Typology of the Baches of Taylors Mistake

by Janet Abbott, art historian and bach historian, Christchurch, NZ

The 72 baches of Taylors Mistake, Boulder Bay, Hobsons Bay and the cliffs and caves in between demonstrated a range of construction strategies. In the early 1900s when most of these baches were built there was no road access and the materials had to be found on site, boated in or carried, dragged and sledded over the hills. Nothing was wasted. Doors and windows were recycled from buildings in town. Baches that proved to be built too close to the sea and were washed away in a king tide storm were repurposed but the greatest treasure of all was dunnage. Over the hill from Taylors Mistake lay Lyttelton Harbour and until containers were used and biosecurity became an issue, ships would clear their decks of unwanted packing timber on leaving port. After a few days in the sea these exotic hardwoods washed up along the coast providing a ready supply of seasoned timber for building. Many of the earlier baches were made from this wood with the residue used for tree huts, dinghies and sledges.

Rosy Morn in Boulder Bay

Rosy Morn in Boulder Bay is a quintessential stone bach dating from about 1910. Like the crofts of Scotland, Rosy Morn is made of stones from the site with local loess clay filling the gaps between them. Stone gives the baches a sense of permanence and belonging as they nestle under the cliff, just metres above the high tide. Rosy Morn nestles under the cliffs of Godley Head and was built by Walter (Wally) Caldwell a builder and Eric Beumelberg a plasterer in about 1910 before they went off to fight at the Somme in WWI. They returned to enjoy many years of fishing at their bach. It underwent repairs in 1954 and is still a family bach today.

The Hermitage, and Edwardian Cave Bache

The Hermitage was a true Edwardian cave mansion. It was built in 1907 by Cameron and Cropp using dunnage and materials salvaged from the New Zealand International Exhibition held in Hagley Park in the summer of 1906-07. The Hermitage was the most famous of the cave baches, remembered by many visitors, who having walked for an hour or so over difficult cliff-edge pathways, were amazed when the final bend revealed the unexpected opulence of this remote cave mansion tucked into the ragged volcanic coastline. ‘The Hermitage became something of a great hostel.  Visitors, many of them from overseas entertained themselves with fishing, tramping, card playing and good old-fashioned sing-alongs around the piano’.

Railway Carriage Bach

Another type of bach is the railway carriage baches that began life as broad gauge Type A60 carriages built in the USA in 1902 and used by the New Zealand Railways for about thirty years. In 1931 many of them were sold off and they became tiny homes around New Zealand. George Hodge, who worked at Addington Railway workshops, and his brother bought two of them at auction for ten pounds each. The story of getting the carriages to the site was a tale of determination and struggle. The carriages were transported on the back of two old flatbed trucks over the clay road of Scarborough Hill.  The screaming of the truck engines going up Scarborough hill could be heard six kilometres away at the Ferrymead Bridge, but that was the easy part. The farmer refused to let them take the carriages directly through his paddocks, despite promises of replacing the fences as he went so the sturdy brothers set about pushing the carriages on rollers along the beach, through the sand hills and the marshy area up to the end of the row. (Tutty pp. 84-5)   This task is said to have taken them six months, moving them a few feet at a time, possibly not helped by the fact that they stopped every hour for a half gallon of ‘refreshments’. (Gilpin)

Art Deco Baches

After the original bach was destroyed in an arson attack in 1944 Mr Haxell applied to the military authorities, who had taken over the coast for defence purposes after Pearl Harbour, for permission to rebuild. This time he built it to last, a solid concrete construction. The concrete and beach stone walls were built up course by course and they are reinforced with railway rails making it one of the most substantial and fireproof baches in the bay. The Art Deco bach is a miniature version of the Art Deco houses built in New Zealand in the 1930s and 40s.

Bach at Hobsons Bay

Many of the baches began as caves and were then extended as the families grew. This bach in Hobson’s Bay is built just above the high tide mark and has seen about 100 years of occupation.