9B_Patterson-Emily_Store.mp3

otter.ai

20.01.2023

no

Unknown Speaker 0:00
This is April, the 29th 1977. And this afternoon we're visiting the Patterson's house in the village poultry. Right now I'm talking going to be speaking to Mrs. Emily Patterson. and Mrs. Patterson. Where were you born in England? What part of England

Unknown Speaker 0:20
Cheshire or Brighton or Islam?

Unknown Speaker 0:23
And when did you come to Canada?

Unknown Speaker 0:25
Well, that that I'm not sure I'll because I was only five years old and I came to Canada. And I landed in Nanaimo. I stayed there for some considerable time. And then we moved to Victoria. That was there for a considerable time. I got married and came to Salt Spring.

Unknown Speaker 0:44
And what year would that be?

Unknown Speaker 0:46
I came to Salt Spring in 1960 1916. Oh,

Unknown Speaker 0:52
that's right. You celebrated your wedding anniversary. The 60s. Plenty are so hot and your anniversary of coming to Salt Spring to then when it

Unknown Speaker 1:03
came to salts from the day after I was married.

Unknown Speaker 1:06
Hmm, what did begin? And when you came, were living where

Unknown Speaker 1:15
I went to local farm. That's my sister in law. And my brother in law and miracle. Henry was your brother in law. Henry was the brother in law and Paul, he was my sister in law. And we stayed there for about a week, we went to Victoria and bought our household furniture and goods and we started a store right at the repoint store was built by Captain good. He lived there for a short period of time, they decided it didn't wish to stay any longer. So they left it so the store was vacant. And we decided we'd stay there because Mr. Patterson was not able to go into the army. And so we stayed there we thinking until after the war. Instead of that we kept on and kept calm.

Unknown Speaker 2:04
Or beaver point and that time were the records were there and you were there. Were there any other families in the area as

Unknown Speaker 2:13
well. Just on the rental farm. There was the Alfred ruffles and the Henry ruffles and Graham Morocco and Ella Rocco the daughter on the ruckle farm and the store was attached to the repple farm and with

Unknown Speaker 2:27
the farm about the same size as it would be today.

Unknown Speaker 2:31
Well not quite Mr. repple added a bit to it but not that much. It was pretty well the same as it was today uh huh.

Unknown Speaker 2:38
Now I'm that see coming up beaver Point Road little pet who else would be living in that area?

Unknown Speaker 2:46
Is the Henry radicals lived on the top of the hill? And then Alfred Ruggles lived across the field and grandma lived down near the other Bay grandma's Bay near the barn that's where they lived down there.

Unknown Speaker 2:59
And then as you travel along beaver Point Road towards Fulford who would be living in that

Unknown Speaker 3:06
area well the first people living in that area with a pot markers or patent burgers or whatever it was to call it and and then came Mr. Monk He was a retired but he wasn't really retired he did retire there at the the farm there and he stayed there for many years and he sold a Doctor No to Mr. His name now

Unknown Speaker 3:40
how far along would we be now

Unknown Speaker 3:41
about we're just down just down to Dr. kurgans are really and Mr. Monk sold to it was starkly and then after misters talk they sold it to Dr. Curtin. And then after that comes the Kings they were settled in the first flight even so yes, the Stevens were there a long time in the steel in the same on the same piece of brown a same piece of land was Mr. And Mrs. King Leon king. And we went from we go from there to the Bridgman place. And then the polyx place came next the Solimar Oh, yeah. man by the name of Mr. Long field, I think a long staff or something like that was living there. And then from polyx and then there was no other houses down there. You see all those new houses like Solimar built up when the polyx came there, Ferguson Pollack came there. It wasn't a resort at that. Oh, no, no, it's just a bachelor live there. On the other side, you see when you come Not from the Solimar you see that at that time there were the Bridgman were living there, but, and the caretakers, and the caretaker was Mr. Monks brother, Charles monk was one of the caretakers, and then the people by the name of Neves Kala and they kept going there till Stanley men Henyk and Corrine and Henyk bought it but the whole place you see so they had it there until Donald came back from the war Donald Fraser and and so it subdivided it and sold it on you know different places

Unknown Speaker 5:36
for how would all these people come and go would they come by way of Fulford harbour or where did the ferry

Unknown Speaker 5:43
there was no ferry they had the boat three times twice a week at Beaver point it came right into the more twice a week and that's the only transportation except your private boats your own notches and the wharf was right at the mark was just where we had the store right in front of the notes just surround from the point just in that little b RSP around towards question COVID Yes round towards Cushing cold just a little ways around from Beaver point and the bigger point you know the rough was on that we used to go up there all the time. And then on the Mr. Bowman was the only one then it precaution Cove that was before the sawmill and all that kind of stuff. You know. There was a solid, I mean to say I could write three or four books.

