Peter Smith

Paths
Granny Walter's Hill, Old Road to Petley.

Granny Walter’s Hill, Old Road to Petley.

Apsey Brook, and even Random Island aren’t/weren’t highly populated places, but we seemed to have an abundance of paths around. It always amazed me how long they lasted, with not a ton of traffic to keep them without becoming grown over and disappearing in the brush.

I’m sure that likely has happened more so back in Apsey Brook in recent years because there are even less people now than was once the case.

But still, memories return of paths.  So many of them.  There was one from the old road down by the old bridge and Uncle Luther’s mill all the way to Uncle Hay’s, and yes even further though less plain all the way down to Colin’s house across the old garden.

There was one around Ross’s fence the sheep used to take to get down to the beach area up to the old school garden area.  There was one from Sam’s meeting the old road, and of course the old road itself that ran from over by Edgar Martin’s all the way to Petley! And of course off shoots everywhere, to get to all the ponds and berry patches along the way.

One from McGrath’s Cove to Friggin’s Cove Rattle, and likely beyond.  Paths to the steadies and to the barrens where Dad would tail slips for rabbits.

I’m sure each community had the same, as over the fields and through the stands of trees, and over the bog holes we’d make our way.

Just another memory of home, and the freedom we had, and something that stays with me over time as I think about how they formed, and how they remain.

July 9, 2014 by Uncategorized 0

Not London Day 5

Dear Paris, two words…. Air Conditioning!

Thursday I had an early start, getting up at 4:50ish London time to get to the St. Pancras Eurostar Station for 6:00 to meet the tour people.  We got our tickets, and instructions and then went through bag check, passport check etc and got on board our train, which left at about 7:30. We traveled the 213 miles or so in about 2 hours on the train, which was pretty smooth and comfortable. It has a bar and food on board, tho I didn’t avail, but all in all I much prefer it to flying!

Once there, we departed and met our guide at the station.  This tour was in some ways the most disappointing of the three I took as we didn’t have a dedicated tour bus, but rather were availing of one of the hop on hop off services (with no air conditioning) with the guide just interjecting some.  We traveled around and saw the opera house, and the stopped near the Eiffel tower.

We didn’t head there right away though, first we took a quick cruise on the Seine. That was very nice but not overly conducive to taking pictures because of the plexiglas sides and bad angles, but was nice to see museums, the Louvre, Notre Dame cathedral etc from the water. It was a hot hot day, 30 degrees Celsius, and the trip on the water had a nice cooling effect as well.

After the cruise we went to a restaurant for lunch, again no air conditioning, and oh yeah, the water wasn’t cold either! After lunch we went back to the Eiffel Tower and some went up to the observation deck, this didn’t appeal to my dislike of heights so I just stayed down, relaxed in the shade and took some pictures.  Of course we also had the most brain dead tourist ever with us, who had already gotten lost once and caused us to miss time while the guide tracked him down.  Up on the tower, he decided to come down early without telling anyone and made the rest of the tour search for him for 20 minutes more wasting everyone’s time!

After that, we fought our way through traffic (I would never drive in Paris, it’s like those pictures you see of India!) to Notre Dame cathedral, seeing the Louvre, the Opera House and other things whose name escapes me now en route.  After that we went to the opera district, but because of “our friend” we really didn’t get much time to do anything other than get a snack at the House of Lindt.

From there our Paris excursion came to an end, heading back to the train station for the uneventful trip back to London.

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

Louvre

Louvre

River Sienne

River Sienne

Flame of Liberty

Flame of Liberty

Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

Luxor Obelisk

Luxor Obelisk

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

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St. Pancras Station

 

July 5, 2014 by London Vacation 0

London Day 4

Today was the day I came to London for, the day of the Monty Python reunion show.  But that wasn’t till 6 o’clock.  So, as I wanted to see some things that I had seen on the bus in more detail, I bought a day pass for the London Underground for 9 pounds, and around 8:30 took off from the hotel to find the famous department store Harrods.  I walked quite a ways to the underground station (probably a couple kilometers) mainly because it was new to me, and I really had no idea what was involved in transfers, so I went to a station that was on a direct line to the station near Harrods.

The trip once aboard took 10 minutes or so and I got there shortly after 9 to find that the store didn’t open till 10, doh! Guess I should have checked.  So I walked around the block to look around, to find that Harrods IS the block, the store takes up a whole city block.  I can’t remember how many floors there are (Google says 7), but I do remember the guides saying it has over a million square feet of retail space.  Easy to believe!  I walked through and looked around some, not everywhere, but some, was quite overwhelming, with many luxurious things I didn’t even want to think of the price of!  I’m not a shopping lover, but I’m sure there are people who could spend days wandering inside!

