Remembering the Hant's Harbour Post and Telegraph Office

One of the projects Heritage NL has been working on involves the old one-room post office building in Hant's Harbour, Trinity Bay (shown above).

Earlier this week, I sat down for a chat with 93-year-old Clarence Snook, the former postmaster and telegraph operator who worked out of this building in the 1940s and '50s.

When I arrived, Mr. Snook had written out some of his memories for me, which you can read here in pdf format.

If you have a memory of the old Hant's Harbour post office, send me an email at dale@heritagenl.ca. Or, even better, send me a postcard at PO Box 5171, St. John's, NL, A1C 5V5!

- Dale Jarvis

Did you work at 275 Duckworth Street, St. John's? Researcher looking for memories!

Hi! It’s me again, Rachael, Craft Researcher for the Craft Council and Heritage NL!

In my last post I mentioned a little about the Craft Council’s current home, 275 Duckworth Street. My hopes for this post is to uncover more information on this historic building!

One of my projects for this summer is to create a historical report on the structure. So far, my potential occupied dates are:

1911 - 195? The Newfoundland Clothing Factory
195? - 1981 The Evening Telegram
1985  The Dallas Lounge
Mid 1980s - 2010 Compu College
2018-present The Craft Council of NL

I have done some research myself, but I need your help! If you or anyone you know has worked in this building, and has any memories regarding their time here please contact me. You can reach me by email: craft@heritagenl.ca, or telephone: 739-1892 ext. 6. Any information helps!

Sheep Shearing #FolklorePhoto

Shearing sheep

Today's folklore photos come from last week when we had the opportunity to watch and assist in sheep shearing. Dale, Rachael, and I were able to stop in to see and photograph the process of removing the woolen fleece of a sheep with shears. The sheep in this flock were mostly Icelandic and are shorn or sheared by hand with blade shears twice a year. Once in the spring, and again in the fall. This sheep shearer often keeps the wool to spin, and then knit products for herself, family, and friends.

Shearing the back and rump

Dale assisting with the shearing process by holding Luna the sheep steady

New Perlican Field Trip

Jillian, Rachael, Eileen, Betty, Ruth, Kelley, and Dale talk with Ches Peddle of New Perlican.

On Tuesday, June 4, I headed out to New Perlican, Trinity Bay with Dale, our new summer student Rachael, and two professors in the folklore department. We were taking Dr. Jillian Gould, and Dr. Kelley Totten from Memorial University's Folklore Department to meet with members of the community in order to explore future partnerships between the heritage committee and the folklore department.

St. Augustine's Anglican Church

Our first stop was the town hall where we met with four members of Heritage New Perlican to talk about the possibility of the two groups working together on a future folklore field school. After our formal meeting we explored the community with a stop in St. Augustine's Anglican Church. This church was built in 1927 and is set to be deconsecrated this month.

Ches Peddle

Our next stop was one of the colourful stages that dot the harbour of New Perlican. Ches Peddle, who showed us around his stage, grew up and lives in Vitters Cove, New Perlican. He worked on boats, and spent time in the north with the Hudson Bay Company. Ches also builds boats, and each summer he places a flag on the local landmark, Peter's Finger. Ches took us through his stage, explained the different fishing gear, and pointed out who built some of the boats, and stages in the harbour.

Grave located on private property.

We made a quick stop in St. Mark's Anglican Cemetery. This cemetery was part of a clean up project in 2017. The project was another partnership with Heritage New Perlican, and Memorial University. We also stopped to see a lone grave from 1816 which is located on private property. Our last stop of the day was stop at Ron Peddle's and the St. Augustine Anglican Cemetery as no trip to New Perlican is complete without goats. Unfortunately we didn't see any cemetery goats! We did however see little Bella, who is a pet pygmy goat owned by a community member.

Folk art in New Perlican by George Burrage

Introducing our new Craft-at-Risk researcher, Rachael Green

Hi! I’m Rachael Green. I study Archaeology/Geography at Memorial University. As a Co-operative Education student, I am currently interning as a Craft Researcher for the Craft Council in partnership with Heritage NL. The creativity of the craft has always inspired me. I'm thrilled to learn and broaden my horizons of all things craft, folk, and heritage!

My major goals for the summer are: Firstly, to recreate “The Radcliffe Red List of Endangered Crafts”, NL style! In hopes to allow the public a better understanding of crafts at risk, all while creating an organized database of craftspeople around the province. Secondly, to conduct research on the craft council’s new home, 275 Duckworth Street, and create storyboards of the history of each level of the building. Then, to obtain enough information to eventually create a historical report. To give a little overview on the building, it was initially built 1908-1911, homing the Newfoundland Clothing Factory, The Telegram, and then Compu College. If you have any information or questions on my upcoming projects, my email is craft@heritagenl.ca.

