black
-
-
Eastern Newfoundland - Twillingate to Argentia
The older communities of the east are in sharp contrast to
the west coast. Anyone looking for picturesque decrepitude, will
find it in some some of the old piers and fishing sheds of
Twillingate. But surprisingly, most of the houses are freshly
shingled, painted and furnished in Sear's Catalogue style.
84-08-08 - Twillingate.
This is more like what we came to see. That hazy green
smudge on the pier is made by nets set out to dry.
84-08-08 - Twillingate - Picnic spot.
Merle sets out picnic things on the rocks.
84-08-08 - Twillingate - Old house.
This house seems unusually large for Newfoundland.
84-08-08 - Twillingate - Cemetery.
The town was founded about 1680 by fishermen and Labrador
traders. Some of those daring pioneers may lie buried here
within sight and sound of the sea. Walking through a forest of
headstones, two new generations of Newfoundlanders visit the
grave of some family member.
84-08-08 - Twillingate - Twillingate Museum.
The Twillingate Museum is also a souvenir shop. Merle went
inside looking for presents while I climbed that rock in the
background to get a better view.
84-08-08 - Twillingate - Harbour panorama, 1.
Looking out to sea, past the mouth of the harbour, the
camera swings from left to right.
84-08-08 - Twillingate - Harbour panorama, 2.
The essential character of Newfoundland villages is
immediately apparent: they're located beside the sea, have very
few shade trees, and rocks grow everywhere. Some of these towns
claim 300 years of settlement. In Ontario, a mere 200 years
takes us to the brink of the Neolithic age.
84-08-08 - Twillingate - Harbour panorama, 3.
Of course, nothing remains of the original buildings,
except perhaps a few archeological remains. The new houses were
put up right on top of the ruins of old ones.
84-08-08 - Twillingate - Harbour panorama, 4.
The inner tip of the harbour.
84-08-08 - Trinity - Entering town.
The road into Trinty. We strolled round the town visiting
the larger buildings in the distance.
84-08-08 - Trinity - Anglican Church?
The Anglican Church.
84-08-08 - Trinity - Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
84-08-08 - Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
And the Catholic Church.
84-08-08 - Trinity - Catholic Church.
Its bell is mounted in this tower in the churchyard.
84-08-08 - Trinity - Trinity Museum.
The Trinity Museum. Every notable town seems to have one.
84-08-08 - Trinity - Parish hall.
84-08-08 - Trinity - Parish hall.
The Parish Hall has a Masonic look about it. Perhaps that
triangle helps give that impression.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Harbour panorama, 1.
At Bonavista a hill provides an outlook to get a view of the
town. Nearby, 300 year old dates had been carved in the rocks by
early travellers. The camera swings from left to right.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Harbour panorama, 2.
In the upper centre, Bonavista harbour is protected by twin
breakwaters extending out from the land.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Harbour panorama, 3.
On the far horizon in the centre, is the lighthouse.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Statue of John Cabot.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Statue of John Cabot.
In 1497, John Cabot first laid eyes on this continent
at Cape Bonavista. The light house is just visible at the
bottom right of the statue.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Lighthouse atop the rocks.
It perches atop these cliffs. The modern light is that
Meccano-set tower on the left.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Rocky indentation.
Below the cliffs, secret beaches.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Green sea-pool.
With sea-green pools.
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Lighthouse.
Visitors can go inside to look at the light. (Picture
slightly lightstruck on the left.)
84-08-08 - Bonavista - Lighthouse lamps.
Each lamp has its own wick, oil supply and reflector. A
clockwork mechanism driven by weights once turned the whole
assembly round. A distant ship would see a series of flashes
in a pattern of red and white as the beams hit the eye.
84-08-09 - Heart's Content - Merle and sign.
Besides Heart's Content, Newfoundland has Heart's Ease,
Heart's Delight, and now, Derek's Treasure.
84-08-09 - Heart's Content.
A view of the town of Heart's Content from the highway. The
transatlantic cables come ashore in the upper of the two coves
on the left.
