Description
Friends in Chains is an extraordinary book about the life of a teamster, written by Bob Henderson.
Bob was born in Greymouth in 1879. The family later moved to Taylorville around 1890 when Bob’s father contracted with the Brunner Mine to supply mining timber.
Bob was employed as a telegraph messenger when the Brunner mine exploded in 1896 and spent three days delivering telegrams to the large number of families affected by the explosion. He moved on to Reefton to work in various activities but became known as a teamster and this book is about his experiences as such, in the Reefton and Nelson areas. He was employed to transport heavy machinery to isolated mine sites, along narrow, winding and steep tracks with horses and wagons. His descriptions of these events evoke the hardship these men and horses lived through and his ‘chatty’ stories bring this all to life. Trips were also made to Nelson, Westport and surrounding areas.
This classic book was originally published in 1961, although it is based in the early 1900s.
Author: Bob Henderson. Publisher: Friends of Waiuta.
