On 4 September 1939, the main headline of the day’s Ashburton Guardian newspaper was: “THE EMPIRE AT WAR”. This was the beginning of the Second World War for the people of Whakatere Ashburton. The pattern of what followed the declaration of war was familiar to those who had lived through the First World War. Patriotic…

Puaka and Matariki hold great significance for Māori, marking the beginning of the Māori New Year as these special whetū first appear in the midwinter sky. While the Matariki star cluster is celebrated by iwi across Aotearoa New Zealand, Kāi Tahu in Te Waipounamu also observe Puaka – the brightest star in the Orion constellation.…

What moments in time did the Ashburton Guardian photographers capture around Whakatere Ashburton throughout 1975? This selection of photographs from our large collection of Guardian negatives will take you on a journey across various aspects of life in our district 50 years ago. Although some of these images were published in the daily newspaper, most…