In the Steps of Jack Leigh

Chapter 2: St Mary's Bay

page 3

Across the way

the colonial lace is in good shape

Hello... This looks a bit more recent.

This presents as the classic villa.

Coming down a size from the ample villas is this cottage, still with its piece of lace framing the entrance way

We walk down to New Street, and across the road are the various manifestations of the Sisters of Mercy. To the right is the hospice:

Just across the road and slightly to the left is the new convent, finished, Leigh tells us, in 1971.

Standing at the gate is the Mercy Cross, international symbol of the Sisters of Mercy, nesting in a couple of koru, or stylised fern fronds.

The plaque on the base goes into rather more detail, but even so, my first impression lingers: intentional or otherwise, there's something rather maritime about the end result.

We walk along New St to the left, admiring the tall oaks, relatively recent as oaks go, that date from the time of Archbishop Liston.

The general impression from New St is of solid permanence:

The old chapel looks solid enough, too.

Along further are St Mary's College and St Catherine's Rest Home. Despite the obvious Irish influence noted earlier, St Mary's has a definitely Spanish look about it. It was built in 1929.

A row of school buses waits for the pupils of St Mary's College. Many of these girls appear to come a fair distance to school each day. This bus is bound for Manurewa and Papakura, probably a good hour or more away in rush hour traffic.