Photo above of JT (John Taylor) and Max Polglaze working on restoration of Riordans Hut

New Zealand Hut Heroes: John Taylor, master of hut restoration

by Sam Demas

[Photos Courtesy DoC Takkaka, Neil Murray & Tony Hitchcock]

(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)

Antarctica, one place John Taylor works on hut restoration, is the only continent on earth where human’s first dwellings still stand.  Less than 12 hours after he returned from work on an ongoing project in Antarctica (this was the only time we could find to get together, and he insisted we do it!),  JT related this remarkable fact over breakfast on a Saturday morning.  Before we started talking about him, he regaled me with stories of huts in Antarctica, where he is currently helping establish a base camp for hut restoration work, and gave me a marvelous booklet Antarctic Historic Huts of the Ross Sea Region (Antarctic Heritage Trust, n.d.).  I knew immediately that his would be a fun and informative conversation.

JT is really excited about his work in multiple arenas.  He is a talented, energetic, dedicated and wide-ranging public servant; in my humble opinion, an exemplary DoC ranger.  This man is fascinated by history, full of inspiration and a natural teacher.  Its not surprising that through his energetic and visionary work in the Golden Bay DoC he has quietly led by example — just doing it — in restoring historic huts.  He is a key link in the transmission of the skills and techniques of hut restoration from one generation to the next.

JT trained in forestry engineering tools, equipment and machinery.  He has worked for the DoC Golden Bay District since the agency’s  inception in 1987, and worked for the NZ Forest Service for seven years before that.  JT currently does a lot of work in backcountry bridge design, construction and maintenance.  He is a strong, tall, genial and good looking man.  A ranger’s ranger: he is an accomplished outdoorsman, highly skilled with tools and materials, and seems most at home in the backcountry.

When DoC started rationalizing its hut system due to budget constraints and safety concerns, JT and others advocated for retention of the simple old huts that DoC processes identified for removal.  He wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

Quietly but persistently, he initiated a  series of methodical hut restorations that continues today, preserving and passing on a body of traditional skills and knowledge that DoC was rapidly losing.  It seems to me that he was the spark plug that turned the Golden Bay DoC District into a hub and leader in hut restoration.

A methodical series of hut restorations

While I may be off on the exact chronology and cannot do justice to the technical details of the restorations, following is the outline I got from JT of the restoration projects he and his Golden Bay colleagues undertook to test, refine and demonstrate the skills, cost-effectiveness and wisdom of preserving historic huts.  The stories of some of these huts are told with more skill and detail in Shelter from the Storm.

JT started out helping with the first two restorations in the district: the magical Asbestos Cottage in the Cobb Valley, the restoration of which was overseen by Max Polglaze and Gregor Koolen, and the Whariwharangi Hut in Abel Tasman National Park.  He really liked restoration work and grew to see the advantages for DoC, and the nation, of hut restorations.

When DoC decided to replace the deteriorating three bunk Riordans Hut in the Kill Devil Mountains, JT believed that a brand new hut would look out of place.  He told me, “the place was teeming with nostalgia and history, that necessitated authentic scale and appearance appropriate to the site”.  Opposed to destroying the heritage values it embodied — first as a sheep grazing hut built in 1926, abandoned in the late1950’s, and then used by adventurous trampers — JT argued for restoration.  Knowing that Max Polglaze had long wanted to restore this deteriorating hut, he invited Max to visit Riordan’s in 2000 and assess the situation.  Polglaze, by then retired, was moved by the visit to write an impassioned letter to DoC urging  restoration.  DoC agreed and contracted with Max to do the work.  Max invited JT to help him with the restoration.  DoC agreed to let JT assist, and even offered to send along some other workers.  Max didn’t want anyone else along, saying, “I’m 65 now and this is my last one”.  In 2003 they spent 8 weeks working on Riordans Hut.

The restoration of Riordans Hut was essentially an intensive crash course for JT in the tools and techniques of traditional hut building and restoration.  He learned which woods to use, how to use an axe to split and and an adze to dress the slabs for cladding, how to finish the siding with a draw knife, hot to split cedar shingles for the roof, and how to re-build the fireplace.

His work with Polglaze restoring Riordan Hut gave JT solid skills and real credibility in hut restoration, and inspired him to do more.  Golden Bay was at beginning to be on a restoration roll.

According to Taylor, when the DoC heritage officer visited the restored hut he was so impressed that he gave Riordans Hut historic status after the fact, ensuring that it will be maintained by DoC in perpetuity.  He also designated the entire track as historic; it is now named the Historic Kill Devil Pack Track.  This historic designation includes Tin Hut, restored in 2006, and Waingaro Forks Hut, restored in 2009.    In the same area, the Golden Bay Alpine and Tramping Club has since built the Soper Shelter, a replica of NZFS tent camps.

