The Heart's Content Plaquing Ceremony

On July 20th, 2013, community members of Heart's Content, alongside the HFNL, the Town, and the Mizzen Heritage Society, gathered to celebrate the newly designated Heart's Content Registered Heritage District. We started the event with a series of speeches that featured Mayor Don Blundon,  Frank Crews (Chairman of the HFNL), MHA Charlene Johnson, and author Ted Rowe, who aimed to highlight local heritage and commemorate the district. We then watched as Blundon and Johnson officially unveiled the bronze plaque, which now stands proudly on the Mizzen Community Museum property. It was a very exciting day for those involved with local heritage!

Community members gather in the SUF Hall.

  

Mayor Don Blundon and MHA Charlene Johnson unveil the new HFNL heritage district plaque.

  

Members of Mizzen Heritage Society pose with the new plaque.

At this event we also had an opportunity to launch our new booklet of oral historical material from Heart's Content entitled, "So Many Stories, So Many Traditions: The Heart's Content Registered Heritage District."  Please visit the following link to view a copy of this booklet and help us to celebrate this new heritage district: http://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/HC_booklet.pdf

Congratulations to Heart's Content and thanks for coming out to celebrate heritage!

-Lisa

Memories of Quidi Vidi

Just a short post today as a follow up from my last. The following is an audio clip excerpt from my interview with Agnes Bragg. Part of the finished product for this project will be a Google map with landmarks highlighted in the Quidi Vidi area. My hope is that for each landmark a short audio clip will demonstrate the importance of these places in the lives of the people of Quidi Vidi Village. 

Enjoy!

-Joelle

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Carrying Water

I recently visited the Logger's Life Provincial Museum in Grand Falls-Windsor to work with their staff to develop public programming around pillow tops. While there I spotted this piece of folk art on display in the bunkhouse. This little, wooden, hand carved figure depicts a logger using a square shaped hoop to carry two pails of water. The hoop was used to balance the pails of water and keep them from hitting your legs and spilling. The hoops were made of wood, sometimes alder branches, and were either square or round. They were an invaluable tool for those who had to walk great distances for water.

This water carrier ties in well with another project being worked on here at the ICH Office, which is a study of traditional water supplies in St. John's and surrounding areas.  For the next few months, archaeologist Sarah Ingram will be talking to people about wells and springs to learn where the traditional water supplies where in the area and how they were used and maintained. Sarah will also be collecting stories about why particular water sources were valued over others. Finally, all these materials will be made available on Memorial University of Newfoundland's Digital Archive Initiative. Stay tuned for updates on that project and many others!

-Nicole

A Call for the Brokenhearted - guest post by Annie McEwen

It will be two years this August since I had my heart broken. My boyfriend came home from a summer away and without warning told me he was through, packed up all his things, including the bed we shared, and drove away from an exceptionally solid, three-year relationship. I remember the first thing I did after he left was hurl a heavy roll of duct tape as hard as I could across the room, making a giant dent in the wall. Our wall. No, wait. 

I had never been so confused, so lost. In the preceding three years I had often been soothed by the firm belief that even if I had no idea where my career was going, or where I wanted to live, or who I wanted to be, at least I could count on the fact that he would be there. He had been my anchor, and when he cut free, I felt the great violent heave of the world around me. And I was terrified.

My instinct was to armour myself so no one would ever be able to hurt me like that again. For months I worked to add layers to a thick shell I could curl up inside to keep myself safe. I saw no way out and wanted no way out.

But slowly, somehow without me even noticing, one of the worst things that had ever happened to me started to become one of the most interesting, the most life-giving. I began to connect more deeply with those around me who had had similar experiences. I began to recognize how extraordinarily brave it was to have one's heart open enough to be damaged by another. And I began to realize that losing my anchor and having my heart broken might just be a precious gift.