84-08-09 - Heart's Content - Boat in harbour.
A fishing boat in harbour.
84-08-09 - Cables leading seaward.
84-08-09 - Cables leading seaward.
Old transatlantic cables emerging from the seaweed.
Somewhere out there, beyond the bay and across the ocean, they
come up again on dry land in Ireland.
84-08-09 - On the Road - Much decorated house.
A much decorated house on the road to Carbonear.
84-08-09 - Carbonear - Merle on cannon.
At Carbonear we talked to a man who remembered when a bunch
of the b'ys fired off these cannons to celebrate the end of the
war. When they lit the fuse of the one on the right, the muzzle
burst and pieces flew like shrapnel. Luckily, no one was hurt.
84-08-09 - Carbonear - Inner harbour.
Looking the opposite direction, toward the centre of town.
The same man went on to recount other events in local history as
if they'd happened in his own youth. Turned out he was talking
about battles with the French in the 18th century.
84-08-09 - Harbour Grace - Court House.
The Harbour Grace court house, built in 1830, a respectable
age. But it's a pity, in a province whose history goes back 400
years, that the oldest building is only 150 years old.
84-08-09 - On the Road - Ship aground.
Near the highway, this ship is docked forever on the rocks. Looks bit
like Captain Haddock's vessel, in the Tin-Tin comics series.
websrch:captain haddock's ship
84-08-09 - Brigus - Harbour.
At Brigus, the home of Captain Bartlett of Arctic fame, we
find our retirement haven. On the opposite side, in a cluster
of trees, a cottage overlooks the bay where Captain Bob set out
on his voyages of discovery.
84-08-09 - Brigus - Cap'n Bartlett's monument.
Captain Bartlett's monument behind our big old station
wagon.
84-08-09 - Brigus - Ships tied up.
We saw very few pleasure craft in Newfoundland. Here, the
sea is a living and a way of life. But at least two persons in
Brigus must sail for the fun of it -- unless that's a very
unusual two-masted rig down there.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Cabot Tower.
At St. John's we go exploring on Signal Hill. Little Red
Riding Hood walks up the path on the left.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Old foundations.
These ruins of soldiers quarters have been restored by Parks
Canada.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Cabot Tower.
The Cabot tower on Signal Hill. Inside, an exhibition
depicts Marconi's first successful broadcast of a Trans-Atlantic
message in 1901. The noon gun sits at the left corner of the
building. Fog threatens to close in and obscure the view.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Merle & Derek.
Windblown on the rooftop observation platform, overlooking
St. John's harbour.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 1.
The beginning of a 360-degree panorama, moving from left to
right. First, an old gun emplacement looking out on the North
Atlantic below Signal Hill.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 2.
The mouth of the harbour, looking roughly south toward Cape
Spear where a huge cannon protected the city during the last war.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 3.
The narrow harbour entrance. On the point opposite, you can
see a lighthouse and the remains of World War II gun
emplacement.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 4.
The heights directly opposite.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 6.
The inner harbour. A miraculous haven, made possible only by
a chance gap in the line of coastal hills. The main business
and shopping streets lie just beyond the large buildings on the
right. Along the promenade, ships of all nations tie up for
servicing.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 7.
Swinging round to the inland side.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 8.
Memorial University on the hill to the far right, and our
tenting site somewhere to the left of it, in the woods nearby.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 9.
The Parks Canada interpretive centre.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 10.
A lake on the inland side. (find the name)
84-08-10 - St. John's - Panorama, 11.
What? suburban housing developments in Canada's oldest city?
84-08-10 - St. John's - Merle beside noon gun.
The signal gun is fired every day at noon. Over in the
city, the flash is visible before you hear the report.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Pippy Park campsite.
Our tentsite in Pippy Park, near Memorial University. The
tower of the Confederation Building is on the left. The Cabot
Tower on Signal Hill is faintly visible on the skyline to the
right.
- St. John's - Breakfast in bed.
Breakfast in bed -- all the conveniences. On a rainy
morning, we decide to stay indoors and relax.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Colonial Building.