From there I caught the tube again and this time did take a transfer and went to the Westminster area to get a better look at the Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament.  All so beautiful, and all stone, hard to really fathom how old things are in Europe! I took some pictures, heard Big Ben chime 11, and headed back to home base to get some food and relax a bit.

Wandered around the local neighborhood for an hour or two, then lay down for a bit because I had an early start planned for Thursday and knew I would be fairly late from the show.

I left the hotel around 5:30 and took the 2 minute walk to the local station, caught the tube, transferred at Waterloo (seems so odd to say these names I’ve always heard in relation to doing things myself) and from there to North Greenwich, just outside the O2 stadium.  Looked around at the overly outrageously priced souveneirs and when the doors opened made my way to my seat, where I nearly panicked and left! I’ve been to arenas here in North America, but I really don’t recall the nosebleed section being so steep! felt like I was on the side of a cliff.  Anyway, I was able to relax after a bit, and just focus on the stage (I have anxiety issues, not just being a total wuss here) and made it through. Once the lights were down, it was much better, and once the laughs started, it was great.

Monty Python did a lot of thier classic sketches,  Argument, Four Yorkshiremen, Cheese Shop, Parrot, Spanish Inquisition, etc) but I think the biggest laugh for me was seeing how much fun they appeared to be having.  John Cleese in particular was unable to say his lines a couple times because he was laughing so hard, and in the Cheese Shop sketch, Michael Palin said to him something like: gesturing at the audience, “You know all these people have home to get to” to which John, through laughter said “Then why didn’t you come up with a punch line?” and then they walked off laughing together.

The show ended at 10:30, with an attendance of about 16000.  Was wondering how long the return journey would take, wasn’t sure how many could jam into a train!  But I was back in my hotel from that size of an event in 30 minutes (10 miles per google), amazing really.  Just think how long it takes to get home from a Mooseheads game!

Some pictures from the day:

IMG_0956

King Richard

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Argument

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Nudge nudge

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I’m a Lumberjack

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Four Yorkshiremen

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The O2 Arena

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Another building near the O2

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Westminster Abbey

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Big Ben

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Harrods

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Parliament

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Parliament Entrance way

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Westminster Abbey

July 5, 2014 by London Vacation 0

London Day 3

Today I took a tour of the city itself.  Saw many things, some of which were hard to get pictures of because we were on the bus moving.  First off we toured around sections of the city, seeing some of the expensive properties and royal and formal royal buildings.  Drove around near Hyde Park, and saw many commemorative statues and the like.  We paused at the Prince Albert Memorial for a few pictures, and right across from it we saw Royal Albert Hall.

From there we moved on to the “mall” and saw the changing of the guard, was quite crowded, and didn’t get right up to the guard positions, but did see the march and hear the band, was quite a spectacle!

We then moved through the London traffic to St. Paul’s Cathedral.  Were on our own for a bit for lunch, then had a tour of the cathedral itself.  Unfortunately photography is prohibited inside, so only external pictures to share, but I’m sure there are better than I could take online anyway. Again not a huge church fan, but the architecture was amazing as were the many memorials to Lord Nelson, Churchill etc.

Lastly we moved on to the Tower of London.  This actually used to be a Royal residence, I never knew that, but the residential part was torn down in the 1600s.  Was quite spectacular to see, even having the small cutouts (whose name escapes me) for archers.  We toured inside and saw the crown jewels (again, no photos allowed).  Must be a rough life to own these paltry little items I say. Near there also saw the tower bridge, and some spectacular skyline including the eye.

I may try to get back near parliament again tomorrow before the show, would like some better pictures, will see how it goes!

A few more photos below.

Beefeater

Beefeater

Big Ben

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Parliament

Parliament

Prince Albert Memorial

Prince Albert Memorial

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral

St. Paul's Dome

St. Paul’s Dome

The Eye

The Eye

The Guard

The Guard

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Tower of London

July 1, 2014 by London Vacation 1

London Day 2

Today I took a bus tour to Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral and Bath.

Walked to the pickup site about 7:15 am, and to others along the route till we got to Victoria Coach Station, from there at 9 o’clock we hit the road and went to Stonehenge.  I was expecting this to be an “Ok I’ve seen it, now what” moment, but it was quite fun, with an audio guide telling you history of the stones and even before the stones. We were there for an hour and a half and I could easily have stayed longer and listened to every bit of the commentary.  But I also needed food and souvenirs, and was even then pressed to get back to the bus on time.  Was an interesting side note, there was some man somewhere screaming out like someone had cut a limb off, couldn’t quite make out where though.