I'm sharing my story with you because I would like to hear yours. I have recently been awarded a grant from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council to make a radio documentary about broken hearts. I'm interested in your stories about the rotten end of love, the death of desire, the loss of a loved one—and how these experiences changed you. What is your life like post-heartbreak? Who have you become? What happens when a soul loses that by which it is defined? What do we do with the energy we once invested so heavily in another?

I am looking for willing participants, those ready to speak honestly and bravely about their experiences with heartbreak. Your experience does not have to, like mine, have been a life-giving one. Perhaps you are still curled up in your hard shell. Or perhaps you never felt the need to build a shell in the first place.

Jonathan Goldstein, writer and producer of the CBC Radio show Wiretap, once wrote (here— http://transom.org/?p=7028), “The eyes are not the window to the soul. The radio is.” I've chosen the medium of radio to explore this topic because I have learned that stories matter, indeed, they are at the heart of all things, and that nothing captures human life more intimately than the voice.

If this sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, please send me an email at annierosamcewen@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing your stories.

-Annie McEwen

More on abandoned mines, including one at Blow Me Down Bluff

On Friday, I posted about a trip to an abandoned 19th century copper mine in Avondale. I concluded that post by asking if anyone had information about that mine or other abandoned mines in the area.

Several people responded, including Mr Craig Moore, who had done some research on the Avondale mineshaft in the mid 1990s. At that point, Moore had been told by the property owner, Greg Deveraux, that the shaft was the remains of an exploration site for a copper mine, dating to 1899. He corroborated that local knowledge holds that the offshore sand bar was the remains of the excavation, and concluded his note with a bit of a mystery. Apparently, a ship left the area in 1899 headed to Wales with a load of ore samples from the exploration site, but the ship never reached its destination.

Other people responded with information about different abandoned mines. Some told me about abandoned mines in Tilt Cove, Marysvale and Brigus. Susan Furneaux wrote,

"When I lived in Colliers I was told about an abondoned mine that was there...which kind of makes sense considering the name. Not sure if it exists. It was supposed to be on the Northside of the harbour a ways out. There was an old path that went along the shore, beyond where the old settlement was. I have wondered about it often over the years."

In addition to these emails, Linda Lewis sent me the above photo, with this note:

"At Blow Me Down Bluff between Holyrood Bay & Chapel’s Cove is an abandoned mine. The attached pic of of Ed Fahey back in the 50s who was trying to attract attention to the mine at that time. It was mined back in the 1800s and is mentioned in the will of Msgr. Wm Veitch of Holyrood"

You can read Mr Veitch's will online here.

If you have heard a story about any of these mines, email me at dale@heritagenl.ca.  I'd be particularly interested in knowing the exact location of the Marysvale/Colliers/Brigus mines, if you've seen them in your own explorations, or in other old photos of mining activity in Newfoundland and Labrador.

- Dale

Abandoned 19th century copper mine in Avondale

Yesterday, part of the ICH team was in the Salmonier Line/Colliers/Holyrood area conducting fieldwork research for our traditional wells and springs project. We had a little bit of time between interviews, so we went exploring an abandoned copper mine in Avondale. Above, Joelle Carey (left) and Claire McDougall (right) are shown reaching the end of the shaft, about 100m in.

I first learned about the mine through local kayaking websites (read here and here) and had only ever been to the site by kayak. We luckily arrived as low tide was starting to turn, so were able to walk to the site of the old mine shaft by parking at the Avondale wharf, and following the shoreline to the south side. It isn't a long walk to the site, but you'll need to time it correctly to be able to walk there, and wear rubber boots.

The mine shaft is dug directly into the rock face, just above the high water mark. It is fairly clear of debris, but a bit wet with pooled water for the first section of the shaft. The shaft runs more or less straight into the rock, with a few very short side passages, which looks like the miners were attempting to follow a vein of ore which petered out before they got too far in.

I'm 5'10", and except for a section at the entrance, the shaft is high enough so that I can walk most of the way in without bending over.

Kayaking folklore maintains that the sandbar in the bay is the spoil removed from the mine. I don't know much about the history of the mine, but would be very curious to know more. If you know anything about it, or about other abandoned mines in the area, email me at dale@heritagenl.ca.

