Editorially speaking…
As I write this, B.C.’s greatest icon of the Cariboo gold rush era is in danger of destruction by a forest fire.
Historic Barkerville’s main street. —BC Archives
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...”
Heaven forbid that we should have a replay of just a few years ago that resulted in the all but total destruction of equally historic Lytton. Each summer now, wild fires are causing ever more damage to our forests and to property owners unfortunate enough to become collateral damage.
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On a happier note, Victoria Chinatown’s architecturally imposing Gate of Harmonious Interest at the intersection of Fisgard and Government streets is about to undergo a $1.4 million restoration.
This will be the second fix-up for the structure; this time, it’s the deteriorating ceramic tiles that are causing the most concern. “This work will maintain the design and form of the original gate and provide a maintenance plan to preserve the heritage and quality of the asset for generations to come,” a city spokesperson told Black Press Media.
A summer evening tour of Victoria Chinatown with tour guide John Adams is something not soon forgotten. —Author’s photo
The Gate’s roof tiles will also be replaced, this time with more weather-resistant materials.
There’s also going to be a new museum in legendary Fan Tan Alley to “showcase the history, cultures and stories of Chinese Canadians,” according to former Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe.
Victoria’s Chinatown is Canada’s oldest and one of the few that survive of our fascinating frontier past.
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There’s renewed hope that the drop-dead gorgeous No. 1077 locomotive at Fort Steele will be returned to service. Too late for this summer, but better late than never.
The 2-6-2 ‘Prairie’ type steam engine was built for the Macmillan Bloedel & Powell River Co. In 1923. Retired in 1969, she was restored in 1985 and participated, the following year, at Steam Expo 86 in Vancouver. Overhauled again in 1990-92, she assumed summer work as an excursion train at Fort Steele.
Until this summer.
For the first time in decades she hasn’t performed for 1000s of visitors to this popular historic site despite a petition to the provincial legislature. According to Shannon Panko, who has led the charge on social media to return the locomotive, its qualified crew and other volunteers to full service, the locomotive’s boilers are to undergo another safety inspection.
Boilers can be rebuilt, of course, but when you’re dealing with governments it not always a matter of economics but that of political agendas. Here’s hoping...
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Finally, for this week:
Three weeks ago, the Victoria Times Colonist reported that, “After more than 150 years, descendants of the Quw’utsun (Cowichan) peoples have regained some of their traditional territory on Salt Spring Island, which they hope to restore and use for ceremonial and educational purposes...”
Recently, the Stqeeye’ Learning Society, an Indigenous-led non-profit organization, purchased four hectares near Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park, on the west side of the island. Situated within Quw’utsun traditional territory, the property was once the site of a substantial village.
But the land passed out of tribal ownership after the marriage of some members of European settlers in the 1800s.
The Society has raised half its $2 million goal to make the land purchase. Money yet to be raised will go towards wetlands restoration, removal of invasive species, re-introduction of native species and to expand the Society’s youth programs.
Plans call for development of a “teaching garden” and plant nursery to “supply traditional food and medicine for the community”.
You can learn more at stqeeye.ca/stqeeye.
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Not being a computer techie, I don’t know he does it but, besides ’colourizing’ old photos and postcards, Nigel Robertson substantially ups their resolution.
This 1942 postcard shows Saanich Inlet from the Malahat.
Prints from photos, depending on the size of their original negative, can be enlarged to varying sizes, sometimes extreme, but printed photos, such as postcards, have a dot pattern in them. In the early days of digital printing, the frustrating conflict of dots became known as the moire effect.
As a former professional offset printer, I can attest to what a problem this could be!