Ernest Hayes, a millwright and engineer by trade, started business in the township of Oturehua in Central Otago in 1895 - Hayes Engineering Works, developing numerous new products using his pioneering engineering skills. One of his most significant inventions was the development of the Hayes permanent fence strainer in 1905 - a product still manufactured today and used on nearly every farm in New Zealand. The windmill, built in 1909-10, formed the powerhouse for the original E Hayes Engineering firm. Built on an 18-metre tower the sails were 6.5 metres in diameter. The power was taken to the machines in the plant by an ingenious system of overhead shafts, belts and pulleys.

Oturehua Factory circa 1919. E Hayes and Sons first motor vehicle, a 1910 Buick which is still owned by the company today. The car was purchased second hand in 1914 for use at its Windmill Works to transport products from the factory to the railway station, about two miles away. Irving Hayes is pictured in the drivers seat.

Ernest had five sons. Irving Hayes, one of the sons of Ernest, opened the Invercargill branch of E Hayes and Sons in Leven Street in 1932 located in premises leased from the Railways Department. The original rent was 28/6 ($2.85) per week. Irving continued a family legacy, not only of hard-work and tenacity but also innovation, ingenuity and enthusiasm for all things mechanical.

The initial part of the present Dee Street, Invercargill premises was built in 1956, showing a well stocked shop, with the acquisition of the adjoining building the shop now fills an entire city block from front to rear.

 Outside in 1977.

The tool wall is in excess of three hundred feet long with an enormous array of tools, Bear was in his element. Well it is the longest in the country and there is almost every tool I could wish for, oh and just look at the electric toys. Yes dear. I may have to go back for another furtle................

...........Oh dear, no really I don’t mind as there is so much to see of a pink nature, but don’t tell that to Bear. If you get tired and the other half is still looking around, there are comfy chairs, a water fountain and a film playing. Today we stood and watched as the test explosion happened on the original Italian Job, the inimitable lines from Michael Caine “You were only supposed to blow the bl - - dy doors off.” Marvellous.

Nestled in between Kate and Joe was a lovely set of non-slip, flexible cutting boards. So even today, as on so many others, we have reminders of family and children xx xx. I revelled in the new things to look at and swayed at a set of German saucepans selling for over five hundred pounds, so plenty to keep me occupied.

What was so interesting, should you not be interested in motor bikes or cars, were the other ‘things’ on display, spread throughout the shop. An old adding machine, a beautiful till and a humble typewriter with a lovely story attached. This was given to the collection by the family of Reg and Jeanie Baker. Reg bought this typewriter for his wife Jeanie in the early 1940’s. Reg was a cabinetmaker by trade serving his time with Broad Smalls and he later became a woodwork teacher at the Southland Technical College. Jean, nee Waddell, worked as a short hand typist and secretary for Ernest Broad – Managing Director of Broad Small Ltd., until marrying Reg in 1942. This typewriter has been used by Jean to type accounts and letters for RH Waddell Ltd – the Invercargill printing company established by her father, Robert Waddell, and later owned by her brother John. Reg was the first Session Clerk for the newly established Richmond Grove Presbyterian Church so this little typewriter was put to good use for letters, newsletters, Women’s Group Minutes and records for other groups the couple have served through the years. It has also been used to provide typing assistance for other volunteer services, for many friends and to compose songs for family occasions.

The grandson of Irving Hayes is the current Managing Director Neville Hayes who started with the company in 1972, following in the footsteps of his father Norman Hayes who was with the company for over sixty years. Like his father, Neville began work “on the bike” and initially drove the delivery van. He is the fourth generation of the family to be involved in the business. Neville’s son Jarn and daughter Clelia continue this proud history being the fifth generation of the family to work in the family business.

The company currently employs fifty people, many having a long association with the company and each has their own expertise. E Hayes and Sons also has a strong affiliation with Hammer Hardware and the TradeZone Industrial Group that allows it to service both the specialist industrial market and the home user markets. The latest building upgrade in August 2009 increased the overall retail and storage area to five thousand, five hundred and forty square metres. It certainly feels like a massive shop......this allowed space for giftware, homeware, kitchen accessories, camping, engineering and automotive products, tools, workware, paint, chainsaws, power tools, lawn mowers, pumps, fasteners, just about everything you can think of as well as the famous E Hayes Motorworks Collection. We found an advertisement featuring Bears, so we were very happy.

Neville is guardian of an eclectic range of classic and vintage motorcycles, automobiles, engines, equipment and memorabilia which today makes up the E Hayes Motorworks Collection – own blog, including this Beez coloured Norton Commando and this delightful trike and trailer. From working examples of early vintage machinery, pumps, engines and lathes to the original shop delivery van, and a range of classic automobiles and motorcycles - from turn of the century models to racing bikes of the modern era - you'll find it all here, displayed free-to-view throughout the Dee Street store in a collection like no other. Each 'exhibit' demonstrates a spirit of ingenuity, innovation and determination to go beyond the expected boundaries of convention and performance.