Commemorating Carbonear's German History

I was in Carbonear today for the unveiling of a new plaque marking the history of German settlement and industry in the town. Early in the 1950s, nine craftspeople arrived in Carbonear as part of a plan to stimulate industrial growth in rural Newfoundland. Those nine would be followed by families and workers, who opened three leather-related businesses in Carbonear. While the businesses were short-lived, they had a great impact on the town and on its people. Many of the Germans left, but some married, and stayed, and the names Reiss, Reichel, Shaefer, and Stoeterau can still be found here to this day.  The plaque unveiled today commemorates that history and their contribution to Newfoundland. Congratulations to the Carbonear Heritage Society and especially to Ron Howell for their fine work. 

 

 
 
 

Lassy Wall, Crackie Road, and the Unmarked Graves – Stories from Spaniard’s Bay

Workshop participants.

On Wednesday August 24, 2016 Dale and I drove out to Spaniard’s Bay for a short #NLHeritage roadtrip for a People Places and Traditions workshop. The local heritage society invited us out to do a workshop with the community and engage local people with their heritage.

Discussing what to put on the cards for people, places, and traditions.

The People, Places, and Traditions is the first step for communities who want to map out what heritage means to local people. It is a way to get people thinking about the resources in the area. All the people who make the best toutons, build boats, farm strawberries, tell great stories, or have knowledge particular to the area. It makes people think about the places where they swim, berry pick, trout, and about the old names for neighbourhoods and trails, community gathering places, and historic buildings. People remember traditions around bonfire night, Santa Claus parades, hauling wood, mummering, fairies, and local festivals and events.

Brandon and Dale discussing the location of a local sliding hill.

Several great stories came out of last night’s discussion of community heritage including the story of the Lassy Wall. The Lassy Wall below the Holy Redeemer Church was built in 1830 as a retaining wall to shore up the hill from the main road. The people who built the wall were paid in molasses so the wall became known as the Lassy Wall.

The Lassy Wall in Spaniard's Bay.  Photo by Cathy Kleinwort, 2005.  Courtesy of the Town of Spaniard's Bay.

Another story about a place name was about Anthony’s Road which is locally known as Crackie Road. There were two stories about where the name came from. Several of the older community members said the road was called Crackie Road because the people that lived there were “saucy as crackies” while a younger summer student with the heritage society who lived on the street was told it was just because there were a lot of crackies or small saucy dogs on the street.

Plotting the cards on the map.

One story which was not well known in the community was about the unmarked graves on a marshy island in Shearstown Pond. The story that was told was of a family who died of a contagious disease and the people of the community were so worried about catching the disease that they buried the family on the island rather than in the community’s cemetery.

People, places. and traditions.

There were a number of important local characters mentioned such E.H. Vokey who was a teacher, local historian, writer, and photographer. Another woman put down her grandfather who would always bake molasses raisin bread just for her (without the raisins) and would be sure to heat up rocks to send her to bed with at night!

Reviewing the story about the Spaniard's Bay Riot in 1932.

Did you grown up in Spaniard’s Bay? If you have memories of other people, places, and traditions in the area let us know in the comments!

Traditions practiced at the Loyal Orange Lodge.

~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep050 Skeets, b'ys, and other bits of Newfoundland folklore

Philip Hiscock has been studying Newfoundland and Labrador language and folklore for four decades. These days, he teaches Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and is the coordinator of the MA and PhD programmes in that department. We discuss Philip’s interest in dialectology, folklore, radio, and popular culture, Newfoundland folklore and language including the terms skeet and b’y, Newfoundland language and YouTube, children’s folklore, and digital folklore.

Recorded 23 June 2016

Listen on the Digital Archive:
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/ich_oral/id/671

Photo of Philip Hiscock by David Press.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Harbour Grace, circa 1949-1951.

We have a gem of a historic photograph for Tuesday's Folklore Photo this week!

The Heritage Foundation of NL has been working with a committee in Harbour Grace to find a new life for the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (read about that here) and it has unearthed this great photo of the building, taken sometime between 1949 and 1951.