From there we went to Salisbury Cathedral, which has, I learned, a 404 foot spire.  Was interesting in its own way, but churches aren’t really my thing.  It does have one of four original copies of the Magna Carta there, written on sheep skin.  That was pretty cool, the writing it tiny! Unfortunately photographs of it are prohibited.  All in all, interesting, but didn’t really need the full hour and a half there for me.

From there we travelled to the Roman Bath’s in the town of, you guessed it, Bath.  These were rediscovered in the 19th century and having been undisturbed for centuries were in great shape when excavated.  Its the only hot spring in Britain, with waters gushing out at a temperature of 46 degrees Celsius.  Legend says drinking the water has healing powers, but I had a sip from the fountain provided (tastes like hot salt water), and my back was still aching, so I doubt the veracity of the legend.

The town of Bath itself if very pretty too, built on 7 hills apparently with views over the river Avon to all the other hills. Most if not all of the houses are built with a honey coloured limestone, so they colour really stands out.   One absolutely spectacular housing area is called the circus, apparently Nicholas Cage lived in one of the units.  Definetly google the Bath Circus.

Posting a few pictures below, hotel internet is really slow, so will have to wait till I’m home for more.

Display of Coins thrown in Baths

Display of Coins thrown in Baths

Gracious Officer posing for Tourist

Gracious Officer posing for Tourist

Houses Near Cathedral

Houses Near Cathedral

Me and Stonehenge

Me and Stonehenge

Model of Bath as it was

Model of Bath as it was

Mosaic in original Bath

Mosaic in original Bath

Roman Bath

Roman Bath

Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral

Stained Glass

Stained Glass

Stonehenge

Stonehenge

Stonehenge2

Stonehenge

June 30, 2014 by London Vacation 0

London Day 1

Well I made it to London.  Am here for the Monty Python reunion show, and doing lots of touristy things while I’m here.  Will try to post something every day for those interested, and some pictures, but internet seems slow so will post more of those when I get home.

Didn’t do/not doing a ton today, getting over the flight and lack of sleep, and need to get up at 3am Halifax time for my first day tour tomorrow.

Some highlights:

  • Air Canada’s flight has the most uncomfortable seats ever for a 6 hour flight when trying to sleep.
  • Walking through Heathrow made it feel like I walked to London!
  • Heathrow has the steepest escalator I’ve ever seen, and its LONG.  Its like going up the face of a cliff its so steep.
  • Train driver was overly apologetic when the express train was delayed beyond his control
  • Express train has great wi-fi! Called home on voip on it
  • In London first floor and ground floor aren’t the same thing
  • Byrons Burgers in the UK has the best burger I’ve ever had
  • Fish and Chips was cod!
  • Souveneir shop sales people REALLY want to help/make a sale
  • There are a ton of accents here, I think the British accent has been in a minority so far!
  • WTF are those road stripes that are all zig zags?
  • Driving on the left would take a lot of getting used to!

And a few pictures

Rathbon Street

Rathbon Street – Hotel is just around that corner

taxi

Taxi parked near the hotel

Oxford Street

Oxford Street

Oxford Street

Oxford Street

Not quite a bean car

Not Quite a Mr. Bean Car

Elevator

Ground, 1, 2… so the 5th is really the 6th!

Double Decker

Double Decker

June 29, 2014 by London Vacation 1

Randall’s Store

When I was a boy, Bax and Eli Randall had a store on the road in around the harbour in Shoal Harbour.  I even remember an old gas pump outside saying something like 35 cents a gallon, though it wasn’t operational that I can recall.

The store had pretty much everything, building supplies (who didn’t have panel board on their living room walls from Randall’s at some point?), groceries, appliances, and many other things, plus, lots and lots of dust! Dad used to say though that Bax and Eli would rather spend hours talking about chain saws and chain saw parts than they would sell a fridge or stove!  I remember going there with Dad for plugs and feeler gauges and the like for the old pioneer,and they’d pull out the parts and talk about them and show them off.  There was rarely a light on, or if so, very few, always so dark and dingy.  Fussels cream and Carnation milk on the shelf covered in dust.  It was…. heaven!

I always heard stories about the Randall’s being “frugal” as well, no idea how much truth there was to any of them, but my favorite had to be the story about Bax bought 2 cars in St. John’s, and rather than paying someone to drive the 2nd home, he’d drive one a mile past the other and walk back and do the same over and over till he got them home!

I can still see the store now in my minds eye, not far from the old bridge as well with the double concrete loopy sides.  If I remember correctly it was so narrow you used to only be able to have one car on it at a time, but that’s fuzzy now.

Fun memories!