Unknown Speaker 6:35
I didn't realize it was the song though. I question Co.

Unknown Speaker 6:39
Oh, didn't you know? Yeah, so Americans, they bought all Cushing, cold cold. They had a very large wharf put in, but not large enough to hold the amount of timber that they had put on the war. And when the wharf collapsed, they never rebuilt it. But before the wharf collapse, Mr. Reynolds and built a very big large flat of land that they were going to stack the lumber on that but it was too late wharf had gone down and then they Mr. Fletcher said he didn't figure it was worth them building up again.

Unknown Speaker 7:12
Would that be in the 20s?

Unknown Speaker 7:14
That it would be bottom 20s I guess. No, probably it was a little later. My brother worked very used to walk from my place to the cushion Cove to he was one of the firemen there. Donkey.

Unknown Speaker 7:35
You mentioned the fairies came in. At beaver port. I mean, boats came in at Beaver

Unknown Speaker 7:41
point, three times a week, twice, twice a week, twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays and they

Unknown Speaker 7:47
would come from

Unknown Speaker 7:49
Victoria one day, for a long time. He came from Victoria and went around the islands and went over to Vancouver and then they come back in and come down the other side and come into our place and be reappointed and downs. Victoria would delete the mail at Beaver point. Yes. And if the name would be repoint. And then where

Unknown Speaker 8:07
was it sorted in the store? Oh, you had your own posts. Oh, he

Unknown Speaker 8:11
has the beaver point had an old post. I was. I'm trying to remember whether we had the money orders when we took it over? I don't think we did. Because Henry Rupal had the post office and Mr. McLennan had it before him just in their front room just in their room, author and kitchen. And you know, people would just go to their house and get through now. There was no proper post office. Oh, yes. We got the proper post office. They were allowed to issue money orders. Well, before that we had a post notes up to a certain figure up until that time, then, to get a money order. You'd have to go where to Ganges? Well, I guess you would give us the only other poll that was the only large No, it wasn't the Ganges, and it was at Central. Oh, really? Well, it was a Ganges when I came here, but I guess they had it up there. You know, they'd have it. They'd have the postal votes and post office orders and things like that. But you see him who didn't stay in the post office, you just came to get your mail when the bulk came in. You see, it wasn't really like coming into ours at all times. But when we go to see we were from nine to six. So that's the post office in those days, post office money orders was quite an ordeal. You didn't get off with just adding your name at the bottom of the order. You have three issues to send to one of person that was it was made out to one the post office to Ottawa and long to the person that was getting it and you had these carbon papers, you know and three law with a piece of tin underneath each one so that wouldn't soak for or anything? And that was your money ordered. And of course, postal notes only went up to a very small I forgotten the denomination not very small anyway, whether it was $5 or something you could only get the money or to business.

Unknown Speaker 10:16
Well, now people would come down by water or did most people travel by road all lots

Unknown Speaker 10:22
of boats came in them. We had a good gas business in those days because we were the only gas station from Maine down to Sydney, really. And people from the states there was nothing South tender or none of those islands had gas stations on the war for anything. And we didn't have a gas station on the wharf. We pumped it out of the barrels and taking it down and five and 10 gallon tins from the wharf.

Unknown Speaker 10:47
What's there anything here in Fulford harbour at that time?

Unknown Speaker 10:51
No, not particularly. Not not in no way. Well, I mean, not right here. But at the head of the bay was blandy story, you know, where the white launch used to be? You You're never the white. I know it wasn't here when I came. Oh, it wasn't here. It's all I got a picture that it's a very nice was a very nice place. And Mr. And this is at the head of the heart lighter, the head of the harbor. And it was Mr. blandy. That none that place. And then there was a small store where Roy Lee lives now. That was Mr. Edwards. And these two people begged us to pick those pieces of property.

Unknown Speaker 11:37
Or when did you open the store down here in poultry?