The photo comes from Bill Brooks, and was taken by his father, William Brooks (who was at the time a Captain in the US Air Force). I asked Bill what his father had been doing in Harbour Grace, and this is his response:

I’m guessing that he played some role in decommissioning the signal intelligence facility that was located at Harbour Grace – perhaps for reinstallation at Ft McAndrews, but it’s pure speculation. He was stationed at Ft McAndrew AFB in Argentia from 1949 through 1951 (where I was born). He was a Signal Officer. From his orders: “Commanding Officer of Signal Company Aviation responsible for training, administration, supply, personnel.” Responsibilities included “supervising installation, maintenance, operation of telephone, telegraph, and radio equipment.” I don’t think he was in Harbour Grace on vacation – not to dismiss it as a cold war period USAF personnel vacation destination, but his service record shows he had 58 days of unused vacation when he concluded service in Newfoundland, so he probably wasn’t taking much time off.

If you have any old photos of the Cathedral (or a memory of Captain William Brooks) email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Read more about the Cathedral itself here. 

#CollectiveMemories Roadtrip to Humber Valley - People, Places and Traditions

Discussing people, places, and traditions.

On Wednesday Dale and I headed back to Reidville, the community where we interviewed Clifford Reid, in order to do a second People, Places, and Traditions workshop. We ended up with a smaller crowd due to the size of the town.  This meant that the sixteen of us were able to sit around one big table and have a discussion about some of the town’s history and stories.

Writing on their index cards.

After discussing the people, places, and traditions in the community we handed out index cards for everyone to fill out. Everyone took a couple of cards and wrote out someone, some place, or some tradition which is important to the community. We then mapped the cards on the large map of the community.

The story of Dead Man's Woods.

What was great about this workshop was that the size of the group and the close-knit community meant it turned into a story telling session with people taking turns telling stories from their childhood. Russ Reid told many stories about Mr. Oxford and himself growing up and the trouble they would get into.  The stories ranged from antagonizing the bull in his pen to sneaking up to the lumber camps, there were stories about a child who fell into a well and survived, a woman who gave birth in a canoe on her way to Deer Lake, and almost everyone had a story about stealing apples or fruit from their neighbours’ yards.

Adding stories and memories to the map.

Impromptu story telling around the Reidville map.

Reidville is located on a river and the islands of the river were named as well as the beaches which served as swimming holes or trouting spots. One of the islands, named Grandmother’s Island, was where Mr. Oxford would collect the long grass which would be used in their psalm Sunday services in the school which doubled as a church.

Discussing the future of heritage in the Humber Valley region.

After the session in Reidville Dale and I headed to Deer Lake where we had quick supper, and a poke around the community and two of the local cemeteries before heading to the Grand Lake Centre of Economic Development for a meeting with the Humber Valley Heritage society. We met with four members of the heritage society to talk about the future of heritage in Humber Valley. These women were the people who invited us out to lead the workshops and do some interviews and they are interested in how they can use the information collected at workshops like these. The heritage society is interested in holding similar events around the Humber Valley region in order to work together to promote the heritage of the region. The first thing they plan to do is take the information located on the physical maps and store it digitally. The committee is very interested in using Google My Maps to make this material accessible to and also editable by community members. They want to create a map of the region in order to showcase the agricultural heritage of the region and increase the tourism to all the communities.

~Terra Barrett

Living Heritage Podcast Ep049 Heritage Foundation NL Programs

Andrea O’Brien is the municipal outreach officer and provincial registrar for the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. She comes from a background in folklore, history and Newfoundland Studies. She has been involved in the province’s heritage sector, both academically and professionally, for 20 years. We discuss how Andrea got her start in folklore and heritage, provincial and municipal heritage designations, interesting municipal designations, Andrea’s favourite designation, cultural landscapes, graveyards, fisheries heritage preservation program, and the links between tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/684/rec/1

Workshops and Interviews on the West Coast

Sandra Wheeler, Crystal Braye, Terra Barrett, and Dale Jarvis.

Dale and I are out on the west coast of the province as part of the Collective Memories Project. Tuesday afternoon after a breakfast with folklorists Crystal Braye and Sandra Wheeler we headed to Reidville in the Humber Valley. We met with another folklorist Amanda-Marie Hillyard who is from the community and set up an interview with Clifford Reid, a local history buff and a descendant of the original Reid’s of Reidville. Following the interview Clifford took us on a tour of the town pointing out how the land was originally parceled out, the location of the old tram system, and where people would the leave the community to paddle their canoes to Deer Lake.

