Makahu

Taranaki

26 Jan

Dates: 1904-1931
Location: 835 Mangaehu Road, Makahu, Taranaki (-39.292662, 174.630690)
Registration No: 305
Brand names: MAKAHU

Founding and Early Challenges (1902-1904)

The Makahu Co‑operative Dairy Company was incorporated in 1902, but the factory did not begin operating until November 1904 due to the extreme isolation of the district. All timber, machinery, and the large boiler had to be hauled in by bullock wagons over steep hills and through the unbridged Mangaehu River. When the factory finally opened, it was officially inaugurated by the Minister of Public Works, W. Hall‑Jones, marking a major milestone for one of Taranaki’s most remote farming settlements.

Leadership and Early Difficulties

The first directors were A.M. Coyne, M. Ford, F.K. Kopke, J. Diggins, W. Manning, W. Riddle, and E. Skinner, with Riddle serving briefly as chairman before being succeeded by Augustine M. Coyne, who led the company for 27 of its 29 years. Despite being located beside the Mangaehu River, the factory suffered a severe water shortage in its first season, with water “actually being sledged to the factory” when the nearby well failed. Economic isolation also made operations difficult, and an attempted merger with the Stratford Dairy Company in 1912 was unsuccessful.

Cheese Production and Decline (1915-1931)

In 1915, the factory switched from butter to cheese production due to higher cheese prices, but supplier numbers steadily declined - from 13 in 1906 to 7 by 1918. As motor transport improved and surrounding factories became more accessible, Makahu’s position weakened. By 1931, suppliers opted to send home‑separated cream to Stratford, effectively closing the factory. At the final annual meeting that year, the chairman reflected that when Makahu began, “not one of the suppliers… had had previous experience in co‑operative dairying”, yet they had supported the factory loyally through decades of hardship.

The first manager Mr Sidney Clayton wrote in his diary about his three years as manager.

“After three years in Stratford, I felt I knew enough about the business to get something better and applied for a small factory at Makahu, some 30 miles east of Stratford; salary £150 with a free house. I was appointed and stayed there for three years (1904-1906) and (in passing) met my second wife whom I married in the second year, so the third year we looked after the factory jointly. I did very well and during my term secured respectively 7th, 2nd and 1st place on the grading list at New Plymouth. This in spite of my isolation, and the day long trip in a wagon to Stratford which the butter had to travel. Being 30 miles from an engineer and 5 from a blacksmith, one has to be ready for anything but I always managed to keep the wheels moving. A primitive sort of life with stores and mail delivered weekly, we were quite comfortable in the small shanty. We once accommodated relations by making up one bed on top of the loose pumice at the top of the factory cool room. Baths were had in the factory wash tub and some of our cooking done by the exhaust steam from the engine.

Once the season started there was no respite until it finished and I doubt if I was half a mile away from the factory for eight months. At the end of one season, I remember waliking the 25 odd miles to Stratford, the road being very boggy all the way to Douglas. After three years, the Directors tried hard to get me to stay but I could see no prospect and could not ask for any more money so decided to take a job in a cheese factory”.

Closure, Liquidation, and Legacy (1933-Present)

The company entered voluntary liquidation in 1933, and its buildings, machinery, timber, and cottage were sold. The factory was dismantled the same year, leaving little trace of its existence. Today, only part of the original boiler survives, displayed outside Makahu Hall, which now occupies part of the former factory site. The district remembers pioneers like A.M. Coyne, celebrated for his leadership in roads, bridges, schooling, and the dairy company - an enduring legacy of determination in one of Taranaki’s most isolated farming communities.