I see ‘history’ is in the news again. Close to home, Duncan has ditched its town crier and North Cowichan its coat of arms, both symbols of our European roots the casualties of “inclusion” in our new age of colonial atonement, racial awareness and reconciliation.
Read MoreIt’s that time of year again when Elder College, subject to COVID restrictions, resumes at the Cowichan Community Centre and, in some cases, on-site.
Read MoreThere is hope for the future. In response to my recent two-part series on the 1900 Ladysmith train wreck, a new subscriber kindly wrote to tell of taking his 11-year-old son metal detecting.
Read MoreA problem with telling a story in a neat and structured form is that some good ‘nuggets’ just don’t fit, not even as sidebars. There are three that didn’t make the cut for this week’s bio of Gerry Wellburn.
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Being an armchair adventurer has never been my thing. I’ve always wanted to see it for myself, to touch, to take photos—to feel—then write about it. And you can ‘t get much more hands-on than by using a metal detector.
Read MoreLet’s begin with this quote from Capt. George Vancouver as a follow-up to August 5th’s post on Military Mapmakers.
Read MoreAt least another week of sun, heat, no rain and wild fires ahead of us, alas...if you pore through back issues of the Cowichan Leader as I do regularly, hot and dry summers weren’t a novelty in the Cowichan Valley or on the Island. But I’ve not seen references to a summer such as we’re experiencing now, thanks in part, we’re told, to global warming.
Read MoreIt's not that Telesforo Trinidad wasn't duly recognized at the time: he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour, the highest American commendation for courage when the CMH could be awarded for heroism in non-combat duty.
Read MoreOne of the victims of the wildfire that ravaged Lytton earlier this month was the privately owned Lytton Chinese History Museum. The creation of Lorna Fandrich was built on an empty lot on Main Street that was said to be the site of a Chinese joss house or temple, 1881-1928.
Read MoreWhat a ride it has been. Two days ago we marked—celebrated seems too strong a word in the face of recent events—the 150th anniversary of British Columbia as a province of Canada. If ever we as Canadians had a moral duty to be good citizens by informing ourselves and engaging in a renewal of our society it’s now.
Read MoreOne of the victims of the wildfire that ravaged Lytton last week was the privately owned Lytton Chinese History Museum. The creation of Lorna Fandrich was built on an empty lot on Main Street that was said to be the site of a Chinese joss house or temple, 1881-1928.
Read MoreAs you read this it’s—or it isn’t, depending upon your response to calls for its ‘cancellation’—Canada Day.
I never thought I’d live to see July 1st be anything but a celebration of Canada’s birthday. But then I didn’t foresee events unfolding as they have over the past few years, and the last few months in particular.
There’s nothing like a challenge to get the blood flowing. It’s been 46 years since I wrote Ghost Town Trails of Vancouver Island which has been in continuous print all that time. One chapter deals with my “first” ghost town which qualified as such because I could drive to it. (Not many B.C. ‘ghost towns’ allow you this luxury, believe me.)
Read MoreTraditional First Nation names are cropping up everywhere these days. Latest is the rechristening of a campground beside the Pat Bay Highway between Sidney and the ferry terminal.
Read MoreLet’s begin with an update on the Oct. 17, 1951 Mount Benson plane crash that I told you about several months ago. At the time, with 23 dead, it was B.C.’s worst aviation disaster. The 70th anniversary of this tragedy is fast approaching…
Read MoreFor me, a sad beginning to an otherwise pleasant Spring day. An email from Eric Ricker, a fellow veteran of the years-long campaign to save the century-old tipple/headframe at Morden Colliery Provincial Heritage Park, informed me that another oldtime Friend of the Morden Mine has passed away.
Read MoreI’d written it off as another victim of time and ‘progress’ but, no, the old Thorne cabin, for a century and more a landmark at the southern entrance to Duncan, is alive and well. Sort of, anyway, having been, to quote the present owner, “carefully disassembled”. He’d approached me, via the Cowichan Valley Citizen, to ask if I had any historical information about the cabin and/or photos.
Read MoreThe clock is again ticking for Hope’s ca 1916 Canadian National Railway station. Council’s decision to demolish the heritage-designated landmark, said to be structurally sound, was put on hold last month when the B.C. Ombudsman’s office intervened because the current Council is, in effect, going against both the municipal Heritage Designation Act.
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