The Patea Beach has seen many changes over the years. It was a military settlement & trading post in the 1860s. Then a busy exporting Port at the turn of the century. The first metaled road for vehicles down to the beach was laid in 1928 (tarseal came decades later), before that it had been a narrow track that changed as the sand drifted. Doug Roots, Lewis Adams, Fred Locker, James Fairweather, Mayor Finlayson, Mr TJC Scott were instrumental in its construction. In the summer of 1930 the Patea Seaside Improvement Society was formed, for the double purpose of maintenance & safety. The duties were separated with the amicable formation of the Patea Surf & Swimming Club soon after. The Society organised beach carnivals, picnics & boating regattas of various kinds, as fundraisers to finance improvements in the Beach Settlement. In 1938 a tea Kiosk was built with changing rooms on each side, & 1939 saw the completion of the Centennial Memorial (to commemorate the Treaty of Waitangi) (Salt water) Baths. 1940 also saw a huge storm, with erosion & damage in the area near the Baths. With WWII in full swing, the repairs done were minimal, but the sand was cleared away & beach fun continued. Bill Verney remembers 2 caves in the huge clay bank behind the Kiosk, it had table and chairs in it, so people could sit and eat in the shade on a hot day. The 2 caves were joined by an opening dug through the clay, so you could walk between the two. They were eventually covered over by sand, and no cave can now be seen, it is just a huge sandhill.  A Queen Carnival was held in 1946 and £1350 was raised by the Patea Seaside Improvement Society. For any event like this a ‘slippery pole’ was suspended across the pool for the children to play on all day. By the mid 1950’s the Patea Borough Council had taken over responsibility of the Beach Settlement, & the Patea Seaside Improvement Society went into recess. The Baths were deemed unsafe & unhygienic by the Health Department in 1968 & were closed, & eventually demolished in 1973. 
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These are the families that lived at the Patea Beach settlement in the 1940s & 50s, when Noeline Kerrisk nee Griffiths, lived here with her Mum, two sisters & a brother. A big storm in 1955 covered alot of houses with sand. The home that the Howard and Moana Herbert lived in, near what is now Bourke’s Look out, was buried in a sand drift. Part of this house was left behind under the sand, but the main part of the house was moved up to town (it has since burnt down) Contrary to popular belief, the homes that were partially buried, were dug out again, and 2 or 3 of them were moved up into the township, (Pully-Reids is on Kent St, Clive Robinson restored it) away from the moving sand. The first section of road heading down the hill to the first corner was moved about 10m to the left after the storm had moved tons of sand on to this hill.  The Budd’s home at the top of the incline, was burnt down in the 1940’s, one of their children died in the fire. And Monty Boagy’s home is long gone. Noeline remembers Mr & Mrs Vose had a lovely garden down on the corner of Turi St. The large old Boat Club Hall was alongside Turi St, towards the end. It housed canoes, skiffs, & other rowing equipment for the young people to use on the river back then.  This building was later used by the Patea Players, for their theatrical productions (they also used the Mineral Factory for rehearsal’s. The road continued toward the river & looped round again down near the Baths, drivers always kept left , & this loop was one way traffic. Monica Harris’s old gabled house was pulled down when she left, & Ron Roach moved the ‘single men’s quarters’ from the Kakaramea Dairy factory on in the late 1970’s, & with the help of his son, Lewis turned it into a family home. Lewis told me how his father rang his teacher at Patea High School & told them he would be away from School for a week. Being the local Cop, he could do this without issue! When Scobie’s house was pulled down, it was found to have a ‘lockup cell’ in the centre of it. It is thought that it was from the times of the first military settlement on the beach in 1860s. Brett Lowe is the Grandson of Mr Marsh the milkman. He told me that Ralph Marsh moved to NZ from England in 1947 and was followed by Brett’s Uncle (Barrie) and Grandmother (Iris) the next year. His mother (Catherine) was born in Patea in 1949. They moved away in 1955 or 56 to live in Lysaght's Homestead in Mokoia.
Mrs Hunter has a small shop that opened most days in the summer months on the grass area at the end of the loop road, later run by Mr and Mrs Ansley. Fred Leach, or Skinny as he was known, would always be waiting at the top of the hill on a Friday & Saturday night, to meet the bus coming back from dances, & walk back with the young people to make sure they got home ok. It was a caring community, where everyone looked out for each other. The salt water baths were a popular spot all summer long.

