It walls could talk

Murupara is a forestry town 65kns south of Rotorua which in the 1960s to 1980s was a boom town due to the large Kaiangaroa forest - producing New Zealand's greatest volume of pine plantation.

In the late 70s the population was around 3000 people earning large revenue from the forestry industry.
After privatisation in the late 80s 250 families were with out jobs and the town relied on government assistance.
Today there are around 2000 of which half of the town live off the benefit, while the town is a tad run down it still manages to survive and I respect the resilience of its community.

I often look at the pub and think of the good old days when a hot Saturday afternoon this place would be cranking to the sound of Laughter, cheer, Yarns, Hard Men, smoke, horse races, a dodgy books in the corner, and the juke box belting out tunes of the day.