Bandon Grove

A love of horse racing and a lifelong attachment to the Catholic Church combine in a rather intriguing way to explain the origin of this street name.

John (Jack) Barry was a Bell Block farmer and a horse racing fanatic. The walls and bookshelves of his Paraite Road house were adorned with racing memorabilia and photos of his beloved horses. Among his most successful was Bandon, which raced in the 1960s.

Bandon, trained by Noel Eales, won several important races, one of which was the Whanganui Queen Anne Cup in February, 1964. Auckland rider J F Grylls had made the long trip south and only accepted the offer to ride Bandon on the morning of the race. Grylls rode a well-judged race to bring Bandon home just ahead of Mixed Reception and Beira to claim the £2200 purse.

Following the race, Jack Barry donated the cup to the Taranaki Jockey Club on the undertaking that it should be presented to the first owner to win the Taranaki Cup three times. Carey Hobbs, CEO of Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, tells us that, while two owners have won the race twice, a third win has, so far, proved elusive.

It's thought the substantial Whanganui prize money, along with Bandon's other winnings, helped Jack and his wife, Honorah, buy a block of land in Bell Block. The couple died childless within two years of each other in the late 1970s and bequeathed their property to the Fitzroy Parish of the Catholic Church.

This generous bequest continues to benefit the church and the community. The church meets in a hall built on the property in Parklands Avenue. They also leased part of it to the Taranaki County Council for pensioner housing and, of course, some was subdivided for residential purposes.

No doubt Mr Barry would have thoroughly approved of the suggestion to name a short cul-de- sac after a horse that brought him so much pleasure.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.