Canoeing With Teenagers......on the Wanganui River

The Bridge to Nowhere

Question: When is a bridge worth a forty minute walk (each way) through bush?
Answer: When it's The Bridge to Nowhere.

The Walk	The Bridge	The Landing

Yeah! Right!.... Why?
The Valley opened for settlement in 1917. Settlers cleared the bush by hand and established farms. Wool was carried down the track to the paddle steamers and generally speaking it was a very pioneering type of existence.

Three bridges were built - the first consisted of a flying fox with box for passengers, the second a suspension foot bridge, and lastly the 1936 permanent existing bridge.

Just as life was becoming established and settled - the valley was closed. It was, after all, the depression years, the community very isolated (A story exists of the only bath in town being "acquired" for making beer!) and the road was swallowing large amounts of cash.

Where once a thriving settlement existed - now there is only A Bridge. The peacefulness of the area serves to remind us of the temporary nature of our existence.

The Text of a Sign by the Bridge to Nowhere:

Started in January 1935 and completed in June 1936, this bridge was built by the Raetihi firm of Sandford and Brown, for the Public Works Department. It is 130 feet long, and 125 feet above the stream. The cost of labour was 598 pounds 11 shillings 7 pence, and cartage of all materials (via the Mangapurua Valley road) cost 419 pounds 14 shillings. Unfortunately the cost of materials was not recorded. Aggregate for the concrete is said to have been transported from the Ranitikei River. The completion of the bridge was delayed considerably due to floods, slips and the consequent delay in the supply of materials.

The bridge was built to facilitate vehicular access to the Wanganui River, to link the settlers of the valley with the riverboat service.

In 1917 the Government opened up the valley for settlement by soldiers returning from the Great War. Virgin forest was cleared, and a total of 35 holdings developed. A school was opened, and for some years the valley prospered. However economic hardship, and problems associated with the remoteness and difficulty of access, resulted in many families abandoning their farms. By 1942 there were only 3 families left. After a major flood in January 1942 the Government declined to make further funds available for road maintenance, and it officially closed the valley in May 1942.

The disappearing roadline, old fencelines, stands of exotic trees, occasional brick chimneys, and this bridge serve as reminders of the ill fated settlement of the Mangapurua Valley.

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