Glen Afton

Not to be confused with Glen Afton, Trenton, New Jersey.

Glen Afton is a village in the Waikato District in the northern part of the Waikato Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Formerly an important coal-mining centre, it consists today of little more than a few houses with very limited services and amenities, although one large and one small open-cast coal mine still operate in the area. The nearest town is Huntly, some 14 km (15 minutes' drive) away.

Glen Afton has a Dairy (Store) and a Club Rooms (The Blue Room). There is a Primary School at Pukemiro, the next village; see Pukemiro School.

The Bush Railway runs the Pukemito Line Heritage Railway, which was formerly the Glen Afton Branch until 1977. The Country Music Club meets at the Bush Tramway Club club rooms.

There was a mining disaster at Glen Afton in the Glen Afton mine, Huntly, on 24 September 1939: 11 men were asphyxiated by carbon monoxide. See 'Coal and coal mining - Mining accidents' by Alan Sherwood and Jock Phillips in Te Ara, the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

The roads in the area are good and mostly sealed. There is no public transport.

Land and House prices are quite cheap because of Glen Afton's location and the lack of amenities and services. Also Rates (local Land Taxes) are low as again there is little in the way of facilities.

References

Coordinates: 37°37′S 175°02′E / 37.617°S 175.033°E / -37.617; 175.033

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, August 30, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.