Unknown Speaker 11:41
All we've had it off and on for quite a long time before we really came over here to stay. Mr. Patterson used to bring a few things over and he delivered from here you see the feed shop down here. He bought that off Mr. blandy. And Mr. Edwards. So he had a feed shed here. And then he used to bring over a few things and when we bought this place and just stay a few hours, he didn't we didn't really have and then he started to have more thing here and he stayed longer and I set out to be repoint

Unknown Speaker 12:13
and this would be before the theory came into Fulford Harper, what? Oh, yes,

Unknown Speaker 12:17
well, yes, it was very came in. So then after the ferry came in, we didn't have the store here for quite a while after the ferry came in. We still stayed out of be repoint because be reported it was getting the mail there. And we were quite happy to stay where we were. And and then when they decided to put the mail off at forfeit harbor and sorted that faltered and bring it out on the one delivery, see how to be repoint. And he could pick up coming back and bring it right down to forfeit save like a trip. And they said well, we could still keep the post office. They didn't want to take it away from us. I'll say that for them. They were very generous. They send you you can keep the stay here as long as you have the star and you can keep the post office as long as you want. But I couldn't see why we would do such a foolish thing when the revenue over the post office was based on the amount of stamps you sold. Well, can you picture anybody coming from anywhere else to buy their stamps and be reappointed? When

Unknown Speaker 13:28
you had the store then in the house for quite a number of years here it fell for

Unknown Speaker 13:34
you oh yes. It see all the time the Alexander and the old Flims when Mr. O'Flynn was the engineer on the side, APEC he lived in this house. And Neil Alexander's when Mr. Finn Flynn left Mr. Alexander had it for a long time. At the back we had the store part in the front. We just get formed room for the star Leyland in the back. They were there for quite a long time. So when did you move to favorite harbor? 1951 Oh, really?

Unknown Speaker 14:03
I know when we moved to the island as you hadn't had C 66 The store was still in the house. So you moved across the road? About

Unknown Speaker 14:21
I guess about nine years ago about that now I guess. I forgot. I got a doubt in the book somewhere. And then so I guess that'll be the last star we'll be running around and

Unknown Speaker 14:42
Well, it certainly gives you a lot more room in the biggest oh well.

Unknown Speaker 14:45
It's different all together. This was it was very, very, very hard to keep this one in any way shape or form tidy. You know, it was so small.

Unknown Speaker 14:54
I remember it had a very cozy feeling fill in the winter when you come in with the flyers don't even

Unknown Speaker 14:59
listen Lower yes we had a box wood stove there in the middle of the floor and it was very comfortable and I used to hide things around pretty well I guess it took over a little more of your house and you wanted it to Excel oh yes I had no room and you see we put half this dining room will not not have the whole of the dining room see there's a two rooms there. And we took them put a petition between those two rooms and just had the living room. And this part here we put shelves all up both sides all around the ceiling in the dining hall, and then then we just had to go through here you'll see and then people would come into the store and we had it all in shells and everything and we select some certain people come into the back and help themselves so it was more like a self serve. So

Unknown Speaker 16:05
and I can recall when you needed something from refrigeration, you'd have to rush into the kitchen or did you have a refresh?

Unknown Speaker 16:12
We didn't have any except well we had the cooler the same one that sold in the store now and an ice cream but it was just like a little box so you know wasn't really an ice cream cooler or was in the way but it wasn't very modern. But it did Hansard the purpose Mr. Levin bought it for a deep freeze when we got rid of it

Unknown Speaker 16:41
I can remember it was a very nice feeling when you love to city behind and you are greeted by this friendly to store

Unknown Speaker 16:50
last well they all sell me i I used to wonder you know and I didn't like to move in a way but yet I'm very glad we did because we could never have managed him here in the whole yes business is quite different in the last nine years and I'm so happy to have a home where I could you have a living

Unknown Speaker 17:09
room again.

Unknown Speaker 17:10
Oh yes I should say No, I was too busy to sit down anyway so I know what it was I said I never worked how stressed out the back

Unknown Speaker 17:27
you've had time to do gardening over the years your garden looks so beautiful.

Unknown Speaker 17:31
Oh well we do a little bit long again but that not very not very grand.

Unknown Speaker 17:37
But now I can remember when we first came the fire truck was kept wasn't here garage.

Unknown Speaker 17:43
right here right here. Right there in that garage there. Let's get there all the time to the built this new garage. Our car was on one side and the fire truck on the other and we never noticed that being there on the mean to say It never bothered us or they came for fire.

Unknown Speaker 18:03
How long has there been a volunteer fire department in foolproof?

Unknown Speaker 18:10
Forgotten Bob Wood? No, exactly. It's quite a while now. I've gotten just exactly how long they've been. I think Bob said the last time they had a meeting or last time they went through some of their books or something they said I think Bob and Mr. Hollings are the last two lists and they're there all the time and one man again Geez. But I mean down here but now are the ones that joins us

Unknown Speaker 18:36
when the fire department first was set up. It was set up both at Fulford and Ganj.

Unknown Speaker 18:43
Again just for longer we had it here

Unknown Speaker 18:48
but folks didn't fire but with the fire department ever since it started and and also for

Unknown Speaker 18:54
Mr. Some

Unknown Speaker 19:00
now, the old gas pump that sits out in front of your house. That must have quite a history to it. Yes.