Dale Jarvis and Clifford Reid.

Clifford described how the community was settled by his grandfather and his uncles in the 1930s following one uncle’s move to Junction’s Brook across the river from the land that became Reidville. Clifford’s uncles and his grandfather moved to the area in order to work as loggers and farmers. The main work in the area was at the lumber camps feeding logs into the river system bound for the mill in Corner Brook. Clifford described the 20 mile tramway system which ran from Reidville to the lumber camps near Adie’s Lake (locally spelled Aides and pronounced Eddys) where the Humber River starts. This tramway was built by Bowater in order to bring supplies to the logging camps.

Adies Lake Tramway about 1940. Courtesy of Bowater's Wood Department.

Clifford also added his own memories of growing up in the community such as the best spots for swimming and trouting, going to school in the small community, and riding the horses that ran wild in the community in the summers. He also mentioned that with no church or graveyard no one died the community! Listen to the clip below to hear a story Clifford told about some mystery snoring heard by his uncle and friends at a woods camp in the winter.

In the evening we headed to Pasadena for a People, Places, and Traditions workshop where there were over 30 people in attendance. We had the group separate into smaller groups and cluster around three tables. One focused on people, one on places, and one on traditions. Each group wrote their thoughts and memories on index cards which they then placed on large maps of the community. They connected their index cards with a ribbon to the location where the people discussed live/lived, the important places in the community, and where traditions took place.

Dale telling a story.

People.

There were business owners, principles, farmers, crafters, heritage society members, and active church members were placed on the map while parks, community centres, and the concrete rock were mapped out. The concrete bottom is where locals would go swimming and it got its name for a rock on the bottom of the pond which is flat almost like poured concrete. There were traditions such as heading to the dump to watch the bears play, trapping rabbits, and taking part in festivals such as the winter carnival, the strawberry festival, and the Santa Claus parade.

Mapping memories.

Reviewing the maps.

After the mapping a couple of community members shared stories and memories stirred up by the session and one gentleman told of how his mother and him were planting potatoes in the field where the community centre now lies and she gave him her wedding ring to wear while she planted. He put the ring on, watered the potatoes and when they finished planting the garden went for a swim at concrete rock. He came home after swimming only to find he had lost the ring. His mother told him to tell all the boys who went trouting if they came across a ring in the belly of a fish it was her wedding band. Unfortunately to this day the ring is still missing. If you ever come across a ring while trouting in the area be sure to call the local heritage society to ask about this story!

The story of the ring and the trout.

~Terra Barrett

People, Places, and Traditions Tea

Dale and I are out on the West Coast this week doing some interviews, workshops, and meetings in Corner Brook, Pasadena, Reidville, and Deer Lake.  We are hosting a couple of People, Places and Traditions Workshops and invite everyone in the area to come out and talk about your community.

Tonight we will be in Pasadena from 6:30-9:30pm at Pasadena Hall and tomorrow afternoon we will be in Reidville in the Community Hall from 1:30-4:30pm. Drop by, have a cup of tea, and share some memories of your community!

~Terra Barrett

Please share and help solve this Newfoundland family photo mystery!

Last week, we were emailed three vintage photos, and the following intriguing note:

I am trying to research some aspects of my wife's family history. Her name is Jeanette Wareham and she was born in St. John's in 1968. Her birth father's name was Berkley Wareham and he was born in Salmon Cove about 1934 (he passed away in Toronto in 1989). We know that he was a teacher and that he taught in several places around Newfoundland including Twillingate. The attached pictures would have been taken in the mid to late 1950's and we think they may have been taken during his time in Twillingate, but we are not sure. He is the gentleman in the light sports jacket. Can I ask you if you recognize the school building that he is standing in front of in these pictures, or can give us any more information. The building appears to say "Prince Arthur" above the door.

The community of Charlottetown in Bonavista Bay has a Prince Arthur Orange Lodge, and we are curious if this is the same building.

