Steps into past and present

Dunedin’s Dowling St Steps provide a gateway to personal and city histories, Tony Love writes.

Dunedin is renowned for its great architecture.

We think of Dunedin Railway Station, First Church, Larnach Castle, Olveston and the Dowling St steps.

OK, it’s probably a leap to put the steps in that exalted company but the majestic structure provides a fascinating insight into the city.

It is a portal to the past as well as a link from the centre of the city to the hill suburbs.

The Dowling St steps are also a gathering place for young people, a venue for wedding photos and, unfortunately, a toilet.

They are also used by runners and fitness seekers attempting to stay in trim.

The present structure dates back to the 1920s but work was carried out as early as the 1850s to cut through Bell Hill to enable access from Princes St to the hill suburbs and wooden steps were put in place in 1863.

However, apparently "respectable" women were expected to give them a wide berth as there were issues with sanitation, and they were frequented by intoxicated men.

They are still frequented by intoxicated teens and perhaps even by those a bit older preloading before heading elsewhere.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Work on the new concrete steps and ramp was completed by October 1927 and described as one of the council’s most "conspicuous works" — the steps were even used as an outdoor arena for public addresses.

Most of the public addresses nowadays, however, consist of those emanating at a chainsaw-like volume from what we called boomboxes or ghetto blasters in the day.

Originally, a German trophy gun sat on top of the abutment but this was removed in 1943, after a letter from the chief postmaster to the city engineer. 

Apparently, it was feared that if the Japanese saw it they would believe it was for defensive purposes and bomb the vicinity.

Generations of school pupils — particularly those from Otago Girls’ — have used the steps as a shortcut to or from school.

As a neighbour of the steps for the past 21 years, I can hear the girls in the background when I’m in and I can assure you they sound different heading home. It may just be that it’s much easier going downhill — but I think what I can hear is the sound of freedom.

I went to St Paul’s as it was then (it had previously been Christian Brothers and has since been Kavanagh College and, at the time of writing, is Trinity Catholic College) and for five years pounded up Rattray St five mornings a week after exiting the bus at the Exchange.

Looking back, I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I remember using the steps. The steps, you see, were only used by pupils coming from the north.

For anyone having doubts about my assertion the steps have been used by wedding parties, I can assure you I witnessed one such event. It was a beautifully fine Saturday afternoon more than a decade ago, and everyone looked very happy — that’s all I know, although the bride was wearing white and the groom a flash suit. But it happened.

The steps and ramp are used by joggers ascending and descending and the ramp makes a useful spot for fitness trainers putting their eager charges through their paces. It takes too much energy to watch this but I have heard the sounds of suffering when still in bed.

Decades ago, a friend of mine used the steps as her own fitness tool. She was living in Ravensbourne and attending Otago Girls’ during the 1980s. Bullying was just as prevalent then as it is now and she felt she had no choice but to walk to and from school after being tormented about her weight on the school bus.

It turns out she she became slim, fit and felt much better about life after a year of walking to and from school and the part the steps played in that. And she still loathes the steps with a passion to this day.