Note: see follow-up post here: http://www.ichblog.ca/2013/07/more-on-abandoned-mines-including-one.html   

- Dale

Bronze, wood, water, and tobacco - the ICH Update for July 2013

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Update for Newfoundland and Labrador: we announce the designation of Heart's Content as a Registered Heritage District, and commemorate it with the unveiling of a bronze plaque; Nicole Penney returns from the Loggers' Life Museum with news of a weaving workshop in the woods; archaeologist Sarah Ingram reports on our new wells, water and springs research; and, folklore graduate student researcher Claire McDougall reports on her preliminary findings regarding honoraria for aboriginal elders.

Download a copy of the newsletter, in various formats, at:

https://archive.org/details/Ichupdate045

A trip to Mosquito Schoolhouse, Bristol's Hope, Newfoundland

On a fabulously sunny 16th of July, I travelled to Bristol’s Hope to meet with members of the heritage committee who are currently working on the restoration of the historic Mosquito Schoolhouse.

One of the last of its kind in Newfoundland, the building is a rare example of what wooden schools in outport communities looked like in the 1800s. A local minister by the name of Kingwell built the school, possibly between 1818 and 1828, to serve the needs of the 360 people inhabiting Mosquito, as Bristol’s Hope was then called. In June 1988 the building was recognized as a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador

We started at the school, where I met with Richard Johnson, Don Skinner and Cal Penney, who are all involved in different facets of the project. Richard gave me a tour of the building, and brought me up to date on the ongoing restoration work. Over the rest of the building season, work will continue on corner boards, clapboard, installing proper heritage windows, and replacing the wood shingle roof. One of the interesting interior features that the committee plans on restoring is an old cast iron kerosene lantern chandelier, which can be raised and lowered to light or extinguish.

After the tour, we all went back to Richard’s house, where we discussed plans to embark on an oral history project centred around the school. While the building has not been used as a school for some time, there are still people in the community, and those who have moved away, who remember going to school in the building, and who have stories and memories of teachers, classmates and pastimes.

As I said to the gentlemen of Bristol's Hope, it is a great project, as it is one where we can clearly show the link between the two facets of the work we do here at the Heritage Foundation: the conservation of historic structures, and the safeguarding and documentation of traditional knowledge. I'm looking forward to helping with the project as it unfolds.

As a first step, the committee is working to compile a list of possible people to interview. If you have a memory of the old Mosquito School, I’m sure the organizers would be interested in hearing about it! You can email me with your contact information at ich@heritagefoundation.ca.

- Dale Jarvis

Folklore Photo - Ocean Pond Well

This week's folklore photo is courtesy of Jessica Cahill, who gave us a tour of her property in Ocean Pond last Friday. Jess contacted us via Facebook when she heard we were working on a wells and springs project, and had a great example of a hand dug well to show us. Jess had a lot of stories surrounding the property and the well that came from the previous owners, and was informed that it was dug by the grandfather of the last owner in the 1930's. When she first bought the property, there was a wellhouse covering it, but was too deteriorated to be left standing. The well is circular, hand dug and rock lined, and is incredibly well preserved despite its age. The well itself is just over 13 feet deep, and the water is clear enough to see all the way to the bottom.

Jess has a cover over the well right now in case nighttime explorers come across it without realizing it's there, but would like to eventually see if it could be used again. Jess said she would like to incorporate it into the cabin water lines when construction begins, as long as the well would still be intact. "We want to use it if we can, but if it would damage it then we'd rather just preserve it, because it's so fantastic" she told us. Until then, it's a gorgeous example of old hand dug wells from one of the original properties in Ocean Pond.

We here at the Heritage Foundation's Intangible Cultural Heritage office will be drilling the community for water stories all summer, so if you have any memories, photos, stories or know of any old wells and springs, we would love to hear from you! Please contact me at the heritage office here.

- Sarah