Places

Date: 21 Mar 1996

From: Tuapeka oral history project

By: Rishworth, Margaret Joyce, 1921-

Reference: OHInt-0569/08

Description: Joyce Rishworth was born in Seacliff in 1921. Describes family and growing up in the area until the age of fifteen. Mentions father was a psychiatric nurse. Mentions the closure of Seacliff Hospital. Describes attending Seacliff Primary School, going by train daily to high school in Dunedin and attending Browns Commercial College. Describes meeting Harold Rishworth and becoming engaged before he went to war. Talks about his capture at El Alamein and his being a prisoner of war. Describes nursing training, but not sitting final exams, and nursing returned soldiers. Describes frequent church attendance. Talks about Harold Rishworth's appearance, rehabilitation and their marriage when he returned from war. Mentions his work at a fellmongery, the birth of their daughter and their move to Milton where they worked on a sheep farm. Describes applying for rehabilitation farms and a move to Lawrence. Discusses the rabbit problem, skinning and selling rabbits and improving land covered in gorse and manuka. Mentions the birth of other children and the difficulty of travelling on poor roads from Tuapeka West to the Lawrence maternity home. Discusses what her children are doing now. Describes having no telephone or electricity until the 1950s, initially no water, cooking on a wood stove and a mail delivery every three days. Discusses isolation as a result of snow and being unable to get home from Dunedin for a week. Mentions flooding and the influence of the Clutha River on farming. Describes increasing the farm size. Talks about recreational use of the river and the role of the punt as a tourist attraction. Details puntmen. Discusses the role of the church in her life. Recalls her husband's death in 1975. Describes membership of Associated Presbyterian Women (APW), Red Cross and Country Women's Institute(CWI). Notes Tuapeka West is also known as Kononi. Discusses involvement with the Clutha Valley High School. Notes the closure of the Tuapeka West School in 1991 and other services which have closed. Mentions the Greenfield pub and local events including the Shearers Jamboree, the punt dance and Tuapeka Mouth cattle sales. Describes disappointment on hearing about the dam and the potential loss of part of their property but comments philosophically on the need for electricity. Discusses being consulted by ECNZ and meetings at Tuapeka Mouth. Talks about sadness at the planned flooding of Beaumont and notes that her daughter and son in Beaumont have sold their orchard to ECNZ. Comments on the uncertainty created by the dam issue. Describes how her home is a base for the family and the dam has an impact on the whole family. Comments on the activities of Friends of Beaumont (FOB) who tried to disrupt punt celebrations. Interviewer(s) - Jerome Cvitanovich Quantity: 3 C60 cassette(s). 1 interview(s). 2.20 Hours and minutes Duration. Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA 2632. Photo of Joyce and Harold Rishworth; Joyce Rishworth and others; Joyce Rishworth and son