Historic orchard remnant, pear and apricot trees. Planted early-1900s at a small community that grew in the 1860s with the arrival of gold miners and hydraulic sluicing. Stewart Town.. accessed via a walk through ‘badlands’-type landscape, a large terrace destroyed and shaped by sluicing and related activities. Bannockburn, Central Otago, New Zealand 31 October. ~first and last photos by Nigel, middle two photos by Liz
Text by Liz, photos by Liz and Nigel; Exploring Colour (2022)
Exploring Colour 
There’s something very touching about coming to an abandoned home, especially when you can still see something that remains of life here, like these fruit trees. It’s a feeling I get in some of the deserted places in the Scottish Highlands.
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I imagine the Scots felt pretty much at home here in the old days!
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Probably!
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It´ s a very lovely landscape.
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Thanks Horst! We enjoyed being there.
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I wonder how many of these trees have been there for 100 years.
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No idea I’m afraid. They’re in a tough environment so it’s hard to assume anything about the character of their growth over time, and they’re a remnant of what would have been a larger orchard in the early 1900s. Whatever their story is it feels very special to arrive after walking through the badlands!
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It’s easy to relate to that sensation!
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Old fruit trees can take on the most interesting shapes. I like the building in the last photo. Is it an old home?
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Yes it is Linda! It was deteriorating and folk managed to organise some grants and get a roof over it to protect it. It dates back to the 1870s and a couple of miners lived here. In a report I downloaded, “There is a record of an application for a residence area in Stewart’s and Menzies’ names in 1873, and the two lived in a stone cottage beside the dam.” Their main occupation was delivering water to the miners for their sluicing activities, a massive undertaking. There’ll be more on that to come, including about the dam!
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So neat! We tend not to think about all the ‘support activities’ that would be required for something like mining.
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