Stanley Bay Writers' Walk

Terrain: Fairly level with descending steps on Spring Street.

Duration: Minimum of one hour

Parking: Available in front of the supermarket in Bartley Tce and Fleet St, near the north-western corner of the car park.

NB This walk is linked to, and marked on the Devonport Walk map.

Walk up Victoria Rd, turn left into Calliope Rd. continue along, turn right into Kiwi Rd and left into Rutland Rd. Jack Lasenby lived at 27a Rotheram House for several years from 1963 onwards. The house, which is down a long drive, was designed for use as a studio by Bruce Rotheram. It was built in 1951 and is listed by North Shore City Council for its exceptional heritage significance.

Jack Lasenby (1931-) Children's writer

Lasenby attended the University of Auckland from 1950 - 1952, before he left to spend the next 10 years deer-culling in the Urewera. he later moved to Wellington, where he lectured at teachers' College before becoming a full-time writer.

Turn right into William Bond St and continue along to the cottage at 26 William Bond St...

John Graham (1922-) Playwright, screenwriter and memoirist.

Graham lived here during the 1960s. He had formed a strong friendship with the German poet-in-exile, Karl Wolfskehl (see the Takapuna Walk). Graham later moved to great Barrier island, where he still lives.

Turn left into Waterview Rd. On the right, down a right-of-way leading to Stanley Bay Park is 29a Glen Rd, once the home of...

Sarah Campion (1906-) novelist and columnist and her husband Antony Alpers (1919-96) Katherine Mansfield biographer.

Alpers lived here until the early 1960s, when the marriage ended. Campion continued to live here until 1984. She published several novels in England and Australia before emigrating to new Zealand with her husband in 1952. Although she published no further fiction after settling in New Zealand, Campion was a political activist, opposed in particular to nuclear armament and racism. Today she lives at a rest home in Beach Haven. Alpers worked as a journalist for the Auckland Star before moving to Britain. He returned to Auckland in the early 1950s and wrote many of his books while living in Glen Rd. Later he moved to Canada, where he held an academic position.

Anne Salmond (1945-) Anthropolgist

The elegant villa at 14 Glen Rd is the home of Dame Anne Salmond, (Two Worlds, Between Worlds) and her husband, conservation architect Jeremy Salmond. The villa is listed on North Shore City's Schedule of Heritage Buildings.

Turn left into Calliope Rd. At 107 Calliope Rd from 1968-72 lived...

Barbara Anderson (1926-) Novelist and short story writer

The house can be seen down a long drive on the seaward side of the road. Anderson also lived at 61 Calliope Rd from 1961-64, while her naval officer husband was stationed at the Devonport Naval base. The New Zealand navy has been synonymous with Devonport since Calliope Dock was opened in 1888.

On the left, 98 Calliope Rd was one of the childhood homes of...

Dorothy Butler (1925-) reading educator and children's bookseller

Butler's family moved to Devonport in 1928, where Dorothy's father had a butcher's shop in Stanley Bay. She recounts her memories in There Was a Time (1999).

After 61 Calliope Rd (Barbara Anderson's house 1961-64) opposite Kiwi Rd, continue a little way along. Between 43 and 45 is a pedestrian footpath leading to Spring St. The cottage at 10 Spring St was the home of...

Shonagh Koea novelist and short story writer

Koea lived here from 1997 until 2000. Devonport was important to her writing in that living there was, as she puts it, 'quiet yet stimulation, not lonely and within an easy ferry ride of libraries, book shops and galleries in the inner city.' She also found the Shore, 'tolerant, kindly and friendly.'

Turn left into Queens parade, past the naval museum. near the corner, in the two-storey house at 2 Huia St lived...

Hector Bolitho (1898- 1974) Novelist, short story writer and English royal family biographer

Bolitho lived here from 1911, when the house was built, until 1920. Bolitho worked as a journalist for the New Zealand Herald and the Auckland Star before moving to Australia in 1924 and England in 1924. There he wrote many books about members of the English royal family, which were prolific sellers, as well as novels and short stories. The house at 2 Huia St is still called Bolitho House.

Janet Frame (1924-) Poet, novelist and short story writer

The house where Frame lived near the corner of Anne St and Queens Parade in 1963, has since been demolished. She wrote her first novel while living in Takapuna. Notes on her life and work are in the Takapuna Walk.