roads. Why didn't Council get it right first time?
CERA's SCIRT road repairs run by NZ National govt bureaucrats were slow. SCIRT boss Ford didn't even live in Christchurch. SCIRT was a hotch potch of engineering contractors & Council, all fixing Christchurch infrastructure, under CERA's control.
Nov 2012-Mar 2013. SCIRT sewer renewal excavations & more demolitions of Richmond Working Mens Club. Machine jolting would give Leah a continuous headache for a week.
Early 2013. SCIRT would excavate Pavitt St & Cumberland St by Leah's school, sewer renewal. Same irritations for staff & kids.
Oct 2013: London St, still patched. I'd read all the SCIRT pamphlets, obtained from Fendalton Library, boasting about SCIRT infrastructure rebuild work. SCIRT loved reporting that $2 billion would be spent replacing 500km of damaged sewage pipes out of 1 700km total of sewage pipes in Christchurch. Pamphlet titles:
1. WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE ARE DOING
2. KEEPING IN TOUCH
3. SAFETY
4. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
5. REPAIRING UNDERGROUND SERVICES
6. TEMPORARY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
7. PRIORITISING THE REBUILD
8. UNDERGROUND PIPES
9. BRIDGES
10. RETAINING WALLS
Wasting money, PR spin, but slack at sorting essentials in good time. More than 3 years post 04.09.10 Darfield Quake, Leah would have endured interminable Council & SCIRT excavations & detours on London St, while SCIRT laid pipes, repeating excavations & road patching ad nauseum. SCIRT would often leave poorly patched roads, a bigger mess than quaked roads.
20.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Part demolition, Richmond Working Mens Club, London St / Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
London St / Stanmore Rd: I parked by the Village Green, snapping Richmond Working Mens Club ghost. Two orange diggers, parked on the mostly cleared demolition site. Rubble lay on the cnr, a steel mesh fence cordon obstructing traffic. Like many quake ruins I'd seen: closed, second storey doors awaited oblivion, never to be reopened.
20.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Demolition rubble, part demolition, Richmond Working Mens Club, London St / Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
Stanmore Rd side: RWMC club badge stood high on the white, cracked wall awaiting demolition, while cars passed. Like other demolition sites around town, steel mesh fence cordon, threat signs:
DANGER
CONSTRUCTION
SITE
FOOTPATH CLOSED
PLEASE USE
OTHER SIDE
20.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Stanmore Rd view, part demolition, Richmond Working Mens Club, London St / Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
After Richmond Working Mens Club part demolition was completed, the site would be cleaned, exposed wall covered in black plastic. For months I would drive past the black plastic wrapped wall. Plastic wrapped, tarp wrapped damages were a common sight in Christchurch.
16.11.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Black, plastic wrapped wall, Richmond Working Mens Club demolition site, London St / Stanmore Rd
Further up Stanmore Rd, Richmond Methodist Church ghost: still standing, wooden door locked, old & new red stickers stating church abandonment. Before quakes, Leah had taken school kids to the hall, flattened by quakes.
20.08.11. Red stickered, Richmond Methodist Church door, Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Orange digger, demolition site, Richmond Methodist Church hall, Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
Richmond Methodist Church demolition site, steel mesh fence cordon, threat sign:
DANGER
KEEP OUT
Church hall gone: Damaged by Feb 22 Killer Quake, trashed by June 13 Quake, demolished by CERA. Corrugated iron pile, rubble pile. Orange digger parked on church lawn. Dust extractor machine sign touted hire.
20.08.11. Green Orbiter bus, Richmond Methodist Church, Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. DANGER KEEP OUT. Steel mesh fence cordon. Demolition site, Richmond Methodist Church hall, Stanmore Rd, post June 13 quake
Avonside Dr: Parked by a POLLUTED WATER threat sign nailed to an Avon River tree, by Avonside Girls High School ghost. As quakes had trashed Christchurch sewage pipes, Avon River was an open sewer.
20.08.11. POLLUTED WATER threat sign, Avon River, Avonside Dr, post June 13 quake
Avonside Girls HS, closed, old bldg due for demolition. The school had moved, sharing premises with Burnside HS, Greers Rd, near our home. Locked gates, school sign:
THIS SITE IS CLOSED
BUT THE SCHOOL IS OPEN
AVONSIDE GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY RELOCATED
TO BURNSIDE HIGH SCHOOL, 151 GREERS ROAD, BURNSIDE, 8053
PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THIS SITE - EARTHQUAKE DAMAGED BUILDINGS...
20.08.11. Avonside Girls High closed sign, Avonside Dr, post June 13 quake
Post Feb 22 Killer Quake, every school day for many months, we saw convoys of red buses transporting Avonside GHS students to & from Burnside HS.
Avonside Dr / Woodham Rd / Linwood Ave crossing: trashed by quakes since Sept 4 Darfield Quake, still cracked, bumpy, semi repaired. Orange, roadside pump still pumped sewage from a manhole on slumped Avon River bank. Crossing repairs would only be completed by Oct 2012. Avonside Dr / Woodham Rd: The cnr house would be demolished.
20.08.11. Quake damaged Avonside Dr / Woodham Rd, post June 13 quake. The road cnr was repeatedly damaged by quakes since the Sept 4 quake, as it lined Avon River bank. The cnr house would be demolished.
