How Barry Brickell’s Pioneering Spirit Carved a Legacy Into the Coromandel Clay
There is a specific kind of madness that belongs solely to the Coromandel Peninsula. It is the quiet, stubborn determination to look at a rugged, clear-felled hillside of raw clay and see a thriving native forest. It is the audacity to believe that if you need a railway to haul clay to your pottery kiln, you should simply spend the next several decades building it yourself, foot by hand-laid foot, against the sheer vertical defiance of the landscape.
That was the world of Barry Brickell.
When Barry first established Driving Creek, the land was scarred from colonial-era kauri logging and gold mining. To most, it was a forgotten plot. To Barry, it was a blank canvas for a lifelong symphony of art, engineering, and deep ecology. He did not wait for permission, and he certainly did not choose the easy path. He pioneered. Every twist, turn, and steep incline of the Driving Creek Railway was designed to preserve the landscape, not conquer it. As the tracks climbed higher, Barry planted.
Thousands of native trees, including the majestic kauri, were returned to the earth, nurtured by the very community that gathered around his pottery wheels.
Today, that pioneering spirit is far more than a chapter in a history book. It is a living, breathing movement that continues across our entire peninsula.
Over the next twelve months, we are stepping away from standard advertisements to bring you something different. We are shining a light on the stories that define us. Every few issues, we will introduce you to a fellow local artisan, conservationist, or everyday innovator who is building something against the odds, keeping Barry’s fierce independence alive in the modern day.
Driving Creek was built by the community, for the community, and it remains a testament to what happens when human spirit meets New Zealand earth. Whether you haven’t been up the mountain in years, or you have guests visiting the coast this winter, we invite you to step aboard, look out over the canopy, and reconnect with the grit that shaped our home.
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drivingcreek.co.nz 0800 327 245
Words by Driving Creek
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