Former Catlins farmer Leadman ‘‘Ibby’’ Ibbotson has been a surprise hometown hit with his contribution to Clutha Heritage, Clutha Libraries’ digital hub of district history.
‘‘Developed and funded under the national New Zealand Libraries partnership, the Clutha Heritage project aims to collect, retain and develop local history stories and make them accessible to the public,’’ community heritage co› ordinator Tiffany Jenks said.
A third generation Owaka resident, Mr Ibbotson has a sharp recollection of names, dates and details, and contributed an oral history recording about his hometown touching on rugby, cricket, and the Young Farmers and Lions clubs.
He also spoke of his experiences running the family farm, shearing, taking over the drapery store and becoming the rural postman.
‘‘About 10 years ago we used to run the dairy and shop at Papatowai, and Tiffany Jenks used to come during the holidays and work with us.
‘‘She got involved with the heritage project and approached me to see if I had some stories to share,’’ Mr Ibbotson said.
‘‘Not long ago a bloke from England who’d met us when he dropped into the shop years ago on holiday got in touch to say ‘hello’ after seeing the video.’’
Mr Ibbotson’s recordings have garnered as many as 150 hits in a day and have received a lot of positive feedback online.
‘‘Really enjoyed hearing Ibby’s history . . .need more of these,’’ one listener commented.
Ms Jenks said the Clutha Heritage project experienced an inevitable slowdown during Covid›19 restrictions but was now ‘‘back on track’’, employing a large document scanner and operating out of Balclutha Library.
‘‘Primarily it’s about visual records like documents, photos and oral history videos.
‘‘We have a plan to create heritage hubs in our four branches and those will happen over the next few months.
‘‘Once they’re up and running we will be advertising and promoting them.
‘‘Contact details and instructions will be provided and anybody interested can come along to their library,’’ she said.
In the meantime, Mr Ibbotson is a busy volunteer at Owaka’s thriving museum and has plenty of stories to add to the heritage database, such as the near loss of the museum’s captured World War 1 German trench mortar.
