I thought I’d share a photo of Mum and Dad on their wedding day in May 1945. I hope our photographer friends won’t mind my saying that, poor quality as it is, it’s my favourite. Cliff met Dorothy when she was 19. I love the look on her face. Imagine a relationship of six years, and all but two months through letters. So this Anzac Day I’m celebrating the couples who kept the faith, as Mum and Dad did, and remembering the women whose men didn’t make it.

It’s taken a while, and quite a lot of “research”, but I’m finally done with v1 of Heather’s family. Far too many of the Sharpes are called James, and if not, Thomas. So the three key men in the family line-up are James, James and James. What a relief that their wives are Harriet, Amelia and Joyce. It’s been fun, but I’m glad it’s over and I can pass it on to the family to pick apart. ~ Ian

I had to dip my toe in the water sooner or later, so here goes with Heather’s family. I wanted to start with her mother’s side, about whom we know very little — nothing in writing and very few photos — because Joyce hardly mentioned her parents. Next, move on to Amelia Gartmann’s family — Heather’s paternal grandmother. All I knew about Amelia when I started out was a portrait done by her husband and a strange name floating around, Hartmann Gartmann. Next, having got my strength up and cleared some elbow room for the others, confront the Sharpes, and … Read more

Concrete Dreams is what I called my third post about the ferro years 1974-8, the first two being about Brian Donovan and NZFCMA. The third was supposed to be about my personal involvement, and so it was, but inevitably it focused just as much on the people I worked with and learned to admire over those years. It was a real pleasure to catch up with them after all these years. ~ Ian

I’ve written a brief biography of Brian Donovan, one of several remarkable people who showed up during our “concrete boatbuilding” days from 1972 to 1981. When I say brief, it’s 8000 words with plenty of photos, anecdotes and design drawings. At this stage it’s a first draft, so corrections, comments, additions and amendments are welcome. I described Brian as “a brilliant, generous man, flawed like the best of them, filled with confidence in both himself and you” — and creative, “attracted by, and to, people with dreams.” Which is exactly how we met him, designer of the boat we’d blithely … Read more

We started building a ferrocement boat with Ken and Dianne Adams in 1972, with romantic dreams of going cruising. Heather and I even lived in the boatyard at Span Farm for a while, and I got involved in a little monthly published by the NZ Ferro Cement Marine Association called at different times a Newsletter, a Bulletin and — finally and fanciest — the Journal. We never went cruising, but in round-about ways the Journal did end up taking us places. ~ Ian

I’ve decided that in future I’ll highlight the latest pages here, but having written a few months ago about my strange adolescence — why the wheels fell off a bright kid, what it took to get me on the road again, and why Heather and I headed off in rather unexpected directions in our twenties — I then found myself on a rather self-indulgent detour, which is only worth reading if you want to watch the wheels fall off in slow motion. I enjoyed writing it but that’s no excuse. ~ Ian

Here I was minding my own business and Adrienne decided to post about my latest on Facebook. Suddenly I have readers! Thanks Adri, the feedback was encouraging. Must try it again some time. Here it is — Heather, handcrafts and Earthworks in the 1970s and early ‘80s

It’s been fourteen months since my last blog post — I just checked. Mind you, I’ve published 20-odd pages since then, with probably as many again that I’m not yet ready to press Go on. But can I ask a favour? Think of yourself as Reader #2, and help me get a few more! if you come across something you like, please leave a comment and/or share a link with people who might enjoy it. Cheers, and thanks ~ Ian

Last Anzac Day my nephew Peter asked me if there was any way he could access his grandfather’s war stories to read to his kids. I had to disappoint him but said I was working at publishing them online. Well, it took the best part of a year but, finally, you can read them on this site, as well as his stories about the Depression. Please treat it as a work in progress. There are only a few photos, for example. I’d like to add more, and if possible more war stories after Alamein. Some people find the change in … Read more

There’s a scene near the end of Dr Zhivago (the movie) where the sick Zhivago sees Lara, his lost love, walking down the street as the tram he’s on passes her by. He struggles to get off and catch up with her but collapses and dies. She walks on. We’ve spent the entire movie, the entire book, focused on them, and then the story pans out and they become just two among the nameless millions. Dad was one of 311,000 men who fought at El Alamein. It was a decisive but — based on the people, military and civilian, who … Read more