Denniston by drone
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- Denniston is a small settlement, 15 kilometres (9 miles) east of Westport, on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the Denniston Plateau, 600 metres (2000 feet) above sea level in the Papahaua Ranges.
During the first few decades of the 20th Century, up to 1400 people lived in the townships on the Denniston Plateau to service the large coal mines there. Coal was transported in railway wagons from the plateau via the Denniston Incline to Conns Creek, where steam locomotives of New Zealand Railways took coal trains to the port of Westport.
The Denniston Incline closed in 1967. The plateau now has a population of fewer than 10 people, and virtually all the buildings and structures have gone, although many historical relics remain - scattered throughout the plateau and incline area amongst the scrub vegetation.
There are proposals for future mining on the Denniston Plateau.
Source : Wikipedia
Superb drone control and filming. This gave me great pleasure remembering the '70's living in Millerton, exploring the hills, beaches, rivers and finding history round every corner. Your filming was so well done and gave a rare, at times dreamlike perspective, thank you so much. Denniston Incline, one of the greatest engineering challenges ever achieved.
Youre welcome
Great video. Im sitting here in rapahoe in a house that once belonged to miners. I am in awe of those guys.
Thumbs up from a fellow dire straits fan
Cheers mate
That flying marvel gives a fantastic perspective of the challenges they had working in the clouds. Cheers
Fantastic footage from the drone. So much to see but can’t by foot but you made it possible to see more than most so thank you. An amazing place to explore, would be great to go back in time and see this whole area in operation, certainly a feat of engineering considering the conditions and what they had to deal with up there.👍
Thanks,nice to see my backyard from another perspective.
Beautiful pictures
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thanks.
Thanks for the comment Nicholas cheers.
thank you .
Love your work on this and other videos:) Great footage of the line to Banbury Mine entrance. Love Denniston!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Man, that was impressive. Wicked work and what a history there is there. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome Peter Scandlyn
Excellent video. Very interesting.
Impressed with your flying skills Geoff!
Cheers thanks Harvey Jonesd
Bob was born there in 1935 my parents arrived on Denniston in1924 from Scotland very good video
My brother took me there 2019.This gives a proper perspective of the whole layout which is difficult to fathom from the ground.Amazing place.👍🇬🇧
Great sound track! excellent video!
You are welcome Terry Breitling
They had their own soccer clubs, schools, and pubs. The late Bill Pringle, my friend worked underground at the Sullivan Mine.
He told me they rode down into and coming out of the mine on the conveyor belt before and after their shift. My eldest brother was a faultman for NZ PostOffice P & T. As a teen i rode with him in his service truck, a Ford V8, to Denniston where he would service insulators on telephone poles hanging out over deep chasms. Not for the faint hearted. LOL.
The ghosts of the miners long gone, are still up there at Denniston, Millerton, Stockton, at Charming Creek and Seddonville.
They also had Oddfellows, Masonic, Orange and RAOB Buffaloes Lodges up on Denniston.
Great Video, Thanks Geoff
Very cool, thank you
The inclines were clever solutions to transporting coal. The weight of the laden wagons pulled the empty wagons back up to the plateau. Free energy.
There is a quarry in the South Island using a modern version of this: they have purchased a Chinese E.V. quarry truck. They drive it empty up to the quarry which is at a higher altitude,load it up and use regenerative braking to charge the battery on the way down. It costs them around $10/day in electricity to run it.
I hope the quality is better than chinese buses,like most of there stuff it will go up in smoke.
Awesome.
Very nice thanks. I have spent many hours up on the Denniston Plateau, including going down inside the Escarpment Mine and watching the miners setting off a blast. I have also explored around the abandoned Sullivan Mine at the top end and checked out the lower entrance, that they were still working in during the 1980's. Hopefully I will get back there one day, however in the meantime along with my two colleagues, David Sims and Hugh Macdonald, we will be screening 'On Denniston' along with 'After Ninety Years', in movie cinemas around the country once we have completed touring 'This is New Zealand'.
thanks Geoff another great video and the music could have been written for a place like this.
My grandfather immigrated from Scotland to go coal mining up there in the 1930's. Very hard life he had but from all accounts an enjoyable one for him.
He would have been interested in the fact that gorse was indigenous to NZ🤣
Interesting viewpoint Geoff , I was there 20 years ago with my folks (long gone) it looks like there has been a lot more conservation work going on around what was once an engineering marvel.
Great video Geoff, I have been to Denniston many times, but never got to see it like you have shown and the music very appropriate. Awesome
I must go back up there to have a look
Bloody good mate.
I was there at Easter on a lovely day and I was impressed by the photos and documentation on display which gives
an insight to what once was. Having been there I enjoyed your footage showing areas I didn't see and perhaps you can't unless you have a drone
Pure magic, great video and soundtrack. I was there in March 2021 and would sell body parts to get back there.
Very good bit of drone flying. Excellent video.
father side west coast coal minners
Do you not get a copyright strike using Telegraph Road?
Hi Dallas, no, the monetization for the video goes to Dire Straits, so its a win - win , I get to use the best music there is, and the owners of it get the revenue.
@@geoffmackley Thanks for the reply. Do.you turn off obstacle detection when you're that close to trees?
@@dallasstorey no, I leave it on, it can detect obstacles better than I can :)
Very interesting look , nice to see from above
Man there is a lot missing from when I was last there shame for all the engineering minded.
By the way, why not open for tours?
Because DOC closed it down for "safety reasons" !
@@geoffmackley is that bec after Pike River and everything changed?