stairs

Vestibule and staircases of the historic Rodmay Hotel in Powell River B.C.

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Thursday Challenge

Next Week: CONTAINER (Glass, Cup, Bowl, Box, Baskets,...)

environment

"The Hulks" - recycling on a grand scale

According to the tourist sign:

"'The Hulks,' Powell River's floating breakwater of ships have been part of the waterfront since 1930. Over the years, 10 ships built of wood, and reinforced concrete have been brought to Powell River for use in the breakwater. The concrete ships that made up the breakwater were built for use in the First and Second World Wars.

Concrete ships were built when there was a shortage of plate steel for ship construction. They were found to be too heavy in relation to their cargo-carrying capacity to compete with steel cargo vessels during peacetime."

More "environment" photos: Thursday Challenge

Next week: SMALL ANIMALS (Pets, Insects, Birds,...)

Powell River - 3

September 15-18:

Here are a few more highlights from our visit to Powell River.

The Hulks:

Powell River's floating breakwater of ships have been part of the waterfront since 1930. Needed to protect the paper mill's log storage pond, ten ships built of wood, steel and reinforced concrete have been brought to Powell River for use in this breakwater. They are chained together and anchored to huge concrete blocks 150 feet below.

The concrete ships that make up the breakwater were built for use in the First and Second World Wars. Concrete ships were built when there was a shortage of plate steel for ship construction, but they were found to be too heavy in relation to their cargo-carrying capacity to compete with steel cargo vessels during peacetime.

Because of tree growth, it's not easy to get a picture of the whole string of them. Here are a few shots we managed to get on our various attempts.






Discover more about these hulks here.

Murals:

Here are a few that give a feel of the place.




Trails & Walks:

We walked part of the Willingdon Beach Trail - accessed right across Marine Avenue from the Museum. It reminded us very much of the rain forest paths we walk at home.


I will leave you on the Powell River Seawall, watching the sun set over the ocean.

Powell River - 2

Thursday, September 18:

Thursday, our last full day at Powell River, we realized there was still much of the town we hadn't seen. We decided to take ourselves on a self-guided tour of the old Powell River townsite (along with one of the brochures from the Info Centre, of course).

The town started as a single industry resource-based town -- still today its main industry is the paper mill. It was built on the Garden City concept -- an English planning principle meant to keep industrial towns beautiful.

The town was designed with the workers in mind. Many of its features were put there to encourage people to relocate to this isolated wilderness. The town was built so that workers of the same occupations were in the same neighborhood. The first building was built in 1911. Here are some of the preserved houses - along with a few facts about each.

• Postmaster's House (now the Townsite Heritage Society headquarters) - 1912

Craftsman Style house and home of the first two postmasters. (I can't believe how much this house reminds me of the farmhouse I grew up in!)

• Bank of Montreal Building - 1931

Designed by John McIntyre the Powell River Company's Townsite Manager who designed all Townsite construction between 1919 and 1935. I love the Tudor Revival design and the vines clinging to exteror walls.

• The Federal Building - 1939.

This beautiful brick building housed the post office, Customs and Excise and the Canadian Telegraph operations -- until 1974.

• Dwight Hall (the "Grand Old Lady of the Townsite") - 1927.

This beautiful hall was the centerpiece of Powell River society. The sprung dance floor could hold 800 people and it was the venue for concerts, plays and gatherings of all sorts. It is still used for community events.

• The Cenotaph beside Dwight Hall - 1929.

• The Provincial Building - circa 1939.

This building was home to the B. C. Police, courtroom, forestry service, public works, housed a government agent, relief services and jail cells until 1980. It is now privately owned.

• The Rodmay Hotel (first called the Powell River Hotel) - 1911.

It's hard to believe that for the first few years pigs were kept just outside this grand building. It's still used as a hotel. In fact, I had an excellent Greek salad in the cafe. I also had a glimpse of the grand vestibule and staircase, still looking good after all these years.

• Dr. Henderson's House - circa 1911

• St. Luke's Hospital - 1913

Built for Dr. Henderson, who was the first practicing physician in Powell River. Apparently he implemented the first medical plan in B.C. in 1910.

• Oceanview Apartments - 1916.

These apartments housed married employees without children. A unique feature was the basement room for laundry and coal storage for each unit. They are still in use today (the apartments, not the coal rooms).

• Church Corner with St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church - 1916 and St. John's Union (for all Protestant denominations) - 1913. These buildings are now privately owned.

• Patricia Theatre - 1928.

This theatre houses the oldest continuously operating cinema and vaudeville business in western Canada.

• Powell River Pulp and Paper Mill - 1909.

Of course we mustn't forget the reason for the town in the first place -- the mill. It was the first wood pulp and paper mill in western Canada, built by the Brooks and Scanlon firm of Minnesota. Construction started in 1909 and the first roll of paper was produced in 1912. But everyone was confident of the mill's success and so the townsite building began before that.

In 1955 MacMillan Bloedel merged with the Powell River company. In the 1960s Powell River's mill was the largest single producer of newsprint in the world. It's still in operation today.

Texada Island

Wednesday, September 17:

We were definitely in the island-hopping mode and didn't want to miss Texada, the largest of the Gulf Islands (51 km. long x 6 km. across) accessible from Powell River. Late Wednesday morning (Sept. 17th) we boarded a Texada Island-bound ferry from downtown Powell River.




The girl running the info shop near the Blubbler Bay ferry terminal on Texada gave us a map and pointed us toward the Tree Frog Bistro in Gillies Bay for lunch. Good tip! We enjoyed the froggy ambience along with tasty food (Quesadilla - yum!).

We then drove to the Shelter Point Park and spent a few minutes walking off our lunch. Savary Island this is not! This island has an altogether different feel. It is way more populated with a paved road running down about half of it (the rest serviced by logging roads -- it has much rocky forest). And the beach -- well, judge for yourself.


Love the arbutus trees which drop their bark, not their leaves.


Van Anda (named for the gold exploration company) is another community on the island. We checked it out too There we found a street that followed the beach and got out to explore something that looked like the foundation of a burned-out house. (We found out later it was an abandoned copper mine; Texada is more about lumbering and mining -- now has a gravel quarry but formerly copper and even gold mines -- than beaches and summer relaxation - at least to casual observers like us.)



We filled out our time with another trip to the Tree Frog for dessert (where we sighted a shy deer),



and a walk on the Shelter Point Nature Trail.





Then it was time to get in the ferry line-up for our return to Powell River.