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Kōrero: Manawatū and Horowhenua places

Ōpiki suspension bridge

Ōpiki suspension bridge

A group of locals pose on the new Tane (later Ōpiki) suspension bridge in 1918. Second from left (holding a child) is the bridge builder Joseph Dawson. At far right (with arm on the bridge) is Ernest Henderson, the blacksmith at the Tane Mill who fashioned all the steel rods for the bridge. Elsie Henderson (centre) holds their child. The bridge simplified the task of getting Tane fibre across the Manawatū River to the railway station at Rangiotū.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Palmerston North City Library

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.

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Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Malcolm McKinnon, Manawatū and Horowhenua places – Beneath the Tararua Range, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/9441/opiki-suspension-bridge (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Malcolm McKinnon, i tāngia i te 2 March 2009, updated 22 April 2015.

Comments

Timothy Folkema
22 July 2011
I am doing a non profit documentary film, about Hukanui in the Waiarapapa. Joseph Dawson was a well known identity of this township, as he owned land 3 miles away at Kakariki. Who do I contact to obtain a copy of this image?