As my first week here comes to an end, I couldn't have asked for a better start! So far, I have visited the quaint town of New Perlican. Here, we roamed and spoke to locals on the towns fishing heritage, as they recalled stories of the true beauty of growing up in the area.



I also got the chance to visit some Icelandic sheep, and witness sheep shearing! I will never forget the experience, and the wool was just incredible. We were provided with substantial knowledge on the breed of sheep, as well as, the correct way to shear for a safe and positive experience for both yourself and the animal.

I'm super excited to spend the summer working with the Craft Council and Heritage NL. I’m looking forward to all the exciting adventures to come!

- Rachael

Memory Mug Up at the Market - Sunday, June 9

Poster design by Graham Blair.

Have you had the opportunity to join us for a Memory Mug Up at the St. John's Farmers' Market? This weekend is your chance!

Come to the community room at the St. John's Farmers' Market for our Memory Mug Up at The Market. This is a free and informal story sharing session where people gather, have a cup of tea, and share memories. You bring a memory of growing up, organizers in partnership with vendors at the St. John’s Farmer’s Market supply the tea and local food, and everyone has a chat. Following the sessions, those who are interested can set up a time to have their stories recorded and archived by one of our story collectors. These stories will be edited into a booklet, which will be launched during the final storytelling session in March 2020. 

Heritage NL is partnering with the St. John’s Farmer’s Market, and the St. John’s Storytelling Festival to host a monthly Memory Mug Up at The Market. This Mug Up will take place the second Sunday of each month from 2-3 p.m. at the St. John’s Farmer’s Market, 245 Freshwater Road.

If you have any older photographs you would like scanned bring them along and we will scan them and provide you a digital copy!

For more information please contact Terra Barrett with the Heritage NL toll free at 1-888-739-1892 ext. 5 or email terra@heritagenl.ca

Living Heritage Podcast Ep153 Thrill of the Dark: Katie Crane on Fairies, Coffins, and Pirates

Learning the stories of a place is one thing that tourists seek out when they travel.  But what if some of those stories deal with darker themes? Towns and tourism operators are coming to see the value of what is known in the industry as “Dark Tourism.”

In this podcast, Folklore MA candidate Katie Crane talks to us about her studies in the field, escape rooms, pirate lore, coffin hardware, and her recent participation in “The Thrill of the Dark: Heritages of Fear Fascination and Fantasy” Conference in Birmingham, UK.

Katie Crane is a graduate student in the Public Sector program of Memorial University’s Department of Folklore. She has worked for the Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Museum, the Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, and for Admiralty House Communications Museum. Her academic research interests include public folklore, museums, heritage interpretation, legends, linguistics, and language revitalization.

Download the mp3

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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep152 Goatlore - The Goats of New Perlican

Goats wearing yokes on Pinsent's Lane, 1940s.
Photo courtesy of Heritage New Perlican.

Curious how goats predict the weather? Want to know what goats and Girl Guide cookies have in common? Need to know what a goat yoke is? Listen to this goatlore podcast to learn all about the goats of New Perlican. We’ve sifted through the archives for our favourite audio clips about goats. Listen to stories and memories from Bertha Conway, Ron Peddle, Susie Smith, and Max Warren of New Perlican, and Grant Tucker of Winterton. It’s a podcast for all goat lovers!

Download the mp3


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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio. Past episodes are hosted on Libsyn, and you can subscribe via iTunes, or Stitcher. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Today's Red Ochre adventure: from bucket to board, an experiment!

We've been doing some research here on the traditional use of red ochre (you can read our preliminary research right here) and how people used to mix it with some type of oil (linseed, seal, or cod liver) as a paint for outbuildings in Newfoundland and Labrador.

A while ago, Heather Fifield, the Coordinator of Laboratories and Services at the Department of Biochemistry at Memorial University, emailed me about some seal oil that Dr. Fereidoon Shahidi's lab no longer needed. So today, I picked up a bucket of the stuff and carefully transported it back to our office.

As an experiment Michael Philpott in our office treated one side of a piece of wood with the pure oil, and then we mixed the oil with some powdered red ochre I had been given by Pete Porter of Change Islands. Michael coated the other side of the board with the red ochre/seal oil mix, and now we'll see how long it takes to dry. Even just a small amount of oil and ochre gave us a beautiful first coat stain, and we're looking forward to seeing how it looks after another coat.

We've been floating around the idea of doing a bigger project, mixing up a larger amount of red ochre paint and testing its effectiveness on an outdoor project like a stage or store. Stay tuned!

If you've got a memory of red ochre (or have some in your shed) send me an email at dale@heritagenl.ca