In 1897 Alec Armstrong secured a Central Otago property in a ballot. Four generations later, that 1522-hectare Poolburn farm, now known as Cragside, is for sale for the first time.
Neville Armstrong took over in 1986 after his father Joe died aged 44. Neville and wife Janette have farmed Cragside ever since, overcoming a tough start to their tenure.
“Through the 80s, with the government removing subsidies and interest rates high, several local farmers went by the wayside. However, Polwarth made mid micron wool more profitable at the perfect time for us. We were going in the right direction on the farm and managed to persuade the bank to keep faith,” says Neville.
It wasn’t the first time the Armstrongs had faced down adversity. Before Alec’s good fortune in the ballot, having emigrated from Northumberland in northern England, the family worked as rabbitters. Alec brought his younger brothers Richard and George to help break in Cragside.
“Initially, they only ran 600 to 800 sheep. The hill country was divided into just two blocks,” says Neville.
Aged 39, Alec enlisted for World War One, though was injured the day before the Third Battle of Passchendaele and never reached the front. During the Depression, he came close to giving up the farm.
“We still have a piece of paper in Alec’s handwriting, listing how many bushels of chaff and wheat, and how many horses and sheep and so on were on the place. He’d itemised everything on the farm ready to sell up, though never went through with it,” says Janette.
Alec and his wife Nellie had one son, Alexander Raymond, known as Raymo. Raymo took over the farm when Alec died in 1951. While he was a gifted engineer who designed pumps, a baler and other equipment to make the farm easier, Raymo lacked patience for the routine of farming and struggled with alcoholism.
Raymo’s son Joe married Lorraine Sinnamon, who lived across the valley. Lorraine will shortly move off Cragside, 61 years after she and Joe gradually took over the farm from Raymo in the 1960s.
“Joe had a bulldozer that he liked to tinker on. He did a lot of development work on the farm. He flew as well, with an airstrip on the property,” says Janette.
With Joe’s untimely death from bowel cancer, Neville’s turn farming Cragside came sooner than expected. He had Janette by his side. She’d worked at Ida Valley Station, and served at the pub on the weekends. When she first set eyes on him, 17-year-old Neville was getting off the school bus. Janette was only a few months older herself, working behind the bar a little younger than was strictly legal.
“Everything we’ve done on the farm has been a team effort. We’re both involved in everything together,” they say.
Neville’s particular strength is stockmanship.
“Under the old stock incentive scheme, the focus was on numbers: quantity over quality. Now it’s the other way round. Though the stock incentive scheme did have its bonuses, with cheap loans that Joe took advantage of to develop the hill.”
Away from the farm, both have been deeply involved in the community, their commitments including Young Farmers and Poolburn School. For the Matakanui Rugby Club Neville was player, coach and president, while Janette took a turn at treasurer. Neville also held office with the Ida Valley Irrigation Company, which is widely acknowledged as the district’s lifeblood.
“When I was secretary of the local A&P Society, the whole family used to gather round to lick stamps and stuff envelopes,” says Janette.
Although they planned to farm for another five years, Neville’s ill-health has brought their retirement forward. With daughter Kirsty pursuing a career as a scientist in Auckland, they have engaged Paul Thomson of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Dunedin to market Cragside. He says the sale of the farm will attract plenty of attention.
“Ida Valley is among Central Otago’s most sought-after farming districts. Cragside demonstrates Neville and Janette’s careful husbandry, building on the care and attention of previous generations. Carrying approximately 6250 stock units, it has almost 140 hectares under irrigation. Two centre pivots are supplied by reliable scheme water, plus creek irrigation consents and winter water storage. The farm’s mix of flats and hill country give it versatility that a new owner may choose to explore.”
Leaving behind 129 years of history won’t be easy for the couple.
“We have a sense of freedom here, which we don’t take for granted. While it’s sometimes been tough, being out on the farm is peaceful, and can feel like you’re on holiday. We know how fortunate we are to be here. There will be tears when we leave,” says Janette.
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