Takapuna Boating Club

Here stands a relocated tannery looking curiously comfortable in it's setting, maybe because it has been here for ninety years.
The Bayswater Boating Club had no clubrooms, until 1914 when it moved here and changed it's name to Takapuna Boating Club.

In 1923, barges brought the timbers from the retired Ireland's Panmure Tannery here and it was whacked back up in a hurry, nevermind the ownership of the land. That issue was sorted, by Act of Parliament and the Takapuna Boating Club has stood sound ever since, though the building, now listed by council as a heritage asset, does need some work. The history of the tannery back in Panmure has all but disappeared, and this building may be all that is left from the business that dominated Panmure (and polluted the inlet) from the 1850s until the 1930s. The building must date from after 1881, when the tannery was rebuilt following a fire which razed the entire factory.

A Sydney Harbour style swimming pool, renewed by the tide, used to be an attraction on the front of the clubrooms but this has suffered from maintenance issues and has not been functional as a pool since the 1950s. There is a plan to restore it to a pond for sailing remote control boats. Toilet and changing facilities may also have fallen out of repair but were retained as they hold the road up.

The Clubrooms, being sizeable, have hosted may interesting businesses over the years, mainly sailmakers, but also a cafe and the building formed part of the set for the filming of the 1993 TV series 'Deepwater Haven'. The Club's main claim to fame though would be as host of various world and national championships, and as providing a training ground for some of New Zealand's best sailors. As well as sailing, the club has branches in waka ama/outrigger, stand up paddleboard, and surfski, as well as water safety education. Since the 1960s, these services they now operate out of Takapuna Beach, while the old clubrooms look for a new purpose.

Image Credits: Takapuna Boating club and Celia Walker