Articles
Regional rugby
The passion and parochialism of provincial rugby has helped give the game a special place in New Zealand’s social and sporting history. Read brief histories, highlights and quirky facts about each of New Zealand's 26 regional rugby teams.
- Page 9 - Thames Valley rugbyHistory and highlights of rugby in the Thames valley
Town 55 km north of Thames. The Coromandel Peninsula’s most historic settlement, it occupies the alluvial flats of the Whangarahi Stream, backed by the steep Coromandel Range. Te Patukirikiri are the tangata whenua (local tribe) of Coromandel. Miners flocked to Coromandel in 1852 and 1862 but, failing to find alluvial gold, soon left. Investment by mining companies from 1868 meant quartz reefs could be mined, so returns improved and the town stabilised. Gold mining and logging both declined after 1900. Land was farmed and a dairy factory opened in 1911. Coromandel began to grow again in the 1960s, if slowly. Its old-world charm, relative isolation and cheap real estate attracted retired people, artists and ‘alternative lifestylers’.
