Margaret Borland reflects on her early life in St Bathans, where she grew up in a close-knit rural community shaped by family, education, sport, and the legacy of the gold-mining era.
Descended from one of the district’s early storekeeping families, Margaret shares memories of life in the family store, attending the small local school, and enjoying the freedom of village life in the 1930s and 1940s. She recalls everyday life without electricity, community events and social expectations, curling, tennis, wartime farewells, the destruction of the original Vulcan Hotel by fire, and the transformation of the huge pit left over from gold mining into the Blue Lake. Margaret also recalls some of the characters who helped shape the St Bathans community, and her journey beyond St Bathans to boarding school, university, and a career in physiotherapy.
The interview reveals Margaret’s enduring pride in the place where she grew up, and her recollections provide a valuable insight into a way of life that has largely disappeared from Central Otago.
Interviewer: Raylene Fastier
Interview Dates: March 2023
St Bathans School, Margaret third from right, middle row, 1936
Margaret in physio uniform, undated
St Bathans trip down memory lane, March 2023
Margaret Borland, 2017
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