Pictorial Parade No. 91

This 1959 Pictorial Parade edition begins with the opening of the ‘Milson Deviation’, a rail bypass which diverted trains from the centre of Palmerston North. Then it’s off to Hastings for the National Ploughing Championship, where the prize is a silver plough modelled on the first (Pākehā) plough used in New Zealand. Lastly, the Echo (a flat-bottomed Kauri scow which sailed between Wellington and Blenheim) sails up the Opawa River. With the onset of competition from ferries, the Echo was retired in 1965. She ended up becoming a cafe/restaurant on the Picton Foreshore, before being demolished in 2015.

Old-timers know Echo well. They've seen her mast top slide above the willows; heard the beat of her engines for many a year.

– Narrator Peter Gwynne

Key Cast & Crew

Oxley Hughan

(Overall) Supervisor, Writer - Milson Deviation

Alan Jervis

Narrator - Milson Deviation

John King

Director, Writer and Editor - Ploughing

Max Avery

Director, Writer and Editor - Echo

Peter Gwynne

Narrator- Ploughing & Echo

Lynton Diggle

Camera - Ploughing & Echo