Sign of the times: Andy MacDonald, right, with Jude Van Bommel and Black Dog’s canine executive officer (CEO), 11-year-old Bean
At a busy rural crossroads north of Cambridge, a simple wooden sign has quietly put Bruntwood back on the map.
The sign – made by Andy MacDonald of Black Dog Furniture – sits where Pickering, Peake, Bruntwood and Peake roads meet.
It’s a project that grew out of MacDonald’s own connection to the area. He moved into the old Bruntwood dairy factory in nearby Peake Rd 11 years ago, after working out of the former Matangi dairy factory, and quickly became hooked on Bruntwood’s history.
He felt the community and the busy crossroads needed a sign, so he put one up – only to be told by the council he had broken the rules.
So, he made a simpler wooden one and installed that instead. But in recent months foliage had gradually crept over it, and the weather had faded the lettering.
HIdden behind the foliage, Andy MacDonald’s sign.
That sense of place matters in an area where names overlap and identities blur between Hautapu, Tamahere, Pukemoremore and Tauwhare. As MacDonald puts it, the sign has become a useful marker in what can feel like “a boiling cauldron of locations”.
About 150 metres up the road sits Fonterra’s Hautapu dairy factory. The sign is fixed to a fence in front of one of the dairy company’s demonstration farms.
Fonterra’s environmental manager, Jude Van Bommel, noticed the sign had become hard to read. A bit of pruning and gardening made it visible again, but the lettering still needed attention. She contacted MacDonald, who at first thought he was in trouble but all Van Bommel wanted was a refresh.
Using the Karina font, MacDonald set to work.
He was determined not to repeat an earlier mistake.
On his own sign across the road, “Furniture” was misspelled as “Funiture”, a reminder that signwriters are notorious for typos. He has kept the sign up to see how many people notice.
The sign across the road misspells Furniture. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
Bruntwood’s main claim to fame is its dairy factory and railway line. The factory dates back to 1914, when milk arrived by horse and cart from surrounding farms. At its peak, about 22 suppliers sent milk there to be made into cheese.
The factory burned down in 1960 and was rebuilt in 1962, leaving the buildings that stand today. It later became part of the Waikato Dairy Co‑op in 1983, before being gradually decommissioned, with windows blocked and accessways closed off.
“We’ve been renovating it to bring it back to what it looked like before,” he says.
The wider area still carries traces of that era. Old factory houses remain, and some locals recall stopping at what was once a general store on the route south, when this was a main link before the state highway took over.
Even today, traffic still cuts through the intersection, especially when drivers divert off the expressway.
In that context, the Bruntwood sign does more than mark a place. It anchors a story, reconnecting people with a name that once had real significance in the dairy industry.
Bruntwood cheese factory. Photo: Fonterra
Bruntwood cheese factory. Photo: Fonterra
Van Bommel sees that connection every day. Her role at Hautapu includes overseeing environmental performance and community engagement, and that will be on show later this month.
The annual Fonterra Hautapu public meeting will be held on May 26 at the site, giving residents an update on activities, an overview of projects, and the chance to discuss environmental performance.
For those approaching from the north, the Bruntwood sign will be hard to miss.
It stands quietly on a fence line, framed by paddocks and history, a reminder that even in a fast‑changing rural district, identity still matters.
And sometimes, all it takes is a sign.
Sign of the times: Andy MacDonald, right, with Jude Van Bommel and Black Dog’s canine executive officer (CEO), 11-year-old Bean, a Labrador/Golden Retriever cross who trained as a guide dog but had to retire due to his poor eyesight. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
