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IN THE SHADOW OF THE ALPS:

A HISTORY OF MALVERN COUNTY 1853-1989

Authors: Ray Dobbie & Brian Perrin

Publisher: Selwyn District Council

Date: 1998

Pages: 412

Illustrations: 65

Price: $25 (including GST)

P&P: $3.50

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Contact: council@selwyn.govt.nz  ph. 347 2800 or 318 8338

In the Shadow of the Alps: A History of Malvern County 1853-1989 is a comprehensive account of the people and organisations that shaped the roads, water races, farms and towns of the old Malvern County - a huge area stretching from Hororata, Burnham and Kirwee up to Arthurs Pass in the Southern Alps, and encompassing Darfield, Coalgate, Glentunnel, Whitecliffs, Coleridge, Sheffield, Springfield, Castle Hill, Grasmere and all places in between.  

Commissioned in the mid-1970s by the former Malvern County Council, the bulk of this landmark book was written between 1977 and 1982 by a retired journalist, Ray Dobbie, drawing on his extensive knowledge of the county and its surviving records, including council and road board archives, old newspapers and even diaries and journals loaned by old established families.

Ray's original manuscript was updated a decade later by former county clerk and councillor, Brian Perrin, after the 1989 local body amalgamations, in which Malvern County was combined with Ellesmere and Paparua counties to form the Selwyn District. 

The book was published in 1998 by the Selwyn District Council and stands today as the definitive history of the old Malvern county.

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