Woodville, New Zealand

Woodville, New Zealand Main Street 1890s

It appears that Woodville was a traveller's rest spot in Maori history. It was also a place to rest for hunters as they walked from one side of the Manawatu Gorge to the other. The local iwi were Rangitane, and maintained strong and positive relations with other tribes for the most part.

One local landmark is Whariti, one of the main peaks in the Ruahine Ranges, a mountain range that runs north east for 110kms from the Manawatu Gorge to the Kawekas, inland from Napier. The name for the 920m/3017 foot high mountain appears to be a corruption of the original name Wharetiti (Whare – house, titi – muttonbird (the Sooty Shearwater)). According to an interview on Radio Woodville in 2009, the peak gained its name when migrating muttonbird nested on top of the ridges of the Ruahine mountain range.

The birds arrived at Wharetiti from Bare Island, Waimarama and continued northwards to Tongariro. Local Maori would construct temporary housing when the titi began to arrive and would harvest the birds from their burrows, preserving them inside pouches made from bull kelp which they carried up from the coast. It is some years since muttonbirds were last seen on this part of the Ruahine Mountains.

The Palmerston North - Gisborne railway line and State Highway 3 run through opposite sides of the Manawatu Gorge, and the latter has its junction with State Highway 2 at Woodville. At Woodville Railway Station, the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line meets the Wairarapa Line and a balloon loop - a rare example of railway engineering where trains reverse direction on a loop track built specifically for the purpose - permits through running via the Wairarapa to Wellington.

Due to low freight levels, the northern portion of the Wairarapa line is currently under review as part of KiwiRail's turnaround plan. In some weeks there is only a single train on the line, running from Wellington to Napier. The use of the railway by Fonterra for bulk milk haulage from Oringi meant the Hawke's Bay line was sufficiently busy. Fonterra's Oringi milk transfer station was decommissioned in 2015-16.

Woodville's place in European migration history was established when it became the third of three sizeable timber milling towns in the 'Seventy Mile Bush' which extended along the eastern side of the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges. The others were Dannevirke and Pahiatua.

As farmland was settled and cleared, a number of small dairy factories were established to process the supply of milk for consumption as milk, cheese or other dairy products. As recently as the mid-1980s the dairy factory at the western end of Woodville, on State Highway 2 heading towards the Manawatu Gorge, operated a cheese processing line and a 'factory shop' selling dairy produce direct to the public. A thriving sheep and beef economy at one stage supported a number of local trucking firms and carriers, among them Gunn Transport and Hawkes Bay Farmers Transport, both of which were based at a site at the corner of State Highway 2/Vogel Street and Tay Street, which is the Wairarapa bypass. The site is now the offices for Horizons Regional Council. These haulage businesses were only economic in the pre-deregulated transport industry that existed prior to the Rogernomics reforms of the Lange Labour Government elected in 1984. With the lifting of distance restrictions (vehicles over a certain weight were at one stage restricted to travelling only 150km from their geographic base) Woodville's role as a transport hub quickly fell away.

In addition, the local community sustained a supermarket (closed for a period in the 1980s, since re-opened as a Four Square) a Feltex fabrication factory, built in the mid-1970s and closed by the mid-1980s - at least four or five service station or garage outlets of which only one remains on the west side of the township (Known as Caltex Woodville), and a significant railway presence. The advent of the Oringi Meatworks in 1980-81 was a boost to Woodville's economy as a consequence of significant wage inflows from Woodville people working at Oringi. Oringi's plant closed in 2008. Very little light industry has survived into the 21st century, and the local agricultural community is supported from Palmerston North, Pahiatua or Dannevirke. Milk from farms in the Woodville district was, until 2015, transported by rail from the Oringi Milk Transfer Station to Hawera for processing. It is now processed locally at the Fonterra plant in Pahiatua. There has been a boost to the local economy with the construction and maintenance of the Te Apiti Wind Farm on the ridges above the town. The foothills of the Ruahine and Tararua mountain ranges are to the west of Woodville. The lower ridges are now dotted with wind turbines making up New Zealand's largest wind farm, which was established in the early 2000s. The prevailing westerly winds in the Manawatu-Southern Hawkes Bay region provide a consistent Median Wind Velocity which is the key relevant measure for wind generation as a renewable energy source. Manawatu's flat pastoral lands and in particular the funnel effect created by the Manawatu Gorge, mean the area is well known for being subject to regular high winds.

