Paroa School

Not Kids.

Kids.

A Pre-schooler tagging along.


Paddy Heenan in Little Earth/Waiuta. (Green boarding-house at the foot of hill).


The new entrants' class from Paroa School, along with teachers and parents, came to visit us this morning - in the rain!

Actually, their teacher, Susan Smith, said that last time she brought a school group here, it was raining then too. So, we'll blame her.

The weather didn't worry the kids though, they were wet but they were out of school. From here they went on to visit the Brunner Mine site. It stopped raining this afternoon, of course.

I should've told them the story about Paddy Heenan, but forgot to.

The Brunner Mine, a coal-mine up the Grey Valley, was the site of NZ's worst mining diaster. Gas in the mine exploded killing 65 men and boys.

Paddy Heenan was the only survivor on his shift. He should have been down in the mine with them, but didn't go to work that day because of a hangover. For the rest of his life, he was a "dedicated anti-prohibitionist".

Years later, Paddy was working up in Waiuta. Staggering home, drunk, after a hard night in the pub, he lay down and "went to sleep" on the side of Top Road, in a rain-storm. His gumboots dammed the roadside ditch, the water washed out the road and streamed down the hill to flood the boarding-house at the bottom.

There was a huge panic there as they thought that the mine must have collapsed, or something. But, no, it was just Paddy in the ditch. Another miner coming along saw him there, pulled him out and that was the end of the flood.

The local road-man was carting mulloch from the mine to repair the road for weeks afterwards.

True story - I think.

Anyway, it was great to see the kids. Always a pleasure to see little 'uns.

cheers.