Born in 1960, Mr Templeton became the fourth-generation owner of Templeton Engineering in Wicklow Tce, established in 1906 by his great-grandfather James.
James’ son, Charles, known as Chas, eventually took over the business, and was later joined by his own sons, David, a blacksmith, and Ralph, a fitter and turner, who trained at Dunedin’s Hillside Railway Workshops.
By 1964, David had gone farming in Tarras and Chas had decided to retire, leaving Ralph to run the business, with wife Ethel taking care of the book-keeping and son Garry helping out in the workshop after school.
Garry took over the business — believed to be the oldest company still operating in the Upper Clutha — in 1996, then handed the reins over to the husband and wife team of Matt and Sarah Read in 2021.
‘‘I just like puttering around just with the small stuff, not the big stuff.
‘‘It’s good, they’ve got a bloody good crew down there,’’ he said.
Albert Town as whole has changed a lot in his time.
‘‘It was probably the late 1980s and early ’90s when [houses] started to pop up.
‘‘Then by the time the 2000s came around, well, holy smokes, it was all go.
‘‘As for the bridge, there were no lights on it, you just crossed it when you wanted to.’’
Growing up in such a small place he knew everybody by name, Mr Templeton said.
‘‘In lower Albert Town there were nine residents and 14 or 15 cribs,’’ he said.
‘‘As far as going Aubrey Rd into Wānaka there was just nothing.
‘‘There was a sawmill there and there was just no houses.’’
Mr Templeton said the undeveloped area was their ‘‘play pit’’ as teenagers.
‘‘We had no laws or boundaries, there was no houses there ...
‘‘The local cop, Paddy Keown, would drive past in his car — he knew we weren’t causing any problems.’’
A member of the local volunteer fire brigade for 34 years, Mr Templeton said he joined for ‘‘a bit of community service’’. ‘‘If someone was in trouble we’d go help.
‘‘Every call was different. I really enjoyed it, it was bloody good,’’ he said.
His Albert Town home occupies a section of land which was previously part of his grandfather’s farm.
‘‘He ran a bit of a farm down here after he retired,’’ he said.
Mr Templeton said moving away from the area had crossed his mind.
‘‘[But] in all fairness, where else would you get these views and weather patterns?’’
