I’m setting the scene for a post I’ll be doing soon, about a coffee roastery. Mornington is a steep climb from Dunedin Central and we regularly drive through here when going to or from Dunedin. Years ago a cable car service operated between Mornington and the city. Recently, long-held plans to re-establish the cable car service have started to become reality with the construction of an interim cable car building where two grip-cars and one trailer are stored.
The project has an exceptionally great website: The Mornington Cable Car
Exciting to see progress but I digress – this post is about the building in which the coffee roastery is located.
Grid Coffee Roastery
Inside the coffee roastery is a picture of a Mornington cable car.
Grid coffee roastery is in this building (below) which used to house the cable cars.
Taken by Nigel (in the photo I’m standing by the bicycle).
The Mornington/High Street cable car began running in 1883.
“The Mornington Cable-car ran from 21 March 1883 to 2 March 1957. These headquarters, rebuilt after a fire in 1903, also housed the borough offices from 1905 to 1915.”
This is still a very busy street, here looking down toward the city and harbour.
Nigel took up-street and down-street shots centred on the old cable car building. The first looks down toward the city.
Looking up the street, away from the city.
This last photo is taken from outside the interim cable car building, looking down on Otago Harbour.
The first cable car service in Dunedin, the Roslyn line, began running in 1881. Dunedin was second only to the original cable car city, San Francisco. This information taken from the history page of The Mornington Cable Car website.
Text by Liz, photos by Liz and Nigel; Exploring Colour (2019)
Exploring Colour 
How nice it will be to have the cable car return. A group of trolley enthusiasts in Colorado Springs is trying to revive one of the former lines that used to run downtown, but I don’t think it has been approved. I hope you will get to ride the Mornington cars once they are running.
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It would be a wonderful service and I imagine it would be very popular with locals and visitors alike.
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I think you are absolutely right, Liz!
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Mornington, what a lovely name! I have not seen, much less ridden, in a cable car since childhood. How wonderful that you will soon be able to enjoy this one. The link that you so kindly provided is fascinating! Then, the Grid Coffee Roastery. I hope you will share more about this place! Thank-you!
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Mornington IS a lovely name! When I get a chance to get our ‘Grid’ coffee roastery pics together I’ll post them.. I’m looking forward to it!
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Exciting times indeed. It is funny as when I was in Ireland doing a coach tour of Connemara, the driver told us of the train lines that connected the little villages around the area in the 1900’s which brought life to the place and tourists and allowed the dwellers to actually travel as they now had a job laying the train lines but no less than 30 years later, with the arrival of the car, the trains stopped as cars brought people around whenever they wanted to travel and not just when the daily train cared to arrive. Life and movement and then modernisation and a loss of those lines that carried life…
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Very few passenger train services available in the South Island these days which is a great shame. I love travelling by train and seeing the landscape without the ugly road, sharing the journey with others, and enjoying stops for refreshments at train station cafes! BTW I read what you’d outlined to Paula about your future plans.. so glad that you’re listening to your heart and planning to turn dreams into reality 🙂
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This is exciting news indeed for Dunedin. Looking forward to reading about the Roastery.
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Thanks! Did you get a good turn-out at the library?
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