The Dame of Merivale

'Mess with the Dame and you mess with the whole cul-de-sac.”

Not so much a warning from a neighbour in a beanie and gumboots. More an indication of the reverence in which the ‘Dame' is held in this scruffy little enclave of state houses. Probably the respect she is held in the whole ‘hood', which is Merivale.


The oldest surviving state house resident in Merivale Beryl Goodger.

'I would tell my kids, get into trouble and you will answer to nannie,” says the neighbour.

Nannie and the Dame are one and the same – 90-year-old Beryl Goodger, the oldest surviving state house resident in Merivale. Or so locals say. 'We got this brand new state house right here in 1955,” says Beryl. 'Beautifully built on one-fifth of an acre, we were very happy.”

And she has stayed rooted. Raised four kids here, her husband died here 13 years ago and they will probably carry Beryl out when The Maker calls time. And that won't be anytime soon. 'Because I have just got my driver's licence renewed.”

Beryl has watched Merivale change.

'When we arrived there were a lot of like families. We used to drop into each other's homes, everyone was welcome and we would have fireworks and stuff on the street.

'It was a wonderful community.”

But when the kids grew up and drifted away from home so did the parents; and neighbours became more transient. 'A lot of different people arrived, some with problems. Some were fine, some were lovely; some weren't.”

Somerset Grove – it conjures up images of fruit trees, a sparkling stream, kids at play, laughter and wellbeing. Perhaps not this Somerset Grove. Not now.

'Some tenants have been gang members. But often the problem was the boyfriend, the hangers on, and not the tenants themselves.” And there have been drugs on the street that Beryl's kids used to play on.

'Never thought that would happen.”

And early next year when the Government sell-off of its state housing stock begins, Beryl will be safe as houses.

'In the 1960s we capitalised my youngest son's child benefit. That was enough for a deposit on our house. We paid $12,000 for the house and monthly mortgage payment of $23.” Her state house is her own state house.

'I love Merivale. I love this street. It's a good place to live. Some of the people are occasionally not so good, but many of them are.”

Somerset Grove has made it into the media before, for the wrong reasons. 'Someone was attacked in our street. But it wasn't anyone from the street.”

And anyhow Beryl says she would feel perfectly safe standing in the middle of Somerset Grove any time night or day. 'There would be someone looking after me.”

And she could certainly count on the protection of the neighbour at the bottom of the cul-de-sac. The beanie and gumboots wandered up to the SunLive reporter and asked if there was a way he could possibly help because the reporter looked lost.

The man didn't have much. But he had oodles of charm and was the type you are delighted to be wrong about.

'Of course, you want to see the pakeh…oh excuse me, I mean the caucasian woman up the street.” He points to the ex-state unit at number 9. The one with the front deck that Bob built, the one where the outdoor furniture was ‘nicked', the neat-as-a-pin number nine which is a wonderful enduring monument to Dick Seddon's 1905 Workers Dwellings Act – the legislation behind our state housing system.

It's also a monument to a love story. When 23-year-old Berryl left Capetown, South Africa, on a working holiday to New Zealand her mother told her: 'If you meet someone nice, don't worry about us”.

She did, just one week after arriving in NZ. 'And I have been back to South Africa home just once since then.” Like Merivale, Capetown had changed.

Did she ever consider leaving Merivale? 'Yes, but we had made some modifications to the house and we decided we liked it. So we stayed.”

Beryl again considered moving when her husband died. She told a real estate agent what she wanted for her house and he laughed. 'Houses weren't selling around here. Merivale had developed a reputation and no-one wanted to move there.”

So Beryl will be staying. She will be here forever and happily so. ‘The Dame' or the ‘Queen of Merivale'.

Now that made her laugh. Either way Merivale is richer for having her.

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1 comment

Ive

Posted on 22-08-2016 18:03 | By Capt_Kaveman

Met her what a super lady


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