JT admired Chaffey Hut, named for the remarkable Henry and Annie Chaffey of Asbestos Cottage, and had long yearned to restore it.  Once again, DoC resisted the project, this time  because it was technically not within  the local district.  But JT persevered.  Soon the public interest in hut restoration, along with the promise of volunteer labor from the Golden Bay Deerstalkers, persuaded DoC to proceed.  Built in 1953, this Cobb Valley hut utilized split wedges nailed or lashed to a framework of beech poles.  To learn this technique, Taylor practiced by building a new woodshed this way at Waingaro Forks Hut.  He then teamed up with Golden Bay Deerstalkers Association, who donated 1,500 hours of volunteer labor, to complete the restoration in 2012.

Reading Shelter from the Storm, JT noted discussion of the evolution of huts from tent camps to hard shell structures, and mentioned that the Cobb Valley Tent Camp was probably the last remaining intact tent camp in New Zealand was located in the Cobb Valley.  When JT read about this he phoned Shaun Barnett for details and then went to work.  This time DoC was fully on board.  They got hold of the original plans from the NZFS archives, a canvas manufacturer donated the material, a local upholsterer donated the fabrication of the tent portion, and lots of people pitched in to make this restoration happen.  Personally, I was thrilled to stay overnight in the tent camp by Cobb Creek on my Cobb Valley hut pilgrimage.  Truly magical as a form of “sleeping with the past” (in sensu Kearns and Fagan 2014).

A few words about Max Polglaze

I never met JT’s mentor Max Polglaze and know only bits and pieces about his work and persona; certainly not enough to write a profile.  But he emerged for me as a major hut hero and I can’t resist passing along a few tidbits about this protean hut-man.  He was apparently a highly accomplished, old-school NZFS ranger who operated with considerable autonomy and creativity in the backcountry, parts of which later became the Kaharangui National Park.  He was a master of backcountry construction methods and materials, dedicated to preserving traditions and creating new techniques out of “no. 8 wire”.  Over the years he restored at least three huts that I know of: Asbestos Cottage, Cecil King’s Hut, and Riordans Hut.  All three of these huts are beautifully profiled in Shelter from the Storm.  Also, on his own initiative he created two of the most amazing backcountry shelters I’ve ever seen:  Lower Gridiron Rock Shelter and Upper Gridiron Hut, both of which are also profiled in Shelter from the Storm.

Tramping in the Cobb Valley and visiting these heritage huts I was blown away by the depth of dedication to and sensitivity in preserving cultural heritage.  Max Polglaze seems to be the man who kick-started the seminal hut restoration movement in the Golden Bay region.  I expect someone will write a full tribute to him one day.  Meanwhile, the essays by Shaun Barnett in Shelter from the Storm about the huts mentioned above give a good sense of the man.  They include a number of intriguing quotes from Max, including, for example an excerpt from the hut log talking about his December 2000 visit to Riordans Hut, the visit that later precipitated its restoration:

“Five days of most excellent quiet time in & around this peaceful old cabin, fasting, and listening for the small still voice.  Went and fetched the riding saddles one day from Skeet Creek…..Rebuilt the disintegrating door one day — would dearly love to restore the whole hut.”

Oh, I forgot to mention that Max is the guy who actually built the original Cobb Valley Tent Camp in 1973 for NZFS workers, and, fittingly, was present at the 2014 ceremony marking its restoration by JT and many others.  I wish I’d been there!

Huts as heritage: lessons learned

The evolution of heritage huts is clearly the product of good work all over New Zealand.  But even from my limited perspective, it seems clear that Golden Bay has played a very special role in this movement.  JT and Max are exemplars of a larger spirit that imbues the northern part of the South Island.  Part of this is that the independent folk of Golden Bay simply won’t take “no” for an answer when they believe they are right, and/or, sometimes they simply don’t ask.  They persisted over decades in finding ways to preserve huts scheduled for removal.

Without this persistence and resourcefulness, for example, Fanella’s hut would be the only one on the Cobb Valley Track.  Today it has four: Chaffey’s, Cobb Valley Tent Camp, Cobb Hut, and Fanella’s.  Each with its own fascinating story to tell, making this an historic tramp.  What has NZ learned through the decades of creative work in pursuit of historic preservation?  These are a few of the lessons learned:

• DoC’s heritage preservation staff can effectively partner with regional DoC staff and with community groups to apply their valuable expertise and advance their noble mission.
• Restoration can be cost-effective.  It can be much less expensive to restore an older hut than to build/fly in a new one.  The restoration of Riordans Hut cost $12,000 compared with about $80,000 to build a new one.
• Carefully restored huts that are well maintained can have a longer life-span (up to 100 years) than those that are newly built (50-65 years).
• Hut restoration stories make Kiwi hearts sing, and generate support for DoC.  JT notes that each restoration was followed by a wave of positive media coverage, which generated tremendous public support.
• DoC’s sensitivity to supporting regional differences in terrain and in culture can yield innovations that complement and supplement the benefits of national uniform standards.
• This kindling of public affection for and attachment to basic huts ignites flames of dedicated community involvement in hut and track maintenance.
• Whats old becomes new again, and people appreciate this cultural continuity.

These heritage preservation lessons are, of course, examples of basic professional principles understood in cultural heritage circles around the world.  It is heartwarming to see them play out so brilliantly in relation to huts.  Hats off to John Taylor for his creative and relentless work in hut restoration!