Serenely unconcerned at the passage of time, the old
Colonial Building still shows the British Lion and Unicorn
above the pillars.
- St. John's.
Somebody's official residence. (find name)
- St. John's - Newfoundland Museum.
The Newfoundland Museum. Good displays of provincial
history and archeology.
- St. John's - The Fishing Admiral.
We celebrate our capture of St. John's with dinner in The
Fishing Admiral restaurant. In the early days, fishing admirals
were senior captains given the job of supervising a harbour.
They'd be responsible for mediating quarrels and maintaining
order among the rowdy fishermen.
- St. John's - Polar Duke.
On the waterfront, the Polar duke. a fog-bank obscures
Signal Hill in the background. (underexposed - passable)
84-08-10 - St. John's - Joao Ferreira.
The foreign connection has always been significant in St.
John's. A Portuguese fishing boat, the Joao Ferreira, has put
in for supplies.
84-08-10 - St. John's - Joao Ferreira.
This may be the only city in North America with a few
bilingual signs in both English and Portuguese.
- St. John's - M.M.C.S Cormorant.
A Royal Canadian Navy diving tender, The Cormorant. In the
background, mist creeps up over signal hill.
- St. John's - H.M.C.S. Cormorant.
Eternally vigilant in the defence of his country, this
sailor has spotted something suspicious on the dock. Merle?
Merle! come back here.
- St. John's - Neddrill II.
A drilling platform unloading damaged equipment. The
Neddrill II, a Netherlands ship, is under contract to
Petro-Canada. Say, skipper, don't ye think she'd be a mite
top-heavy in a storm?
- St. John's - Neddrill II.
From the side, this looks more like a floating factory than a
ship.
-
Crane booms against the sky.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Steep street & Russian ship.
Note the hammer and sickle on the smokestack. ... We now turn
away from the docks to explore the back streets of St. John's.
These roads must be murder in winter.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Steep street & Harbour.
A few residential areas are quite close to the harbour.
That's Signal hill on the left. (underexposed - acceptable?)
84-08-11 - St. John's - Row houses.
Row houses.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Rear of row houses.
Down back alleys.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Row houses.
St. John's was founded in 1528. Do you realise, that is
only 36 years after Columbus? Fires have cleared away the oldest
buildings, but plenty of picturesque victorian tenements remain.
84-08-11 - St. John's.
Quite handsome, really.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Porch with bicycle.
Poking a camera over a high fence gives an insight into how
the wealthier classes live.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Doggie.
A latchkey child, whimpering on the front step till Mum and
Dad come home from work to let him in.
-
Note the 10 chimney pots in a row.
-
Same building from the corner.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Steep street.
We head up the hill.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Basilica.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Basilica.
The Basilica has just been made a national monument. St.
John's has a numerous Catholic population, descended from Irish
immigration long ago. We heard accents that sounded almost like
stage Irish, though the possessor might never have been
overseas.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Basilica & statue.
The front entrance with a statue of the Virgin Mary.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Basilica altar.
The high altar.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Basilica windows.
Stained-glass windows.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Anglican church.
84-08-11 - St. John's - Anglican church.
Severe white trim on this old Anglican Church gives it a
colonial air which contrasts with the rich, Mediterranean look
of the Basilica.
84-08-12 - Cape Spear - Merle & sign.
Through the mists to Cape Spear -- the most easterly point
in North America. They give visitors a special certificate to
prove it.
84-08-12 - Cape Spear - Merle and milepost.
4750 Kilometres to Buckingham Palace but only 11 km
back to St. John's. This must be the centre of the world, you
can start from here and go anywhere you like.
84-08-12 - Cape Spear - Buildings in fog.
Up the hill to the old lighthouse.
84-08-12 - Cape Spear - Light House.
The original building has been restored to its appearance in
1834. Today, the light is still under the care of a descendant
of James Cantwell the first lighthouse keeper.
84-08-12 - Cape Spear - Tea table in lighthouse.
