Blackball is a small town on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, approximately 29 km from Greymouth.

During the strike they had picketed miners in nearby Brunner and had burnt down the secretary of the 'arbitration' (strikebreaker) union's home.

The town was named after the Black Ball Shipping Line, which leased land in the area to mine for coal.

[5] As the number of gold miners continued to increase, the difficulties of supplying them with food multiplied.

The Oddfellows Lodge played a major role in community life offering financial aid and self-improvement in the age before TV and State Social Security.

The Oddfellows Hall was a major centre of community activity and social life.

[5] Blackball is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers 1.94 km2 (0.75 sq mi).

The line was approved in 1901, construction began in 1902 under the auspices of the Public Works Department, trains first ran in 1909, and it was officially opened on 1 August 1910.

Private interests constructed a steep extension from Blackball into the Paparoa Ranges that employed the Fell mountain railway system to aid braking.

Coal was the mainstay of the railway, and when tonnages dropped to an unsustainable level the Roa Incline closed on 25 July 1960.

Trains to Blackball became increasingly infrequent, and when a flood destroyed two spans of the line's bridge over the Grey River on 21 February 1966, the Railways Department viewed repairs as unjustifiably expensive and closed the line.

Bill Pearson's Coal Flat (1963) is a major New Zealand novel in the dated social realist tradition.

Pearson had taught in the town as a probationary teacher in 1942, and had formed a friendship with the publican's family.

Beardsley used the historic 1908 Crib Time strike[9] as the basis for a story that fleshed out the drama of what was a key moment in New Zealand trade union history.

The poems also mention people and features of the town, which Holman recalls from his childhood in Blackball during the 1950s and 1960s.