In last week’s editorial I shrugged off the impending demolition of the historic Holt Creek trestle at Mile 59.7 on the Glenora stretch of the Trans Canada Trail as inevitable and, well, c’est la vie.
It’s to be replaced with a purely utilitarian span of steel and concrete with a wooden deck.
Read MoreWhen I was a kid, way back in the Jurassic Age, all that I knew about the Doukhobor people of B.C. could be summed up in a cynical four-line ditty which we kids bandied about in school. I still remember it, but won’t repeat here.
As the years went by and there were glaring newspaper headlines about arson, and scenes of naked demonstrations by the Sons of Freedom sect filled evening TV screens, what little thought I gave to their protests and beliefs wasn’t charitable.
Read MoreThere just ain’t nothing sacred any more...
It’s looking more likely that a Vancouver mining company will get the go-ahead to “process the large quantities of waste rock on land owned by Mosaic on Mount Sicker...” reads the lead of a front-page story in this week’s Cowichan Valley Citizen.
The waste rock referred is that of the ore dumps and tailings piles of the historic Lenora and Tyee mines on Mount Sicker.
Read MoreWhenever we see or hear anything in the news about whales these days, it’s about their being threatened (in the case of the Orcas) with eventual extinction, or of a whale being run down by a ship, or becoming entangled in discarded fishing gear...
Our concern for their general welfare is a dramatic turnaround from that of our pioneers, Indigenous and White, who harvested them for their meat and blubber, then for their oil and ambergris which were valued for industrial purposes.
Read MoreHaving a Facebook page can be like stroking a cat; rub it the wrong way and you can get scratched.
So I've learned over the past months of hosting T.W. Paterson History Author, which was set up for me by and at the urging of friend Blake Mackenzie, creator of the phenomenally successful FB site, Gold Trails and Ghost Towns.
Read MoreIt was over almost as soon as it began but still worth the time and trouble to drive to Crofton.
I’m referring to Sunday evening’s flypast by the famous Martin Mars water bomber, Hawaii Mars, on her final flight to retirement at Sidney’s BC Aviation Museum. (Bonus: She was escorted by the Snowbirds in perfect formation.)
Read MoreIt’s the dog days of summer so please forgive me if I begin this week with a ramble; specifically, a quote from immortal Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery who obviously was a lady after my own heart:
“I am simply a book drunkard. Books have the same irresistible temptation for me that liquor has for its devotees. I cannot withstand them.”
Read MoreFurther to this week's Chronicle, the conclusion to the tragic story of 1920s Cowichan Lake school teacher Mabel Jones, this is the second time in 15 years that the Mill Bay Malahat Historical Society has chosen to bring history to life via the stage.
Read MoreAs I write this, B.C.’s greatest icon of the Cariboo gold rush era is in danger of destruction by a forest fire.
It was back in 1967, Canada’s Centennial, that this ‘ghost town’ was rescued from eventual oblivion and since has become one of the province’s greatest tourist attractions.
Who hasn’t visited Barkerville?
According to the Quesnel Cariboo Observer, the BC Wildfire Service “has had sprinklers installed on every building...as the area remains under an evacuation order on Tuesday. July 23...”
Read MoreAlthough it sometimes feels like it, I’m not the only author who celebrates British Columbia history. Obviously, as Chronicles readers are sure to be aware, there are others beating the drum of history.
However, a full-page story in this week’s Cowichan Valley Citizen is a happy reminder that, right here in my own backyard, a dedicated band of volunteers is hard at work promoting Vancouver Island’s colourful past.
Read MoreJohn Milton Bryant (1887-1913), who’s acknowledged as “one of the first American barnstormers,” had acquired his aviator’s license only six months before his death. An inset on his headstone in the Los Angeles Odd Fellows Cemetery reads:
In Memoriam
August 6, 1913 – The first fatal airplane accident in Canada occurred when John M. Bryant, husband of Alys (Tiny) Bryant, was killed in the crash of his plane at Victoria.
Read MoreFurther to today’s story on the collapse of the Second Narrows Bridge in June 1958....
History almost repeated itself in May 2006 when it took the combined efforts of seven tugboats to keep a freighter from crashing into the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing.
Read MoreFurther to today’s feature article on engineer extraordinaire Andrew Onderdonk, an attempt to answer: Hero or Heel?
Read MoreAs told in this week’s Chronicle, Stuart Henderson’s courtroom record was perhaps without equal: he lost just five cases of 50 over a half-century of defending clients accused of serious crimes, usually murder.
Read MoreLast week, I wrote that I’m not the only one who collects old photos. Al Maas had sent along a copy of a somewhat battered photo he’d bought at Whippletree Auction, years ago. “...It’s a local picture of rail workers? Bridge builders?”
Read MoreI’m not the only one who collects old photos. From Al Maas, this query:
Hey, Tom
Thanks for getting back to me, I'm hoping someone will be able to identify some of these people. I got the picture at the Whippletree Auction years ago, so am hoping it's a local picture of rail workers? bridge builders? Beams are quite long and may have been used for trestles etc? Hope you see something here that you might recognize.
Thanks, Al
Read MoreLast Sunday, for the second time in 30-odd years, I wandered about the base of the Bay Street bridge.
It will always be the Point Ellice bridge to me, the site of the worst streetcar disaster in Canadian, even North American history.
Read MoreThere were 12—12—pages in this week’s Times Colonist weekend magazine about a new film telling the story of the famous Cowichan sweater.
I have no problem with that—it’s a wonderful story of an Indigenous craft whose uniqueness has made it legendary.
Read MoreThere’s so much happening historically in the news lately that I can hardly keep up...
Shannon Panko’s petition (to be presented to the Legislature) to keep the No. 1077 in operation at Fort Steele Heritage Town continues. Originally a logging train on Vancouver Island, it has been lovingly restored and cared for since it was donated to the province.
Read MoreI’m sorry to say that I let last week’s Chronicle go to press without acknowledging this year’s Battle of the Atlantic Day...
On the first Sunday each May, “the Royal [Canadian] Navy family gathers to commemorate the Battle of the Atlantic – to honour the struggle, sacrifice, and loss, but also to celebrate the heroism and courage in the face of daunting obstacles: horrible weather and high seas, rough little ships and cramped quarters, and the ever-present threat of attack by submarines lurking below”.
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