Central Otago heritage stonemason Keith Hinds says the role he plays in preserving the past brings him the ultimate job satisfaction.
"I feel quite chuffed; I feel proud," he said of his latest project, the Lindis Hotel ruins.
Mr Hinds (60), a St Bathans resident for 27 years, works full-time restoring and stabilising old buildings and structures throughout the district, mainly for the Historic Places Trust and private owners.
He said one of the key principles in heritage stonemasonry was "like for like", which meant replicating the appearance, techniques and materials used in the original buildings as closely as possible. The practices of such work were governed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which is an international non-governmental organisation of heritage professionals involved in the conservation of the world's historic monuments and sites.
Even traditional tools are used in Mr Hinds' work - a club hammer, a scutch hammer and a bolster, or wide-bladed chisel - and mud to fill the gaps is sourced on site.
"We don't cart it in."
Mr Hinds, a committee member of the Central Otago branch of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, is a self-taught heritage stonemason who developed an interest in the skill while working as a labourer on the Old Cromwell development about 20 years ago.
At present, he is working on the former store and butchery at Ophir, while other projects have included restoration work at Skippers Canyon, Old Cromwell, Butler's Farm at Fruitlands, and Thurlby Domain - the Speargrass Flat property where Bendix Hallenstein, founder of nationwide clothing company Hallensteins, lived in the 1800s.
"I enjoy the restoration of the buildings and finishing it and seeing that another building has been saved.
"It's an interesting job ... I've never been bored doing any stonework."
Another highlight of his work was discovering clues about the people who had occupied or visited the buildings decades earlier, such as names and dates etched into the mortar, or old bottles left inside walls.
"It's all part of social history."
Mr Hinds' late wife Sharon, who died in 2008, was a respected advocate for heritage issues in Central Otago and often helped her husband with his work at heritage sites, including mixing most of the lime for the Lindis Hotel restoration project.
She operated the St Bathans Post Office building as a postal bureau for 13 years, also selling Victoriana and books relating to the goldfields era. The building, which has category 2 status with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, is administered by Doc.
The post office is at the centre of Mr Hinds' "first fight and my biggest fight" since picking up where his wife left off with regard to heritage issues. He is a member of the St Bathans Heritage and Environment Preservation Trust, which opposes Doc's intention to grant a retail and accommodation concession for the post office building. He is concerned about the plans to alter the building interior and also at the possibility the public could be denied access.
The application by James Cameron, of Christchurch, attracted 195 submissions, 190 of them opposing the plans. A hearing on the application in Becks last month was adjourned for more evidence to be heard in February.