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​This is the Tea Kiosk that was built in 1938. It was partially destroyed by sand drift in a storm in 1940. Rebuilt with a flat roof, & other minor changes soon after. Thkyou Bob Pettigrew for this photo & info.

. This is the rebuilt version with a flat roof, with changing rooms on each side & a large open alcove/shelter area in the middle, & 1939 saw the completion of the Centennial Memorial (Salt water) Baths. ​I remember these bathes and to the right of this photo there was a flat clay area and cliffs in the cliffs were 2 caves with seats in them and we used to sit in out of the sun to have a picnic lunch but alas the sand took that before it took half the homes on the way to the beach. On the left you can see the pump house sitting on the wooden breakwater (this was later shifted further to the right. Us boys used to dive in off the end of this at full tide and swim with the wave and climb back up behind the wall for if you came back to the corner you could get caught in the back wash and swept out or climb further along the breakwater if you could swim to it , I remember pulling one boy to the breakwater But it didn't deter us. When we were older about the 1950's we used to go down to the bathes to help old Hughie Cameron Lee clean out the sand etc when the bath was emptied for in later years there was always a lot of sand and Hughie was getting on so it was a good way to payback for a facility that gave us guys a great place to spend our youth. Memories from Bill Verney.

​Looking towards the Railway line behind the River. Jack & Lilian's Hunter's house to the left/middle. Behind it is Mr & Mrs Waterlands. Behind all the parked cars on the right side, is Mr & Mrs Cameron-Lees house, & just behind that is Mrs Griffiths house. The Pools are just out of the picture in the front right. Thkyou Hazel Morey (nee Bates) for this photo

​The first Patea Surf Club formed in the early 1930s Left to Right: Ben Currie, D Grant, P Bourke, R (Bob) Adams, Alic Gillon, G Fraser, B Edwards, R James. This photo is from Ashleigh Gillon, the son of Alic Gillon (Alic was married to Bob Adam's sister Lila). Alic was killed in WWII. Fred Verney formed one of the very first woman’s surf teams in Patea due to the fact most of the men were overseas fighting for our freedom. the names Ashleigh remembers are Betty Mills (later Mrs Kasper whose husband Jack had an epileptic fit while fishing on the southern wall at the river mouth and drowned)Betty Turner, Helen Hamerton, cannot think of the other at least three names.

​Patea Women's Surf Life Saving Team 1938, Miss Anderson, Helen Somerville, Bai Illingworth, Jean Quickenden, Bub Willis, Nola Freeman

​This is the Harbour Master's house in about 1955, over the river on the Whenuakura side.
Harbour Masters:
Alfred Wood- 1871-1882
John Flowerday- 1882-1904
Martin Henry Frederick Petersen- 1904-1906
William Tinney- 1906-1930
William Edward Barnes - 1930 -1955
John Shirley Dracap- 1955-1959.
This house was built by Mr Alistair Gunn & Co in 1912, it is still there, although much altered now, with a second storey added.
This photo was taken when Harbour Master John S Dracup lived there. His daughter Eleanor Bensemann has written a book about her Dads' life in shipping around NZ: 'John S Dracup, The life & times of a seafaring man'. There is an interesting chapter about his time in Patea. This photo was taken in about 1955 when John & Elsie Bensmann & their 5 children lived there. Their twin girls, Winsome & Wendy had just been born & the clothes line is full of nappies. Thank you Eleanor Bensemann for this great photo.

​Captain W E Barnes on the radio to a ship coming into Patea. He was 72 when he retired and John Dracup took over the position, he had been Dredge Master up until then from 1949...waiting for the Harbour Master job to come available. William Edward Barnes, Pilot Station, Patea, harbour master 1930 - 1955 He was married to Clara Maude Barnes (this appears to also be her maiden name). Married 1911 probably in Auckland and they had two daughters Esme and Thelma.
Esme Mary b. 24 May 1912 – d. 4 July 2012
Thelma Francis. B. 18 May 1914 – d. 24 May 1988
Capt Barnes died 8 July 1956 in Wellington aged 72.
Photo from the Harry Baker Collection.