Unknown Speaker 19:10
We had that for a while. Must have 60 Yours must be because we had there before we came over here.

Unknown Speaker 19:18
Really? It was sitting here.

Unknown Speaker 19:23
No. We bought it from Imperial oil oil. We used to be with the Imperial oil. And they were wanting to put the big tanks in here. But we didn't think there was room in that community to size to have big tanks. Well, they said they would put them on a barge. We didn't want that either. Guess we were too scared to fire inside. Anyway, Mr. Cudmore bought the property from Mr. MacBride. He put it tanks over there. So we used to have here before we got the now you'll see we don't have the tanks anymore around the place we just have one set behind Rome that by the guards there and then the tank that's underneath the lawn here there's a big tank underneath this lawn well that used to last as you see until the boat came in and they used to come in very often they Imperial oil boat. And then when we gave it up the scene went to Ronnie to to the shell. We have just the gas tanks underneath the gas pumps over there. We haven't got any tanks. So I was very much I was pleased about that I was worried about these gas tanks being around. So

Unknown Speaker 20:58
now over on the

Unknown Speaker 21:00
I wonder Does it still work? Work so if we hadn't been magasin it for a long time for 10 years anyway since we moved over there because I assume that we moved over there we had the underground thanks

Unknown Speaker 21:16
but it still does work.

Unknown Speaker 21:18
Oh it works perfectly. And could have been sold many many times. I imagine Yeah. Souvenirs and they want to get for some place over in Vancouver as well as long as we're here. They will pumpkin stand up stay where it is. Because it really does a lot of admirers in the summertime that so few people have seen those you know you don't realize that that that people don't see these things I've never seen them you don't yourself you don't think that they just don't understand how it works or anything else you know. So it's very much easier the way it is now.

Unknown Speaker 22:12
Now across the corner where the coffee shop now is how long has that been in your family? That property?

Unknown Speaker 22:23
I say about 15 years

Unknown Speaker 22:26
and it's always been a coffee shop has no

Unknown Speaker 22:29
Mr. Cudmore opened a store their competition. Oh yes. We had quite a bit of competition there. Some after fashion

Unknown Speaker 22:38
would that be in the mid 30s or

Unknown Speaker 22:42
forgotten just exactly when the before and after look other warning

Unknown Speaker 22:47
before the war before the second one?

Unknown Speaker 22:50
No. It was during the Second War. And Mr. Cudmore I think he sold there's another person has a passport that they didn't last.

Unknown Speaker 23:05
And then Alec McManus and Gavin Belden, they add it and they didn't last and then we bought it from the spirit and she bought it from them. Mr. Furnace had

Unknown Speaker 23:20
101 Now I noticed is a skylight. What was it used for? Store

Unknown Speaker 23:25
light for the stove. Oh

Unknown Speaker 23:26
really.

Unknown Speaker 23:27
There was no windows on this side at all them. There's not yet only there was one and that's where the post offices but that wasn't there then it was just I just built that room wall and put another window in there from one of the bags. Otherwise it was just a straight wall up there.

Unknown Speaker 23:51
Now I know before the offense was built the I wanted in the back one day and there was a beautiful big old fireplace.

Unknown Speaker 24:02
Oh Mary Gurdon built that.

Unknown Speaker 24:03
Was there a room back there?

Unknown Speaker 24:05
She had two rooms she had a bathroom in the bedroom, bedroom sitting room you know and she stayed it she said she used that first place

Unknown Speaker 24:16
well the tides must have come in at sometimes the year it seems to be

Unknown Speaker 24:21
not not to not to it did down below. Down below the store till we got it fixed up. It used to come in and they had bedrooms down below is doing SEO Yes.

Unknown Speaker 24:33
They must hit Delta during low tie.

Unknown Speaker 24:36
No, Mr. Mr. Kudlow built a wall back there that was a brick wall cement brick wall on that, but the tide washed it out. Oh yes, he had a wall built right across at the back like a brake brake water. But it didn't. wasn't high enough. I guess wasn't strong enough. I don't know. Anyway used to come into underneath and flooded the basement every once in a while. And so then Mrs. Durbin's mother, she stayed down there. Yes, she stayed in the summertime was all right. And Mary fixed those two rooms up for her to sleep at about a bed sitting room and the bathroom in that were the fireplaces. And she built that fireplace. Her with the help of Mr. Tree aid off Triki helped her

Unknown Speaker 25:28
and he's the man that had the mountain over. Let's now call Richard on health

Unknown Speaker 25:33
man. He's certainly Yes, his father left him all that? Well, they don't wait around to see him. The Maxwells. You know where you know where Dave Maxwell lives. That was given to Mrs. Maxwell by her father. Now that was all Mr. Maxwell that all belong to Solimar at one time. Right around here.

