Swannanoa, New Zealand

Swannanoa is a small, originally farming village 35 kilometres northwest of Christchurch, New Zealand. The area has an estimated population of 1,000 with 309 pupils enrolled in the primary school, established in 1871. The population is slowly increasing due to new subdivisions being developed there and in neighbouring Mandeville North.

Swannanoa, New Zealand
village
Swannanoa
Coordinates: 43°23′S 172°28′E
Country New Zealand
IslandSouth Island
RegionCanterbury
Time zoneUTC+12 (NZST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+13 (NZDT)
The Swannanoa school pool and school gate

Education

Swannanoa School is a state co-educational full primary school[1] with a decile rating of 10 and a roll of 309 students (as of March 2020).[2] The principal is Brian Price.[3] The school's country fair is held every March.

World land speed record
VINCENT Black Lightning

New Zealand motorcycle speed record holder Russell Wright gained the Motorcycle land-speed record, reaching 184.83 miles per hour on a Vincent-HRD Black Lightning motorcycle loaned by David Topliss, of Nelson on 2 July 1955, on Tram Road.[4] A plaque commemorates the achievement.

Tram Road, the main road through Swannanoa, is an almost dead straight, ten-mile-long two-lane road. It is a popular location for speed trial events. This World Record is unusual as most that were officially recognised were achieved in the United States on open expanses of salt flat while this world record was achieved on a narrow, public road "still drying out from rain the night before".

After he had set one world record, Wright dismounted, and a Scottish immigrant, Bob Burns, attached a light sidecar to the Lightning. Burns then set another world record for sidecars. His two runs averaged 162 miles per hour (261 km/h)[5]

Naming

The name Swannanoa originated from American John Evans Brown (Yankee Brown), who named the land he settled after a Native American settlement. The Swannanoa Homestead has for many years been farmed by the Petrie Family.

References
  1. Education Counts: Swannanoa School
  2. "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. "Brian Price - Principal". swannanoa.school.nz. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  4. Fallow, Michael (13 February 2013). "World speed records set". The Southland Times. Invercargill. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  5. Fallow, Michael (13 February 2013). "World speed records set". The Southland Times. Invercargill. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
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