Until the 1960s, the land on which Spaghetti Junction now lies was home to the suburb of Newton east.

Beneath Spaghetti Junction lies Auckland's lost suburb, Newton east.

The place was once home to a dog called Barkell and his owner, Daniel Arkell – a brewer who challenged the city's founding father.

The entire suburb – 15,000 homes – was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the motorway interchange, and about 50,000 people were made to move.

SUPPLIED Brewer Daniel Arkell lived in Newton east and ran for mayor in 1901.

But heritage enthusiast Lynnie Howcroft has not let the suburb be forgotten, and has now written a book about it and its residents.

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Entitled Barkell and Mr Arkell, it explores Arkell's bid for the mayoralty in 1901 and a host of characters who called Newton east home.

Howcroft said she first became interested in the city's history after seeing all the changes made in recent years.

Wanting to start a "collective memory" of the city's past, Howcroft said she spent six years researching Newton east and its residents, before putting it together as a children's book.

With the future queen and king of England set to visit the city, councillors had decided that the "father of Auckland", John Logan Campbell, would represent them as mayor.

MANDY TE/STUFF The children's book Barkell and Mr Arkell is based on the story of Daniel Arkell and the residents of Newton east.

However, Arkell's mayoral run threw a spanner in the works, and the announcement was "felt to be something approaching an absurdity", documents in the National Library of New Zealand archives showed.

"Dr Campbell has every claim which a man can have; Mr Arkell has none whatever," the archive said.

Arkell eventually lost by an "overwhelming majority", winning only 895 votes to Cambell's 3517.

However, his story was "significant and impacted the city" because "he's a normal person who stood up to the status quo and did a lot in his life", Howcroft said.

The other five characters "represented the everyday people who were a part of Auckland's growth and history", she said.

MANDY TE/STUFF Author Lynnie Howcroft spent five years researching Newton east and the people who once lived there.

The children's book was an introduction to Newton east's history that she hoped would encourage people of all ages to explore the area and gain new research skills, she said.

"Let's not lose any of these stories as more time goes on."

The book, Barkell and Mr Arkell, is available to buy online.