One of Kaipara Flat’s most enduring icons is the old Butchery near the railway bridge. Having been closed for many years it is showing the ravages of time and is in danger of collapse. Owner Gail McDowell has agreed to work with a group of locals to fix it up – so that this charming link to the past can survive.
Kaipara Butchery was initially started by local patriarch Harry Mason over 100 years ago and was subsequently run by a number of other locals over the decades including Stan & Iris Phillips, Les Hallam and Bert and Pearl McMasters, who were the last to run it as a butcher’s shop before they started home-kills. A slaughterhouse at the top of Thomson Road was used to feed the shop it’s product..
This was continued by Rupert Berger, and then John Fletcher – who was the last person to use the ship for processing in the early 1970s. John still lives in Kaipara Flats, but the Kaipara Butchery hasn’t sold a sausage for the best part of 50 years.
It remains one of the most identifiable and popular buildings in the whole area, so it’s great it will be prevented from disappearing.. and that it will still be there as something from the past for future generations of locals to enjoy.
The floor and timbers are in need of repair and the large tree which is damaging the foundations will sadly have to go. If anyone can help with materials or manpower on this worthwhile project please contact Brett Innes Email or donations can be sent to Sioux Anich Email.
