Wingatui

Wingatui is a small settlement almost 15 kilometres west of Dunedin, and two kilometres east of Mosgiel. It has become a suburb of Mosgiel, but continues to maintain its own unique identity and heritage.

Wingatui
Wingatui Railway Station and Signal Box, Dunedin, NZ

Known primarily for the historic Wingatui railway station and for the Wingatui Racecourse, Wingatui is home to an increasing population of nearly 1,557 people, according to the 2013 census.[1] Wingatui enjoys a low unemployment rate [2] and generally high level of income compared with Dunedin generally.

Wingatui is one of the principal stops on the Taieri Gorge Railway, and is also the entrance point to the currently defunct Chain Hills Tunnel single track rail tunnel, which links Wingatui with the Dunedin suburb of Abbotsford to the east. Construction of the railway at Wingatui began in 1879.[3] Local action groups are working with the Dunedin City Council in assessing the possibility of refurbishing and re-opening the disused tunnel to cycle and pedestrian traffic.[4]

Wingatui is home to several lifestyle blocks, the owners of many of which keep horses and are associated with the horse racing industry. On race days, trains from Dunedin are known to carry several hundred racegoers [5] through to Wingatui railway station for races.

Name

A popular myth ascribes the township's name to a bird-shooting incident involving the wounding of a tui by newly-arrived settler William Stevenson, described by A.W. Reed as "surely apocryphal" and that the name might be a contraction of whiringatua - "place of the plaiting of straps" or uingatui - "what the tui said", a reference to training tui to talk, or whiringa-a-tau - grey warbler.[6]

Notable residents
  • Hector A. Anderton - Three-time champion horse trainer. (Father of Brian)[8]

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "Quick Stats NZ Census".
    2. "NZ Census Govt. Profile".
    3. "www.taieri.co.nz".
    4. "Otago Daily Times: Caversham Tunnel Promoted For Access".
    5. "Eventfinder NZ: Wingatui Races".
    6. A W Reed, revised by Peter Dowling, Place Names of New Zealand revised 2010, Penguin Books
    7. "Brian Anderton". New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
    8. Wright, Don (13 April 2011). "Anderton recalls the golden years of Riverton racing". Southland Times.
    9. Love, Tony (25 October 2011). "Greatest moments in Otago sport - Number 17". The Otago Daily Times.

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