‘Not your average man’- never a dull moment for Geoff Boxell

At 7.30 in the morning, Geoff Boxell has his only cup of coffee for the day, always with sugar and milk. It’s a gentle start to the day as he reads through the Waikato Times before checking his email and reading a digital copy of the Daily Telegraph, a paper from his native homeland of England.

At his 1.25-acre rural property in Kihikihi, Boxell enjoys the simple things in life; walking the grounds, sitting in his garden hut and “enjoying the trees and the birds.”

“I don’t watch much TV, ” he says, “except the news, and even that I skim.”

When Boxell and Lyn Howells married in the late 60’s, the plan was always to live in NZ, but they wanted to test it out first.

“My wife and I married in 1968. Our thoughts were that we would come to NZ and give it two years. If it worked out then we would stay, but if not it would be a two year honeymoon.”

The little country separated from the rest of the world captured their hearts and they became New Zealand citizens “as soon as possible.”

The pair stayed with a family friend until Boxell purchased an acre of land for $1,200. In the late 1970s, he bought another 1/4 acre to add to it. It was originally bare grass with one tree. Now, Boxell’s grown it into a “well wooded (property) with all sorts of trees, many bearing fruit or nuts.”

Born in England in 1947, Boxell now has three children and five grandchildren. He’s 79 this year, but does things that most his age don’t, including “speeding ’round bends on one of my motorcycles.”

He also is an archer, but, in his archery attire, he could easily be mistaken for a time-traveller from Medieval England. Boxell is a part of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an international organisation that studies and brings to life Middle European cultures. He was the head of his local barony for 20 years and is nationally recognised as the go-to person for all things period archery.

The head of his own archery ‘Household’, The Wulflings, Boxell’s interest in Medieval Archery stems from when he was a lecturer at the University of Waikato (Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato). He was giving lectures on English History for their Continuing Education School when some medieval re-enactors came to him and invited him to give talks at their gatherings.

It wasn’t long before Boxell was invited to join them after a meeting at an archery session, “I was useless, he says, but enjoyed it so much I bought bow, arrows, and garb and joined one of the groups.”

To get the look of a medieval archer, Boxell sews his own period clothes for himself as well as others. Not stopping there, he also makes banners, does motorcycle jackets repairs and sews curtains and cushions. He apparently “doesn’t get on well” with sewing machines, so all his sewing is done by hand.

With his Wuflings established, he provides ‘have a go’ archery for anyone interested on the third Sunday of the month from 1pm to 3pm. He holds this in his backyard with his homemade ‘butts’ (large backstops to safely stop arrows and holds the target). Not stopping there, he has also self-published books on the subject, a blend of fact and fiction.

These hobbies, and working on their property, make for a busy retirement. Boxell retired in 2013 at age 66 after working for the NZ post office in various positions from a temporary labourer to Senior Supervisor (as well as various other jobs, including at the University).

Boxell also ran a business, which came about after his eldest son became a paperboy for the NZ Herald. The local news agency was going to close down, so Boxell bought it. He then expanded it, allowing for there to be three runs, instead of just the one. Having trouble finding a third “reliable youngster” he ended up taking on the third route himself, waking up at 5.00 am to cover the shift. “If I was on night shift I would not have been in bed till 23.00 the night before.”

He now enjoys being able to get up at a time convenient to him, “the luxury is not having to get up and dressed till about 7.30am”

Boxell is Christian which guides his philosophy on life, saying he never really had any ambition, rather he left things in God’s hands and let him do the work.

It might’ve been this divine intervention that led Boxell to, at 3 years old, have his claim to fame. When his mother was in hospital his father had to take him to work. It was on one of these walks that he and his father got to get a glimpse of Hollywood glamour.

“A limousine pulled up at the hotel’s side door and a lady got out. Dad recognised her and shouted out to ask if she could wave to his son. She did and called out “Hi Geoff” in a strong American accent.”

This “her” that Boxell is describing was one of the biggest movie stars of the time, American actress Judy Garland.

Seventy five years later, on the other side of the world, Geoff Boxell is happy doing what he’s doing. He seems to be enjoying life to the fullest, keeping busy with the property, sewing and archery as well as reading and writing, things he says he wouldn’t particularly want to give up.

Not even death could tarnish his joyful mood, “I am a Christian so death has no fear for me.”