Living Heritage Podcast Ep219 Mentor-Apprentice Program: Weaving with Jessica McDonald and Christian Dauble

Jessica McDonald and Christian Dauble.

In this episode we talk with mentor Jessica, and apprentice Christian who are two participants of Heritage NL’s Mentor-Apprentice Program. Jessica is a Textile Artist who completed the Textiles program at the College of the North Atlantic and fine-tuned her skills at NSCAD University. She has presented and taught workshops at the Anna Templeton Centre and the Craft Council of NL, and continues to promote and bring awareness to weaving. Christian, an avid knitter, became enamoured with weaving in 2019 and decided to pursue it further. They built a small loom from a canvas frame where they began to practice basic tapestry weaving. Christian has completed over twenty projects in the past two years.

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Living Heritage 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.

Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Which crafts or skills are being lost in your community? Heritage NL wants to know!

 

Which craft, building, or technical skills are at risk of being lost in your community?

In 2021, Heritage NL and Craft Council of NL released their Craft at Risk List. The list featured 55 crafts, 10 of which were listed as critically endangered. You can see the full list of Heritage Crafts considered at risk at https://heritagenl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Craft-at-Risk-List-2021.pdf

Now, Heritage NL is looking to update and expand that list, and needs your help! What is missing? Which crafts or technical skills should be included in the list for 2022? Interested makers, craft producers, and heritage enthusiasts can take the survey online at www.heritagecraft.ca or email ich@heritagenl.ca

Fowler House: A Restoration Project in Brigus

The Fowler House in Brigus, built circa 1850, was designated as a Registered Heritage Structure by Heritage NL in 1988 for its historic value.

Image: Fowler House, Brigus. Photo courtesy of Heritage NL

The most iconic and distinctive part of the structure is the roller located at the base of a door on the second floor of the attachment - this served as a way to ease pulling fishing nets up from the street into the loft to mend them. As the town of Brigus was heavily involved in the fishery, having a tangible representation of the history of the fishery in the community through the house is very valuable.

Image: Clapboard removal from Fowler House. Photo courtesy of @brigus_twine.loft

Today the current owners are working with Heritage NL, contractors, and individuals skilled in heritage restorative work to restore the house to be not only a home, but also a representation of the history of the community. In collaboration with them we are going to be posting a chronological history of the house, as well as restoration updates, on social media.

Follow along with the project by using the hashtags #BrigusTwineLoft and #HeritageNL on our
Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook: @hfnlca, and by following @brigus_twine.loft on Instagram and @brigustwineloft on Facebook.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep218 Mentor-Apprentice Program: Boatbuilding with Jerome Canning and Chris Hogan

Photo Caption: Jerome Canning and Chris Hogan in Chris' workspace. Photo by Heritage NL.

In this episode we talk with mentor Jerome, and apprentice Chris who are two participants of Heritage NL’s Mentor-Apprentice Program. With over 40 years of experience, mentor Jerome Canning is a master boat builder. A well known craftsman across the island, Canning has completed over 100 wooden boats during his career. Apprentice Chris Hogan is an experienced carpenter and woodworker with a long-held desire to explore the unique craft of wooden boatbuilding.

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Living Heritage 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.

Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Pouch Cove Clifton Lodge SUF #46 Adaptive Reuse Report: Looking Back and Possible Futures

Check out what we did in Pouch Cove when we were working with the community in planning for the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Pouch Cove Society of United Fishermen’s (SUF) #46 Clifton Lodge! 

Image: Clifton Lodge building from the Northeast side.

We have been working with the Pouch Cove Heritage Society and the community of Pouch Cove to come up with adaptive reuse ideas for the old SUF Hall, Clifton Lodge, that would be a benefit to the community. Most recently, we created and published a report - “Pouch Cove Clifton Lodge SUF #46 Adaptive Reuse Report: Looking Back and Possible Futures.” This was created following a public meeting with Heritage NL, the Pouch Cove Heritage Society, and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts & Recreation. 

During this meeting we encouraged members of the community to identify their memories of the SUF Hall, what is missing in the community, and what they would like to see become of the building. The report details the results of the meeting, an accumulation of historical research on the Pouch Cove SUF Hall #46 Clifton Lodge, memories and stories from the meeting attendees, and concludes with suggestions and examples for the future possibilities of reuse based on the values of the community. 

To read the report and learn more about the project click this link:

https://tinyurl.com/PouchCoveSUF

Mosquito School House and Blundon House Receive New Historic Plaques

On Friday, Heritage NL visited two of our registered heritage structures on the Baccalieu Trail, Mosquito School House in Bristol's Hope and Blundon House in Bay de Verde.

Blundon House in Bay de Verde

Mosquito School House in Bristol's Hope

Built-in 1896, Blundon House is the last remaining merchant house in Bay de Verde and one of only a few on the lower North Shore of Conception Bay. Originally owned by local merchant John Blundon, the house's exterior accents, ornate detailing, and separate servants' quarters set it apart from other houses in the community through its upper-class owners. His son James later inherited the house.

