Editorially speaking...
Last week I told you that Hope Council has decided to have that Fraser River community’s second oldest building, the ca 1916 Canadian National Railways station house, demolished.
Even though it’s said to be structurally sound and was given heritage designation 40 years ago.
Well, the battle is on, as these photos, taken from the historic depot’s supporters, graphically show. Protesters’ spirits and a sense of determination, obviously, are high. To quote their website, “What a day! It was so great to see so many people out in the rain, supporting the Hope Station House...”
Protesters are fighting to save the historic Hope CNR station house from being demolished by order of town council.
They’re asking that “anyone who hasn't yet written an email to the mayor and council, please consider doing so. Check out the final section of our FAQ on our website where you'll find a template email alongside all the contact details at the District of Hope. Now is the time to keep up the pressure on those who can reverse their decision to demolish OUR heritage.”
I wish them well!
Another protest movement wants to save the last old growth forest in Shawnigan district. It’s one of the very few stands of first-growth trees left in the province after 180 years of wholesale logging. Whatever one’s natural inclination—preservation or jobs—this one cuts across borders if we look at the even bigger scheme of things, global warming.
Please Note: I’m not trying to get ‘political’ here on the Chronicles. I’ve always been fascinating by logging history even though I’m a tree hugger. I’m including mention of the online petition to preserve these trees because they’re part of our ongoing historical story, too. And, alas, they’re not making them any more.
Speaking of logging in the normal and non-controversial way, I subscribe to the quarterly newsletter published by the British Columbia Historical Society. It’s well worth the nominal $20 yearly subscription for its historical content. As I noted above, you don’t have to be for or against logging per se to enjoy reading about B.C. logging history, some of it in these pages, firsthand. This month’s issue has an interesting story of Gerry Wellburn, founder of Duncan’s B.C. Forest Discovery Centre.
Another appeal of an entirely different nature concerns the crash of an RCAF bomber on Mount Bolduc, west of Cowichan Lake, in April 1944. (I give the full story on www.twpaterson.com.) The Kaatza Museum, Lake Cowichan, is preparing a display as a memorial to three military aircraft lost in that region during the Second World War and Paul P. Jordan (pjkakecowichan@gmail.com) is seeking photographs of the lost airmen. The tribute to Ventura bomber 2218 whose wreckage and crew form an official cemetery site on Mount Bolduc, will consist of a specially commissioned 1/4 scale model “in its authentic colour and markings”. Executed by Pat Murphy of the Vancouver Island Military Museum, Victoria, it’s supposed to go on display by the end of this month.
The wreck site is a forested square mile that’s been left untouched by chainsaws since 1944; you can see where the twin-engine Ventura, known to airmen as the flying cow because, I guess, it was slow and ponderous in its handling, first struck then began her death plunge. The wreckage—and the graves—are still there.
For years now, I’ve been researching the 190 or so lost airmen of Pat Bay Airport who died in the line of duty without ever getting overseas. They were killed right here in B.C. Many pf them disappeared without trace and still haven’t been recovered, and they deserve to be remembered. Kaatza Museum’s exhibit is going to go a long way towards this worthwhile goal. And I don’t mean just on Remembrance Day.
From Cindy, a request for any information I may have in my files about her grandfather John Alexander whose terse 1962 obituary notice noted that he was “one of the two survivors of the Cassidy mine disaster in 1916”. Cassidy implies Granby, the coal mine (1917-1932) beside Haslam Creek and the E&N Railway grade, just north of today’s Nanaimo Airport. I’ve passed the buck on this one to South Wellington’s resident historian, Helen Tilly. It’s a work in progress...
Another query is about the old Shell Oil (as it was when I first knew it) dock in Cowichan Bay: when was it built? I can’t help the lady but former Cow Bay resident and history buff Tom W. Might be able to so I’ve forwarded her email to him. He has since given her two local names with decades-long association with the bay to pursue.
Finally: a group of volunteers has undertaken the upkeep of the retired St. Andrew’s Church at Cowichan Station. I’m glad; it’s picturesque and historic cemetery simply mustn’t be allowed to go to seed. The Kingscote headstone, to name one, is the single most outstanding headstone I’ve seen in any of the many, many cemeteries I’ve visited on the Island and on the Mainland. I mean, it’s one of a kind and worth the visit alone!
See you next week.
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