20.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Orange, roadside pump, Avonside Dr / Woodham Rd, post June 13 quake. The cnr house behind the cop car would be demolished
Avonside Dr: Trekked to Holy Trinity Anglican Church ghost, snapping pics en route, traffic jostling by: liquefactioned, house demolition site, collapsed neighbouring garage seen; 2 ghost houses, snow still in overgrown gardens.
20.08.11. Liquefaction mud, quake damaged garage, Avonside Dr, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. Quake damaged house, Avonside Dr, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. NORTH TRAFFIC USE STANMORE RD. WORKS END. Holy Trinity Avonside entrance, Avonside Dr, post June 13 quake
Holy Trinity Avonside ghost, pavement entrance, orange road sign:
NORTH TRAFFIC
USE STANMORE RD
Minister Brownlee's & CERA flunkeys dictates: Since quakes, many new, road signs & CBD, new, checkpoint signs directed post quake traffic, banning citizens from red zone CBD.
Lychgate Cl: Holy Trinity Avonside & Parish Hall ghosts, damaged by Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by Feb 22 Killer Quake: Parish Hall being demolished, an orange digger parked on site, vertical & horizontal, roof structures screamed at blue sky.
Skinny man in orange, Hi-Vis vest, no hard hat, no tools, no clipboard, scowled at me when scuttling from Parish Hall's steel mesh fence cordon. No other workers on site, was he a thief?
20.08.11. Belfry & lychgate, undamaged by quakes, Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. Red stickered, Holy Trinity Avonside, steel mesh fence cordon, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
Green, wooden lychgate survived quakes, also mini, steel belfry near carpark. Red sticker on steel mesh fence cordon enclosing church looked ridiculous. No one in their right mind would enter that ruin. Steel mesh fence cordon weaved past old grave stones. A south side, garden fence completed closure.
20.08.11. Bench plaque, Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. DANGER KEEP OUT. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake surviving, W facade, Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
DANGER: Western, greystone facade still stood, locked wooden door, stained glass window intact. Grey slated, church roof conked eastwards, separating roof from western facade. Saw right through church sides from N to S. Rest of church kaput: Eastern part of roof collapsed, greystone transepts, nave, chancel walls, windows collapsed, scaffolding trashed, greystone rubble everywhere, roof chunks resting on greystones. Western wooden, roof arches still stood, supporting some slate roof. Roof snow in shadowy nooks, late afternoon, sunny mess.
20.08.11. DANGER. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake trashed S walls & windows, Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. Quake trashed SE roof & walls, Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
Graveyard sign by steel mesh fence cordon: PLEASE USE UNBREAKABLE CONTAINERS FOR FLOWERS. Too late, pre quakes, church authorities hadn't strengthened the church, making it unbreakable. They'd had years to do so.
20.08.11. Cemetery sign, steel mesh fence cordon, Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. NE view, quake trashed Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. William Rolleston grave stones, Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. DANGER. Steel mesh fence cordon. E view, quake trashed Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. DANGER. Steel mesh fence cordon. SE view, quake trashed Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. NE view, quake trashed Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
20.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. N view, quake trashed Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
Ruin after ruin, wooden arches proved the strength of wood as a bldg material in quake zones. I'd seen several ghost churches where brick & stone walls collapsed, but roofs stayed intact under wooden arches. Examples: Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl; St Lukes, Manchester St; St Johns, Latimer Sq; Samoan Church, Cashel St; Knox Presbyterian, Bealey Ave; Chinese Methodist, Papanui Rd...
20.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. N view, surviving roof structures, quake trashed Holy Trinity Avonside, Lychgate Cl, post June 13 quake
26.10.11. Two months later I would return to Holy Trinity Avonside. Parish Hall & Holy Trinity Church were gone, demolished. Just the green lychgate left. A yellow digger dug sand & heaped greystones on the church demolition site.
26.10.11. Parish Hall demolition site view, Holy Trinity Avonside demolition site, Lychgate Cl
26.10.11. W side cemetery view, Holy Trinity Avonside demolition site, Lychgate Cl
26.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Green Lychgate, after Holy Trinity Avonside demolition, Lychgate Cl
*Trekked London St, Stanmore Rd, Avonside Dr, Lychgate Cl. 117 snaps.
Coda:
2020-21. New Richmond Club would be built on old Richmond Working Mens Club site, London St / Stanmore Rd. 2021... Jake would chef there. Richmond Methodist Church was moved to Marshlands Rd where it was abandoned for years. New Richmond Club absorbed Richmond Methodist Church site, occupying most of the block bordered by London St, Stanmore Rd, Avalon St, Cumberland St. A small shopping centre occupied Stanmore Rd / Avalon St, complete with cafes, restaurants, Youth Centre.
2020-21. New Holy Trinity Avonside would be built on the church demolition site. Green Lych Gate & wooden Church Office survived the quakes. Cemetery stayed as is, higgledy-piggledy grave stones left alone. Residential red zone next to church grounds was devoid of housing, after CERA demolitions, all the way to Avonside Dr & Avon River. Across Avon River, beyond River Rd, residential red zone continued, devoid of demolished housing, till green zoned housing began. After LINZ returned residential red zone to Council control, residential red zone remained as parkland for citizens beside Avon River, beneath old, homely trees.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
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