Women of the Hill - Denniston Plateau

Twenty years ago, two residents on the West Coast's Denniston Plateau initiated the restoration of an old schoolhouse to create a museum. This not only gave the many visitors to the hill a place to land, it became an important centre for the people who had been part of the once-thriving coal mining community around what was known as the 8th Wonder of the World – the Denniston Incline.

Friends of the Hill has members around the world that gather here bi-annually, because of a deep connection to the place. Gary and Sylvia James continue to welcome visitors to the Friends of the Hill Museum, and show them through the mock-mine built by local miners (complete with a replica horse - Nugget).

The role of women in the plateau's bygone towns was often overlooked in history but is celebrated here, as Sage Forest discovered when Sylvia takes her to visit a cairn - a memorial to the Women of the Hill.

Links:
Friends of the HiIl Museum
Te Ara: Denniston Residents Sylvia and Gary James
Denniston - 8th Wonder of the World
Denniston on the Department of Conservation website

The memorial cairn to the Women of the Hill

The old school-house, now Friends of the Hill Museum. On right: entrance to the mock-mine.

Half way up, looking back to Westport.

Can you guess what this is? An income for a miner's widow.

Nugget - a replica of the last mining horse, made by local children.

Plaque on a rock at the museum.

Art in a bucket.

The images in this gallery are used with permission and are subject to copyright conditions.