A table is set for tea, with two chairs. Perhaps the
Cantwells are expecting us.
84-08-12 - Tackle for hauling supplies.
In the hallway, tackle for hauling supplies up to the roof
where the lamp is mounted.
94-08-12 - Cape Spear - Dresser and washstand.
Upstairs, snug bedrooms for the lighthouse keeper and his
family.
84-08-12 - Cape Spear - Coastal defence gun.
Near the tip of the cape, lies a World War II gun
emplacement. This cannon was too big to be hauled away for
scrap when the war was over and lay abandoned in its bunker.
Parks Canada is now restoring the ruins.
84-08-12 - Cape Spear - coastal defence gun.
Army officers used to come for miles to see the gun crews
practice firing. One blast broke windows in Black Harbour,
several miles down the coast. (Check name)
84-08-12 - Cape Spear - Merle in bunker.
The bunker behind the gun platform.
- Petty Hbr. - View.
A conduit in the background carries water to a small local
hydro station. The pipe is made of lumber, hooped together with
iron and was spritzing water in a thousand places. (Slight
imperfection in the emulsion.)
- Petty Hbr. - Nets drying on roof.
Nets drying on the roof.
- Petty Hbr. - Fishing stage.
These fishing stages look appropriately weatherbeaten. On
the hillside, through the fog, you can dimly see a water tower
and pipe.
- Petty Hbr. - Mouth of harbour.
Fishing boats pass through the harbour mouth on the way to
the open sea. Again, notice the cheerful, freshly scrubbed look
of the houses, plunked down on any convenient space between two
rocks.
- Ferryland - View of town and Harbour.
Further down the coast to Ferryland. (origin of name?)
- To Ferryland - Cemetery and fog.
Another scenic Newfoundland cemetery.
- Ferryland - View of harbour.
That hill in the background has memories of desperate deeds
and lost graves.
- Ferryland - Inner harbour.
The inner harbour of Ferryland where we visited a local
museum.
- Placentia - View of town from highway.
Placentia is the last town on our itinerary. Basque
fishermen founded it in the 16th century. The original
fortifications were built in the 1690's when it was the old
French capital of Newfoundland. In 1713, it was ceded to the
British according to the treaty of Utrecht.
- Placentia - Bridge in fog.
On our last day in Newfoundland we decide to visit the
fort, but the town is hidden in fog.
- Placentia - Map of fort.
This site has a long history of French and English
occupation.
- Placentia - View of town & cannon in fog.
The fog stubbornly hangs on, frustrating photographers.
- Placentia - Tourists on ramparts.
Everyone wanders around waiting for it to clear.
- Placentia - Reconstructed battlements.
These reconstructed battlements look more like some new form of
"organic" architecture than a ruin. Parks Canada seems to be
getting some odd ideas on restoration these days.
- Placentia - Bridge & cannon.
Ah, the fog is lifting at last.
84-08-14 - Placentia - Merle on ramparts & cannon.
No question who's the queen of the castle here.
- Placentia - View of town.
A small boat heads for harbour. Before permanent settlement,
fisherman came to dry their catch on the smooth stones of that
beach.
- Placentia - View of town, right.
Turning to the right ...
- Placentia - Mouth of harbour, palisade.
You can see the mouth of the harbour from the fort.
- Placentia - Post card view of town.
We leave the ruins. Somewhere under the mouth of that cannon,
we cook breakfast on the stones of the historic beach. Then
hurry off to buy ritually pure Newfie Screech in a liquor
store nearby.
- Argentia - On the Ambrose Shea.
Heading for the Gulf of St. Lawrence, our ferry, the Ambrose
Shea passes these steep islands.
- Argentia - U.S. naval base.
The U.S. naval base at Argentia has an abandoned look.
- Argentia - Islands in bay.
Our ship heads for open water. We head out into the Gulf of St.Lawrence.
84-08-14 - Argentia - Merle at rail of Ambrose Shea.
Farewell to Newfoundland as we steam into the
dusk.
End of show.
black
-