If you  know anything about these photos, the people in them, or the buildings, send us a note at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Living Heritage Podcast Ep048 Bell Island Museum and Memories

Teresita E. McCarthy is a retired educator. She taught for thirty-three years in the classrooms in her native community of Bell Island, NL. Teresita also taught three programs for older workers under a WISE sponsored program on Bell Island. She is currently manager of the Bell Island Community Museum and #2 Mine Tour. She is a founding member of the Bell Island Heritage Society Inc. and Tourism Bell Island Inc. and has also served as Vice President of the Museum Association of NL, President and is currently immediate past President and Treasurer of this association. We discuss the history of Bell Island and importance of the mine, effects of World War Two on Bell Island, the closure of the mine, Bell Island Community Museum and #2 mine tour, diving tours in the mine and partnership with Ocean Quest, and the museum expansion.

Listen on the Digital Archive:

http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/677/rec/1

The Livyer's Log - Issue One

The Livyer's Log

The Livyer’s Log is a newly developed bi-annual electronic newsletter for owners of Heritage Structures. It is intended to provide useful information to the owners of designated Registered Heritage Structures in Newfoundland and Labrador. The goal is to build a “community of heritage property owners” that will collectively create a forum of shared experiences and information about their heritage properties.

In this edition of The Livyer’s Log, there are articles on practical things such as: how to approach the hiring of a contractor for heritage preservation work; building tips; and how to make heritage properties more energy efficient. As well, we examine the importance of heritage designation and how to navigate grants that are available to heritage properties.

This first edition was created and edited by Celeste Billung-Meyer a summer intern with the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador. Although Celeste is finishing her position shortly she worked tirelessly to bring this newsletter to fruition!

Click here to check out a pdf version of the newsletter or register below to receive our newsletter.
If you would like more information about Heritage Designation please contact our Built Heritage Officer Micahel Philpott at michael@heritagefoundation.ca or 1-888-739-1892 ext. 3.

Contributors:
Jerry Dick, Andrea O’Brien, Michael Philpott, Celeste Billung-Meyer, Dale Jarvis.

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Pasadena Heritage Society Oral History Collection now online! #nlheritage

We are very pleased to announce that a new collection of oral history interviews is up online!

As part of our Collective Memories project, the Heritage Foundation NL, in partnership with the Pasadena Heritage Society - NL, has just placed a collection of oral history interviews (audio and pdf transcripts) online with Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.

The collection contains interviews with locals on their childhood memories, local businesses, the fire hall, entertainment, social clubs, railway stories and more. Thanks to Carole Spicer for her work in getting things organized, and to Michelle Tapp for organizing the collection and doing up all the metadata!

The oral histories from Pasadena will eventually be part of a larger collection of oral history material from the Humber Valley region.  You can browse the collection here.

Photo courtesy Pasadena Heritage

Heritage Update for August 2016

In the August edition of the Heritage Update, learn about how Dale Jarvis ended up as "folklorist-in-residence" as part of The Friendly Invasion 2016 in Stephenville; our Chinese folklore intern Xingpei Li talks about built heritage conservation in China; Terra Barrett talks about an ongoing project to document historic Chinese graves in the Old General Protestant cemetery in St. John's; and our Conservation Corp summer student Sarah Hannon brings us news from our Collective Memories project with the Mews Centre volunteers and her interview with Ruby Hann.

Download the PDF

Contributors: Dale Jarvis, Xingpei Li, Terra Barrett, Sarah Hannon

Photo: Ruby Hann holding a plaque that says “Alice Noseworthy Volunteer of the Year Award, the city of St. John’s Dept. of Recreation, Presented to Ruby Hann for her outstanding contribution to the Seniors Outreach Program, April 24th, 2013.”

Living Heritage Podcast Ep047 Baking as Biography

Diane Tye is a Professor in the Department of Folklore, Memorial University. Most of her research over the last twenty-five years has explored intersections of folklore and gender and with Pauline Greenhill she is co-editor of Undisciplined Women and Unsettling Assumptions. For the last decade her work has included examinations of foodways in Atlantic Canada. She is author of the book, Baking as Biography. A Life Story in Recipes, that tells the story of her mother’s life through her recipe collection, as well as articles that explore a range of foodways topics from the food we eat on storm days, to the significance of making family recipes, and the cultural meanings of regionally iconic foods. We discuss Diane’s academic interest in food, her book Baking as Biography, food and nostalgia, gender and food, and where her work has taken her.