Community of Bay de Verde

Blundon house was donated by Dorothy Blundon, the widow of James Blundon, to the Town of Bay de Verde in 1996, 100 years after it was constructed. It is now preserved and used as the Bay de Verde Heritage House, where it is open to visitors in the summer. Blundon House was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1997.

New Blundon House Plaque

Mosquito School House in Bristol's Hope also received a new plaque. This one-room schoolhouse was built around 1823 and was used as a school for over 100 years. Originally built by the Colonial and Continental Church Society, the schoolhouse was located next to the local Methodist church (later United), which was later demolished.

Mosquito School House exterior

Mosquito School House Interior

The exterior of Mosquito School House has recently been restored, and the interior is representative of a traditional Newfoundland one-room school house. Mosquito School House was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by Heritage NL in 1988.

New Mosquito School House Plaque

Drake House Receives New Historic Plaque

Earlier this month Drake House in Arnold's Cove received a new historic plaque presented by past Heritage NL chair Dave Lough. 

Drake House in Arnold's Cove

While Drake House has been located in Arnold’s Cove for over 50 years and serves an invaluable function as a community museum, it was originally built in the 1890s in the now resettled community of Haystack. Haystack was part of the government-sponsored resettlement program implemented in Newfoundland and Labrador between 1954 and 1975 that resulted in the resettlement of almost 260 communities and the relocation of over 27 thousand people. Drake House, through its history and its current role as a museum, preserves the heritage of our province and teaches us about this important part of our history. The house is also a good example of late 19th century outport architecture built using local, traditional materials.

Frank Drake outside Drake House circa 1941

In 1969, Frank Drake reluctantly had Drake House towed to Arnold’s Cove to its current location, ending permanent settlement at Haystack. The Drake House was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by Heritage NL in 2003 due to its social and aesthetic significance. 

Drake House in Haystack

The new plaque reads: This house was built in the Placentia Bay community of Haystack by brothers

George and John Drake. George's son, Frank, became Haystack's last resident following resettlement in the 1950s. He stayed until 1969 when the house was moved to its present site. The house continues to tell the story of resettlement as a community museum.

Drake House plaque

You can learn more about Drake House here.

Traditional Games scheduled for the Change Islands Squidathlon

The Change Islands Squidathlon is scheduled for Sunday, Aug 21, 2022. This annual event includes afternoon events that are reviving games played in the past on the island. This includes Change Islands style ball, piddly, and skittles. For more information check out the Squidathlon of Change Islands Facebook Page. 

Change Islands style Ball (1:30pm) : A popular island game played more regularly in the past with local aspects such as no second base and no foul balls with the ball pictured below.

Change Islands style ball

Change Islands style bat and ball

Piddly (3pm) : Piddly, also known as Tiddly in some communities, will be back.

Skittles (3:45pm) : Peter Porter, Olde Shoppe Museum, as a young boy recalls seeing Skittles being played behind the SUF Hall. Rules in the old country vary however and we plan to reintroduce a version by a local replicating nine skittle pins similar to the one on display in the museum. As the ball aka cheese we have officially adopted the use of turnips.

Skittle pin from the Olde Shoppe Museum.

Recreated skittles pins, and a turnip for ball or cheese.

If you are interested in learning more about Piddly (also known as Tiddly) you can check out this short video from the 2017 Carbonear World Cup of Tiddly:

If you want to learn more about children's games in Newfoundland and Labrador check out the Provincial Historic Commemorations Designation page all about Traditional Games of Newfoundland and Labrador. You can read through two commemorations research papers, and read the booklet Looking Back: Games We Played. 

Heart and Hand Loyal Orange Lodge Receives New Historic Plaque

Heritage NL presented a new historic plaques on Sunday to the Heart and Hand Loyal Orange Lodge in Green's Harbour as part of the communities Come Home Year opening celebrations.

Heart and Hand Loyal Orange Lodge in Green's Harbour 

Heritage NL chair Dr. Lisa Daly unveiled the Heart and Hand LOL plaque following the completion of recent restorations on the Loyal Orange Lodge. 

Dr. Lisa Daly speaks at Green's Harbour Ceremony

Partially funded by a Restoration Grant by Heritage NL, work was completed to preserve the structures roof, windows, and exterior walls. More information about the Heart and Hand Lodge is in our most recent Heritage Update here.

Heart and Hand prior to restorations in 2013

The Hand and Heart LOL #9 was originally constructed between 1895 to 1898 in Green’s Harbour by local members of the Loyal Orange Lodge as a site for their organizations meetings and for community events. Throughout the years the building has also been used as a polling station during provincial and federal elections, for writing public exams, and as a judicial courtroom. The Heart and Hand LOL was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by Heritage NL in 1995 due to its social and aesthetic significance. 

Heart and Hand Lodge with new plaque

More information is available about the Heart and Hand Lodge here.