There were no shrubs, flowers or gardens. Even after 20 years, these poor living conditions still prevailed. Denniston played a key role in the development of the union movement in New Zealand, and the country's first miner's union was formed at Denniston in 1884. A report to the coal industry in 1919 attributed much of the industrial unrest and dissatisfaction of the Deniston miners to their 'sordid' living conditions. Denniston had a communal recreation and sports ground, its own sports clubs and Returned Services Association, and churches included Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Salvation Army. There were five lodges (Masonic, Druids, Odd Fellows, Orange and Buffaloes). In the days before social welfare, in an isolated community on low hourly wages, churches, unions, friendly societies and lodges provided important security for their members. Miners had formed their own Medical Association in 1883 (a doctor was contracted to visit Denniston twice a week) and an Accident and Relief Fund Association was formed in 1890. A hospital, which opened in 1910 – paid for by subscriptions, levies and fundraising efforts – was built in a central location to deal with emergencies from mines in all directions. Denniston did not have a cemetery as the ground was too hard; bodies were transported from Denniston to Waimangaroa for burial, initially down the Denniston Incline and later by road. The peak of population came in 1926, when there were 910 living in the township. During the 1932–35 Depression, and after World War 2, people began to move away from Denniston, with many houses being moved in sections for re-erection at Waimangaroa or Westport. For the remaining workers, the provision of buses enabled them and their families to live in more pleasant conditions down on the coastal plain. The school, last shop, and last hotel (the Red Dog Saloon, owned by Johnny Cotter) closed in the 1960s, and the Post Office closed in 1971. The last lodge, the Buffaloes Lodge, closed in 1996 – though by then it had relocated from Denniston to the former Waimangaroa RSA rooms. Burnett's Face The development of the Ironbridge Mine led to the establishment of the settlement known as Burnett's Face, about 2 kilometres southeast from Denniston. It was initially a cluster of tents, but by 1891 there were wooden cottages, a school, two hotels, a butchery, a bakery, several stores, two halls, and two billiard saloons. Its main road