Listen on the Digital Archive:
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/683/rec/1

Welcome to Harmon Air Force Base - Your 1950s guide to dress codes, bars, and $1 lobster.

Another gem from HFNL Board Member Lloyd Kane! Lloyd shared with me a booklet from the 1950s that gives new residents some hints on what services Harmon Air Force Base and the town of Stephenville had to offer. The base commander of the day wrote in the introduction:

"For those of you who are about to be assigned here, I hope this booklet will help answer the many questions you must have.  Our facilities are improving all the time and their location, hours of operation, and so forth are pointed out in the booklet. I hope you will make good use of them, as they were put here for you."

The booklet includes useful information on dining hall times and dress codes, bar locations, base chapel services, the base exchange, tips on hunting and fishing in the area, schools and banks, and shopping. It also notes, "for seafood fanciers, items such as lobster is plentiful and inexpensive in season. A lobster dinner for example, costs about $1.00."

The booklet also has some photos of amenities, such a those shown below, the NCO Open Mess, interior of the base exchange, and the teen club.

You can download a copy of the booklet as a pdf here.

#CollectiveMemories: Champney's West and the Hazel Pearl

Pei measuring the spar in front of the Heritage House, Champney's West.

Today I wanted to share two short video clips about the sinking of the Hazel Pearl in Champney’s West on the Bonavista Peninsula in Trinity Bay, NL.  The boat was previously known as the Coronet and was wrecked at least once before in Bonavista Bay in the 1930s.  The Coronet was salvaged from the initial wreck in the thirties, resold and renamed the Hazel Pearl.  It was used as a freighter before finally meeting its end on March 1^st, 1945.

While the boat was lost in a winter storm local fishermen managed to salvage several barrels of cod oil from the vessel and were able to sell the oil again.  Although the boat was wrecked in the ocean the tops of the spars (also known as masts) of the ship which were painted white were visible in the sea water for years and years following the wreck.  In the recent years one of the spars from the Hazel Pearl was dragged up by two local fishermen who were cleaning a seine net.  The spar became tangled in the net and the two brought the spar ashore.  It currently sits outside the Heritage House in Champney’s West and is the source of many local stories and memories about shipwrecks in the area. 

During our work trip to the Bonavista Peninsula we measured the spar and did a couple of interviews with people who remembered the sinking of the Hazel Pearl.  The following videos showcase two locals’ memories of the sinking of the Hazel Pearl near Champney’s West in the 1940s.  Both Sarah Hiscock and Albert Hiscock grew up in Champney’s West and have personal memories of the sinking of the Hazel Pearl. 

The short videos below showcase some of their memories and can also be accessed on our YouTube channel.  I would highly recommend headphones when listening to the clips in order to hear the stories better!

If you know anything about the Hazel Pearl please feel free to contact the ICH office at 739-1892 ex. 2 (Dale Jarvis) or 5 (Terra Barrett) or email ich@heritagefoundation.ca

~Terra Barrett

The Goose Cove Train Derailment - an update and new photo!

Last week, I posted a story from Baxter Tuck about a derailment along the Bonavista Branch Line. You can listen to that story here.

Heather Rose Russell  wrote to tell me, "The railroader who fell into Beaver Pond Brook was Amos Burge of Bonavista. This was circa 1920. Mr. Burge passed away circa 1959; he and his family lived on River Styx Road in Bonavista, right next door to my grandparents."

Lacking a picture of that particular derailment, I included one from a different derailment along the same line.  Heather had more information on that, as well, noting "the picture shown is the derailment in Goose Cove in 1942 in which baggageman Harold White met his Waterloo."  

One of our Heritage Foundation board members, Lloyd Kane, went one further, providing an photo of the same Goose Cove wreck, from a different angle.

He wrote, "Attached is a photo from our family album showing the same derailment, I think. The
location is Goose Cove, Trinity. My Grandparents house is in the background."  Lloyd's photo is included above!

Lloyd's Grandmother and Grandfather were Joanna and Jacob Kane. Lloyd writes, "Joanna Stone (1901-1979) married 1920 to Jacob Morris Kane (1886-1947). Grandmother was born in Old Bonaventure and Grandfather was born in Goose Cove. He worked for many years as Sectionman on Nfld. Railway, Bonavista Branch."

