Alpine Grove

When Manu Crescent was first developed in the 1960s, it wasn’t the loop road we know today. Instead, for some years it was two short no-exit streets, known as Manu Crescent East and Manu Crescent West. Alpine Grove, so named because of the view towards the mountain, was developed in the mid-1970s when the two streets were finally connected.

Horace ‘Mannie’ Snowden, a builder, had owned the land in the area since the 1940s. Unlike many property developers however, he exercised great patience, only developing parts of the land when economic conditions were appropriate. It meant there was always an unused spare paddock or two, and in the late 1950s a local sportsman saw an opportunity.

Bill Stockwell had started the Huatoki Cricket Club and was looking for an area to use as a cricket ground. He lived near Mannie Snowden and the two men were friendly. Snowden, a keen sportsman himself, happily allowed the club to use land in the area where the entrance to Alpine Grove is today. Before long, the cricket ground was informally known as ‘Snowden’s Paddock.’

The cricket club members had no pretences to preparing a formal pitch. Instead, they mowed a grass strip and mats were laid down. At least one club member scored a century there, so conditions for the lower-grade players weren’t too bad.

Cricket was played on ‘Snowden’s Paddock’ until 1964, after which the work started on extending Manu Crescent and developing Alpine Grove.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related plans:

Taranaki SO5548 Sheet 1 (1920), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki DP9421 Sheet 1 (1963), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki DP11578 Sheet 1 (1975), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)