Kete New Plymouth

As most readers will know, almost all the streets in Stratford are named after characters from the plays of William Shakespeare. Craig Street, which runs from State Highway 3 to Titania Street, is one of the rare exceptions.

The road was surveyed in 1910 and the applicant is listed as Geo. (George) Hall. On 14 November 1911 the Stratford Evening Post reported that “On the motion of Cr. Boon, seconded by Cr. Sangster, it was decided to give the name of Craig Street to Mrs. Hall’s new

Queen Street was named after Queen Victoria, the reigning monarch at the time New Plymouth was founded. Victoria was crowned when she was just 18, survived at least eight assassination attempts and was the first monarch to ride a train.

Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee (the so-called Record Reign) was celebrated on Tuesday 22 June 1897 and festivities were held across the British Empire. New Plymouth residents were given a public holiday and festooned the streets with flags and bunting. An enormous procession, featuring thousands of schoolchildren, sports clubs, military veterans,

The tradition of naming streets in Stratford after the works of William Shakespeare began as soon as the town was established. The Pātea River was said to look so much like England’s River Avon that the name Stratford-on-Pātea, in homage to the bard’s birthplace Stratford-upon-Avon, was officially adopted on 3 December 1877, but the town eventually became known simply as Stratford.

Ferdinand Street was created in 1952 and named after a character in one of Shakespeare’s last plays, The Tempest. The son of Alonso, King of Naples, Ferdinand is cast

This four-storey building on the corner of Brougham Street and Devon Street West was built for the Bank of New Zealand and was officially opened on 8 September 1961. The Bank of New Zealand had occupied the site since 1885 (see linked topic) and after the old building was demolished in 1959, this modern new building was erected. 

It was designed by local architects Harvey & Bowering and the contractors were Fairbrother, Snowden & Wheeler. Construction began shortly after the removal of the old building with the first

Bowlarama opened in 1991, New Plymouth’s first automated ten-pin bowling centre. The complex now has an indoor mini-putt course, with entrances on both Dawson Street and Devon Street West. In July 2020 a $1.5 - $2m extension/alteration to the complex began to incorporate a new 'Laser tag' game.

It's likely that the first commercial structure on the site was erected in 1935 when a building permit was issued to C. Swanson Ltd. for a workshop on town sections 224 and 226. At the time there was a large two-storey