Kōrero: Taranaki places

The ‘bridge to somewhere’

The ‘bridge to somewhere’

The ‘bridge to somewhere’ at Aotuhia was built in 1937 across the Whangamōmona River, and is a similar design to the ‘bridge to nowhere’ in Whanganui National Park. Aotuhia, 20 kilometres south-east of Whangamōmona, was opened up to European settlement in 1896. For the first few years access was from the Whanganui River via a narrow bridle track. By 1914 a road that wound its way down the Whangamōmona River from Whangamōmona was completed. A few years later Aotuhia was established enough to have sports events on the domain, a (short-lived) school, a telephone exchange and a post office. Ironically, the bridge was built only after most of the settlers had abandoned their farms during the 1930s economic depression. Aotuhia is now reached by a road through Mākāhu, constructed in 1985 to provide access to a Lands and Survey farm redevelopment in the area.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Private collection
Photograph by Ron Lambert

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Ron Lambert, 'Taranaki places - Inland Taranaki', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/25916/the-bridge-to-somewhere (accessed 19 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Ron Lambert, updated 1 Sep 2016