If you have more information on either of these derailments, or other photos of the railroad era in Newfoundland and Labrador, drop me a line at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep046 Exploring Scotland’s Urban Past

Carol Stobie works with Scotland’s Urban Past - a five-year nationwide community engagement project about the history of Scotland’s towns and cities. It is a part of Historic Environment Scotland, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Scotland’s Urban Past’s project ideas stem from local communities, and the organization helps grow these ideas into full community-led projects by offering training, access to essential resources and project support. Carol is their Audience Development Officer, with an interest in storytelling, folklore, and cultural history. In this episode we discuss Carol’s trip to Newfoundland, her work with Scotland’s Urban Past, community engagement and development, community mapping, oral history, and archiving.

Listen on the Digital Archive:
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/675/rec/1

"Sharing the Memories – stories of Harmon AFB" a huge success! Listen in here!

We had an amazing night last night sharing stories and memories at the CanAm Lodge here in Stephenville. I want to thank these three generous, funny, and knowledgeable men for giving their time and their tales: Bill Pilgrim (left), Ron Olson, and John F. Young (seated). We made a rough recording of the night, and you can listen in and hear them spin their yarns.

Thanks to Debra Coughlin for organizing and pulling together speakers, to Larry Bentley and the gentlemen of CanAm Lodge for hosting us all in their historic building, and to the audience that packed the room and then stuck around to share their own stories. It was a memorable night!

Download the mp3

Peeling Potatoes - Gary Danewood remembers KP Duty at Harmon AFB

Wednesday was a busy day for interviews at the Friendly Invasion 2016 celebrations in Stephenville! I started off the day interviewing Gary Danewood, pictured above with his wife Sharon. In this clip, Gary remembers peeling potatoes as part of his KP duties when first arriving in Stephenville.

Announcing The Friendly Invasion 2016's "Folklorist-in-Residence" in Stephenville

In the 1930s, Stephenville was primarily a French speaking farming village with a population of 500. But with the start of the the Second World War, that all changed. In April 1941, construction began on a deepwater port and adjacent air field, and by 1942 Stephenville had grown into a garrison town with an estimated population of 7,000.

It was an invasion, of sorts, but a friendly one, and Stephenville was home to the former Ernest Harmon Air Force Base from 1941to 1966.

2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the base closure, and the town is putting on a big celebration of its military and aviation history.  I was delighted to be asked to participate, as the folklorist-in-residence for The Friendly Invasion 2016.

I'm in Stephenville all this week, observing, photographing, and conducting interviews with locals and visitors about their memories of Harmon AFB.  My first scheduled interview is at 9am Wednesday morning, so stay tuned! I'll be blogging and tweeting about whatever I learn.

Wednesday night, I'll be acting as host and moderator for "Sharing the Memories – stories of Harmon AFB" at 8 pm at the CanAm Lodge. Tickets are available at the door (limited seating) and at the Dreamcatcher Lodge (709) 643-6655 (cash/debit/credit) and Debbie’s Video (cash/ATM). $3 pp

If you have a memory of Harmon AFB or Stephenville in the '40s, '50s or '60s (or know someone who does), and are willing to be interviewed, let me know! You can email me at ich@heritagefoundation.ca and we can chat by phone or in St John's after the event. Or if you are in Stephenville this week, you can track me down at the Dreamcatcher Lodge! We'll be putting all our interviews online as part of the Collective Memories project, on Memorial University's Digital Archive Initiative.  

- Dale Jarvis

Trapped by the heels - a train derailment on the Bonavista Branch Line. #oralhistory

As part of our ongoing Collective Memories project to record the stories of Newfoundland and  Labrador seniors, we've been doing some work with the Clarenville Heritage Society about railway memories.

On 21 July 2016, I had a chat with a couple old railroaders, Lindo Palmer and Baxter Tuck. They were full of stories, as you might expect! We'll post the full interview eventually, but in the meantime, have a listen to Baxter telling one of his father's stories, about the time the mailman was caught by the heels of his boots when a train derailed into a brook on the Bonavista branch line.

Photo Credit:  A derailment on the Bonavista Branch Line.
The roadbed had grown soft, sending the cars into an uncontrolled
rocking motion which tipped them over. Railway Coastal Museum.