On 24 May 1926 Robert Watson and six other investors set up the Charming Creek Westport Coal Company (CCWCC) to mine hard coal just above the sawmill. On 9 September 1928 Robert Watson and another director of the CCWCC, SJ Akinson, died in a car accident at Buller Gorge, on their way home from a business trip to Christchurch. pp. 11–12