June 17, 2014 by Uncategorized 2

In a Stew

A lot of memories of growing up seem to have food in them.  I guess because most of our socializing was done over a cup of tea, or a meal, or even a community supper.  We used to say that we had to eat in shifts because the table wasn’t big enough for everyone to gather round at once, was nothing at my place to have 8 or 10 around at meal time.

Nowadays when anyone says stew, you usually think of beef in the slow cooker with a thick broth and big chunks of vegetables.  But growing up, when we had stew, it was usually stewed fish, or stewed salmon or stewed beans.

Here in Nova Scotia if I mention stewed beans to people they have no clue what I am talking about, all they know are baked beans. I never cared for baked beans, but stewed beans, YUM!

The picture on the left comes from a Newfoundland Recipes site (click it to go there), but isnt quite like what I was used to.  Similarly it was white naval beans, soaked for a while, and also an onion, but we’d use salt beef instead of salt pork.  When cooked up so the beans were soft yet firm and holding their shape it was delicious, even more so with a bit of ketchup.

Then there is stewed cod and stewed salmon, both are the same recipe, just replace the fish.  The recipe I linked to here has carrot and uses broth, but what I had growing up just had potato, water, fish and onion.  And of course substituting salt beef for salt pork. I don’t think we precooked the cod or onions either like the recipe says, but I’m sure either way is delicious.

Simple meals, but a taste of home and of growing up, and something I still like to have today.

June 7, 2014 by Uncategorized 1

Mothers in Changing times

Its Mother’s Day, and once again we give thanks to those wonderful Mom’s who were mom to many, nurtured kids of many families and kept them all fed and clothed.  We all had extended mothers in those days, and no one thought twice about chastising someone else’s child as they would their own, nor would us kids back talk, or fail to obey (well most of us and most times anyway).

We grew up in a simpler time though, and things have changed, some for the better, some for the worse.  When I was a boy, it was nothing for me to take off in the woods and be gone for hours, perhaps walking as far as Friggin’s Cove pond on my own, or to go to McGrath’s Cove or on the beach and wharf for hours on end, out of sight and earshot of everyone.  Or to get off the bus in Elliott’s Cove or Snook’s Harbour and only let anyone know when I showed up with Dad later on.  But in those days everyone who saw us was “minding” us, Aunt Vick looked out to me when I was there as much as mom did, and was just as likely to pull my ear or tell me off for whatever reason.

Nowadays, at least living in the city, those days are gone, I’d not think of letting my niece out of site like that, barely for a minute, let alone the whole day.  I know Random Island is still small, but the modern world has crept in there as well, and I doubt many would let their kids be off like that nowadays either.

There is no right or wrong here, things change, and in some ways I’m glad, but in some ways I do miss the carefree days we had, and wonder if kids today have lost something special with it in the name of the safety we feel we have to provide with all the people who now try to take advantage.

Our mothers didn’t love us any less, just the needs and times have changed.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who give so much to us who don’t realize how much it is till much later.

May 11, 2014 by Uncategorized 0

The roads that weren’t

Likely few know or remember it now, but back in the late 60s or early 70s, Random Island nearly had 2 more roads.  Some may still remember near the Apsey Brook cemetery they had even cut a “line” going through the woods, passing near Island Pond (not whats labeled Island Pond on the map, that’s Fox pond),  curving round it, and passing between the two ponds of Double Pond to meet up with the road to Bluff Head Cove Pond.

I really don’t know the real reason for this planned road, rumors had it it was mainly as a convenience for the ministers, but not sure how much influence who had on whom to get it started. It would have been nice for all of course, to be able to more conveniently connect to Petley, Britannia, etc, but unfortunately, it never came to pass.

I’ve added this map with the route highlighted, you can still make it out on the map.  Link to unhighlighted version below.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@48.1517425,-53.82556,2220m/data=!3m1!1e3

If memory serves correctly, there was another “line” cut from Lower Lance Cove to Deer Harbour before resettlement quashed that.  I seem to recall it even being started and being able to see the road going up over the hills, though my memory may be manufacturing that.  Others can correct or confirm!  But if you use the link here, https://www.google.ca/maps/@48.1375084,-53.6848017,2386m/data=!3m1!1e3 and scroll around, you can see google even highlights the “road” that wasn’t to Deer Harbour.

I’ve never made it down there, nor to any of the other abandoned communities out the end of the island, something I hope to correct someday, but it’s very disappointing to me that this road in particular was never completed.

So much work, gone for naught, communities that may have prospered, abandoned.  More money spent on resettlement than a road would likely have cost, especially since it had already been started.

April 7, 2014 by Uncategorized 1

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