Historic family bach on Boulder Bank destroyed
For six decades a small wooden bach on Nelson’s Boulder Bank has been a peaceful family haven with “billion-dollar views”.
Within minutes on Monday afternoon, the Robson family’s red bach was gone, destroyed by a fire that could be seen from the city’s waterfront.
It’s not yet known what caused the blaze that broke out shortly before 3pm and left just an outhouse toilet and a pile of wood and corrugated iron.
Fire crews were ferried by the Nelson Harbourmaster to the scene but the building had already partly collapsed.
Sue Robson, 71, whose father Noel bought the bach for $999 in the 1960s from Margaret Trathen, said on Tuesday that its loss was still sinking in.
Under its Department of Conservation licence conditions, the bach cannot be replaced.
With her two brothers she would rise with the sun, and walk along the Boulder Bank looking for flotsam and jetsam, or go fishing or swimming. There was no TV, and until a solar panel was installed, no lighting apart from torches.
“It was just the simple life. We met so many people that used to walk on the Boulder Bank, or yachties or kayakers, and they would just pop in for a cup of tea.”
Among the possessions destroyed in the fire were old paintings and photos and a 60-year-old formica table that hosted countless gatherings.
But it was the loss of a lifebuoy from the former Port Nelson tug Wakatu that her father worked on that upset her the most. It hung on the front door and she had intended to bring it home to fix its rope.
Robson has fond memories of the traditional New Year’s Eve gatherings of other bach owners. The late Gilbert Inkster, a former harbourmaster, played the bagpipes, and a Boulder Bank “mayor” was elected. Unfortunately, the mayoral chains were another fire casualty.
On Monday night she commiserated and toasted the bach with her “Boulder Bank sister” Helen Gilchrist (formerly Inkster), whose family owns the nearest bach.
“It’s really sad,” Robson said. “It was a place of fun and laughter, and family. I’m also sad that it’s another piece of lost history, something that makes Nelson unique.
“But nothing in life is permanent.”
By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail
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