Solway is an old-established residential suburb near the Waingawa River in the south-western part of Masterton, the principal town in the Wairarapa Valley of New Zealand's North Island.

[4] A Wairarapa Farmers Market for artisan produce is held under the grandstand each Saturday morning.

Brenda Donald[note 2] was the first pakeha woman born in Masterton at Manaia 12 July 1851.

The original Manaia woolshed built on the Waingawa side of what is now Judd's Road, the oldest pakeha building in Masterton,[12] has been in Greytown's Cobblestones Museum since 1973 after a brief sojourn on the showgrounds.

At Cobblestones the woolshed displays a Manaia invention and development, a Donald patented wool press.

[23] Solway College is a state-integrated Presbyterian girls' intermediate and secondary school for Year 7 to 13 students,[24] with a roll of 195.

Its close proximity to Solway College makes it popular with its students, which board in Masterton and live in Wellington.

From early 2009 until late 2013 Air New Zealand provided flights to Auckland, operated by subsidiary Eagle Airways six days a week, mainly to serve business customers in the Wairarapa.

[27] There have been a few other unsuccessful attempts at commercial air travel in Masterton, mostly failing due to its proximity to major airports in Wellington and Palmerston North.

Peter Jackson is an avid aviation enthusiast and owns a collection of over 40 flyable World War I-era warbirds housed at Solway's Hood Aerodrome.