he recent publication of the Oratia Historical Document encouraged ex-Oratia Resident, Stewart Myles (who now lives further up the hill in Waiatarua) to do some investigation of his own – his old neighbours were the Shaw and Carter Road Quarries.    He found this great document describing the quarries and their geological and historical significance to the area.  Click here to read it.  The quarries were dug in the 1930’s to provide coarse fill for the building of Scenic Drive but it also provided a look into the history of our area, the eastern foothills of the Ranges.  If rocks and ancient history are your thing, then this document provides a look into the ancient geological history of our area.    Excerpt from the document “The macrofauna is the first record of a good deep-water assemblage found in the Waitakere Ranges away from the Muriwai area. The foraminiferal faunas give a mid Altonian age making these the youngest known marinesediments in the eastern Waitakeres and indicate that this area was still at mid bathyal depths (1000-2000m) at this time. “