Where is molesworth nz

From the s, the Molesworth became part of the main inland connection between Nelson Marlborough and North Canterbury, called the Canterbury Track.

The Molesworth farm itself was created after the Crown amalgamated of three extensive pastoral leases: St Helens including the Dillon Run , Tarndale and Molesworth. These farms fell into Crown hands in and after their runholders walked off the land, exhausted by a severe rabbit problem, overgrazing on eroding land and severe snowfalls.

Through the s and 60s the Government recovered the land, which today continues to be farmed under administration of the Department of Conservation on behalf of the Crown. The Acheron Accommodation House, also known as the Clarence Accommodation House, is the only one left today, and is open to the public as a heritage site, with information panels. It was built in by Ned James, a ships carpenter and station hand known for also building cob buildings.

He took nearly a year to build the eight-roomed house. The house grew into a social hub. According to the DOC website, the area was historically visited by small, food-gathering parties in the summer months. The Molesworth name had significance as well, he said, and the area was part of the history of the farming sector of New Zealand. The names Molesworth Moor and Molesworth Creek appeared on the first topographical map of the area in It received almost responses, most of which suggested the property be retained as a working farm.

Alice Angeloni , Jul 05 The department is working in partnership with Te Runanga o Kaikoura in considering the Molesworth management options, Bradfield says.

It is also working closely with the Nelson Marlborough Conservation Board and the Molesworth Steering Committee, which advises on the management of Molesworth. The possibility of turning Molesworth into a national park is one option. Jim Ward has managed Molesworth on behalf of Landcorp for the past 19 years. The politics behind the stations future "does his head in" he says and he wants no part in it, content to allow others to do the decision-making.

But he is in no doubt that the property will continue to be run as a cattle station, one way or the other. Cattle are bred on Molesworth and finished on the Landcorp farm out on the flat land at Hanmer.

For that reason, these days Molesworth runs only breeding cows. Bulls are sourced from other Landcorp properties. The challenges surrounding Molesworth are many; the wilding pine spread, the extremes in weather and the intricacies of running a property that is to a certain extent open to the public.

But Ward sees the future of Molesworth to be primarily that of a farm. It is profitable and makes the best use of the landscape. There are also the emotional aspects attached to the property, he says. There have been dozens of musterers and other farm workers pass through Molesworth over the decades. For many there is an emotional attachment to the place that is unique and that will continue with the generations that come in the future.

State-owned Landcorp has been farming Molesworth since the s. Environmental lobby group Forest and Bird top-of-the-south regional manager Debs Martin says Molesworth is an area of incredible biodiversity and the end of the farming lease provides an opportunity to have a conversation about its restoration. She says almost half of the 60 endemic plant species from South Marlborough are found in Molesworth which is one of the reasons it became a Department of Conservation recreation reserve in