An oral history interview looking at the past and present of Palmerston North and the Manawatū, produced by Manawatū People's Radio with the support of New Zealand On Air.

Brian Bates Part 2 of 2. Flew to New Zealand, 1963. First few days in NZ. Sent to PN, first impressions. Settling in, basketball and surfing. Married, transferred to Wellington. Managing Boots in Dunedin, then in PN. Senior management position in Wellington for 2 years. Regulated, so Boots couldn’t expand. Bought pharmacy business in PN. Changes in medications. Falling number of pharmacies in central PN. Set up pharmacy in Cook St, there until retired. The future for pharmacies – more healthcare services from pharmacists. Mother travelling from UK, Brian travelling to UK. Advantages of PN.

Brian Bates Part 1 of 2. Career as a pharmacist. In Dagenham until 26 (1962). Young child in WWII. Memories of the blitz, DC3s towing gliders, Morrison shelter, Anderson shelter, V1s, V2s, rationing. Post-war - the Marshall Plan, Cold War, first banana. The 11+ exam. Grammar School. 6th Form specialization, choice of pharmacy apprenticeship with Boots Chemist. Qualifying in Sunderland. Working in SE England. Posted to New Zealand at 25. Pharmacy work in 1960s, making up medicines and ointments. Famous people from Dagenham.

Owen Rogers. Always lived in Palmerston North. Started school about 1950. Catholic school. Playing behind the YMCA in Grey Street. Family bought State house in Ascott St. Building standards then and now. Heating homes. Marist Brothers school. Single sex schools, little mixing with girls. Learning ballroom dancing. Rock and roll. Few dancing opportunities now, but RSA 20 years ago. Newbury Hall dances. School bands. Jazz. Most school friends left Palmerston North. Childhood meals, growing own vegetables, homemade marmalade. Asian restaurants coming to PN.

Mike Lawrence, Part 3 of 3. Early days of personal computers. IBM PCs, dot matrix printers. Learning programming with punch cards, no graphics. Working for Advantage Computers. NZ Disabilities Resource Centre. NZ Fire Service VHF radio servicing. Househusband in late 1990s. Remarried. In Seniornet for 25 years now. Seniornet peaked at 600 members. Since declined and activities have changed. Voice recognition. Computer/phone familiarity. Decline of the voluntary sector. Few people to take a lead. Women in Seniornet. Digital legacy.

Mike Lawrence, Part 2 of 3. Radio advertising, recording on vinyl. Cartridges and cassettes. Working in Taumarunui (mini-stations). AM and FM stations. Outside broadcasts. Transistors, technical staff redundant. Integrated circuits. Automation using videorecorders. Back into broadcasting after retirement, community radio. Current broadcasting software. Broadcasting over the internet. Moving on to computers.

Mike Lawrence, Part 1 of 3. Early interest in radio (about 1950), especially the technical side. Crystal sets, then battery operated valve radios. Career options, chose radio broadcasting. To Wellington as a technical trainee when left school. Short wave radio. With 2ZB in Wellington for 6 months. Limited international communication about 1960. Radio hams. Several years training, receiving news from the BBC and other overseas radio, then passing on to Broadcasting House. First person in New Zealand to hear of President Kennedy’s assassination. Limited radio news service in 1960s, relying on newspapers as a source. To Palmerston North in 1974. Private radio stations some years later. Radio Hauraki. Radio in Palmerston North from about late 1920s. Types of programme.

Anne Eggers Part 2 of 2. Hitch hiking, truck from Alice Springs to Adelaide. Then Melbourne, went to Melbourne Cup. On track betting. Sydney, staying Glebe, then home in Opunake. Teaching at St Joseph’s. Teachers being graded. After 2 years, went to England on a ship, Northern Star. The sea journey and ports of call. Flatting in London. Impressions of Britain – terrace houses, cold weather, coal fire. Relief teaching. Steel playground fence, small concrete playground, school dinners. With Nigel, air traffic controller, in Plymouth. Teaching children who copied Kiwi accents. To Wales. Old-style curriculum. To Guernsey.

Anne Eggers, Part 1 of 2. Grew up on a dairy farm. 1950s, milking cows before and after school. Long journey to school. Fitting in homework. To Teachers College in Palmerston North. No clear expectations of future life. Hitchhiking from Taranaki to College. 1 year teaching in 1963, then to Australia, waitressing. A temperance hotel in Brisbane. Hayman Island. Collecting shells. Her future husband (Eddie Eggers). To Cairns, Rockhampton, Mt Isa, Alice Springs. No student debt, and pre-OE (Overseas Experience) times. Impressions of Palmerston North (trains in the Square, at YWCA hostel then flatting). Hostel life. Weekend work for a catering firm. Father smoking.

Bronwyn McManus. On an 18 acre lifestyle block for 19 years, several on the road. Wanted country living. How lifestyle blocks are used. Community spirit. Work involved, livestock. Lifestyle appeals to young families. Country schools. Access to schools and town. Teacher aid work so fits school hours. Septic tanks. Quiet environment (mainly sheep and beef area). Lifestylers and farmers getting on together. Lifestyle networks. Diversifying lifestock. Coloured sheep, goats, deer. Stocking rates on small blocks. Benefits of the environment for children. Moving on to a large high school.