Following detailed assessment and testing in the early 1990s, the decision was made by newly privatised electricity generation companies to site two large farms on the ridge-lines. The Te Apiti Wind Farm is made up of 55 turbines, generating c.90MW of electricity, enough to power approx 30,000 homes. Woodville now uses this fact as part of it promotion. However many people consider the windmills to be an eyesore and believe they are detrimental to the environmental landscape, seen as far away as Palmerston North.

Te Ahu a Turanga i Mua marae is located in the Woodville area. It is a tribal meeting ground of Rangitāne and its Ngāti Te Koro and Ngāti Te Rangiwhakaewa sub-tribe.[4] It includes Te Ahu a Turanga i Mua meeting house.[5]

One of New Zealand's first international hit songs - 'Blue Smoke' - was written by Ruru Karaitiana, who was born on a farm between Woodville and Dannevirke. Karaitiana served with the 28th Maori Battalion in WW2 and wrote and recorded the song on his return to New Zealand. It has been recorded by numerous artists over the last 70+ years, not least of whom was Dean Martin.

Woodville was the original home of the Mountain Rock Music Festival, a celebration of New Zealand music growing to be the largest celebration of New Zealand music during the 1990s.

Artist Gottfried Lindauer is buried in the local Old Gorge cemetery.

Woodville has produced a number of well-regarded sporting competitors, particularly in the 1980s.

Among them are

• Atholstan Mahoney, played 26 times for the All Blacks between 1929 and 1936. Mahoney played in 4 tests against Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England on the 1935-36 tour.
• Dean Kenny, 1986 All Black was born in Woodville and attended Palmerston North Boys High School. Kenny played more than 100 games for Otago and 3 times for the All Blacks on a tour to France.
• Robbie McLean, 1987 All Black who played for the Woodville Rugby Club and Wairarapa-Bush at the time of his national selection. McLean was born in Hawera and was highly regarded by then selector and former All Black No 8 Brian Lochore.
• Kevin Carter, Wairarapa-Bush flyhalf who at one stage held the national record for number of dropped goals in Division 1 season and was instrumental in the side's success in the old Division 1 first-class championship in the 1980s.
• Eric Ropiha, successful racehorse and jumps trainer, who trained numerous quality horses including Caulfield Cup winner Ilumquh, 1952 New Zealand Cup winner Conclusion, Roman Consul (New Zealand Derby), Routine (NZ Oaks), Baraboo (Railway Handicap), Baloo (two-time Canterbury Gold Cup winner) and Judge (Grand National Hurdles). Ropiha went close to winning the centenary Melbourne Cup with Ilumquh, and he also trained Fans to place third in the great race. Ilumquh placed again in the race also.
• Brendon Timmins, played more than 150 first class games for Otago, Southland, the Highlanders and New Zealand 'A' rugby sides in the 1990s. Timmin's son Sam is an elite basketballer, having played for NZ age grade sides.
• Joe Schmidt, played both first class rugby and first division basketball for Manawatu sides before becoming one of the world's leading rugby union coaches. Schmidt played for National Basketball League side Ubix Palmerston North in the 1986-87 seasons. Schmidt also played first-class rugby on the wing for Manawatu. As a coach, he has posted a successful coaching with teams in New Zealand and Europe, including winning the Heineken Cup with Irish province Leinster and three Six Nations titles with Ireland. Teams coached by Schmidt have beaten the New Zealand All Blacks on two occasions. Schmidt retired from the Irish coaching position at the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
• Paul Walsh, played for Ubix Palmerston North in the NZ National Basketball League's 1986-87 seasons.

Woodville continues to host a successful horse-racing, rearing and training industry, based at the Woodville & Pahiatua Jockey Club's track on the north-east of the town.

Woodville School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students,[6] with a roll of 81 as of March 2020.[7]

• This is Woodville…