Unknown Speaker 25:56
And when the piece of property, yes.

Unknown Speaker 26:00
I'm not going to tell you what it was so far, because

Unknown Speaker 26:07
real estate certainly changed over the years. Oh, my God. Well, now I understand at one time, there was a photography studio

Unknown Speaker 26:20
that Mary had, yes, she was a very good photographer. She has

Unknown Speaker 26:24
a coffee shop and a photography

Unknown Speaker 26:27
studio is where they were the half of the or the half of the post up where the post offices and they have where Nancy keeps her ice cream, freezers. It was all in one. And she had a studio in there. Very nicely fixed up in there. And she had this you know, the coffee bar. And

Unknown Speaker 26:55
she was there for quite a while.

Unknown Speaker 26:58
In the coffee bottle, I guess back then was the social center or corporate harbor just as it is today?

Unknown Speaker 27:03
Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

Unknown Speaker 27:07
And has it always been a seasonable business

Unknown Speaker 27:10
or a was them? Course Nancy when Nancy took it over? She stopped during the winter she chose in the wintertime. But Mary kept open all the time. For us at one time Mary solver is used to have very nice dinners there on Sunday. Special dinners in Oh lovely. Yes, he used to do quite well the thing

Unknown Speaker 27:36
is we used to see all the people going in to get their pictures taken.

Unknown Speaker 27:44
Then going up Fulford hill a bit. It looks as if some of the houses have store fronts, where their business is up the hill at one point. Now we'll say where the post office used to be before moved down.

Unknown Speaker 28:02
That was just right here where the coffee bar where the the drive in is the post office after Mr. Edwards closed up. And this place has been torn down long ago

Unknown Speaker 28:16
when the post office used to be in the hills, and Percy Jones was there, and it was called the whatnot. Sean. Well, then George found here. Now, next to it was there at one point of store.

Unknown Speaker 28:28
The only the only place was Mr. Grass arts and the post office in What's Mr. Girl sites? Well, he was in this place right here. You see, for a long time. This this one next to the or the post house? Oh, yeah. So that's what I was referring to. Oh, well, that well, no, that was a villa. That was his office. You see, there's a lot of logging business for the business for the loggers and all that need. That was his office. And then he got that he got kind of congested, and he lived just around the bay here then. And then they got that post office. It used to be a little shed somewhere and put it up in there for the post office and Jimmy grass or did that.

Unknown Speaker 29:13
So his business with the logging company would be as a bookkeeper

Unknown Speaker 29:17
or bookkeeper. Yes. And then Kenny mullet years ago, he thought he would open the store and I think is that maybe that was what you're referring to further up the the valley, but I think I'm not quite sure but I think it's been taken down. And this has a storefront. I said he was going to run the business and then he decided you didn't didn't think it was right.

Unknown Speaker 29:44
This work has been here for quite a few years has a notion of stock.

Unknown Speaker 29:51
Oh yes, that's been here. It's all been except the ferry wharf When I came in 51 Well this Fisherman's Wharf has been built since then. And of course, the new Wharf in the other war and the rebuilt practically the other wharf wants since we've been here. So

Unknown Speaker 30:18
could I ask you a few questions about when the Indians lived on the on the reserve? How long did it there were Indians living there when you move to the army?

Unknown Speaker 30:29
Yes, it was Indians living there. Then Charlie and Mary lived there for long. Quite a long time after we came to the island. Just the two of them. Well, as far as I know, I didn't know any other and they live there all year round. No, yes. And he used to come to the star and they're gonna go canoe and that's where they started for I think when they know that we didn't return home and they disappeared.

Unknown Speaker 30:54
Yes. And their canoe was found your well I

Unknown Speaker 31:01
think that's the way that grant me reason to know them that you know, I knew Charlie and Mary they were a very nice couple. And they used to come to the store quite often. I think just to roll around fishing coming in you know. We used to have a lot of the Indians from college and then Duncan and that they see they go from Duncan from over that way round to Maine Island. You see they were their canoes to fish oil to visit in potlatches North things in those days.

Unknown Speaker 31:34
There were Indians on main island at that time. Yes, they had an

Unknown Speaker 31:37
Indian reserve there this as you go into the past and they used to come around and they stay at Beaver point the night you know on the beach. Norman quite well some of them and I liked them all very much you know saying that no matter how they came in there I never saw one that wasn't wasn't a gentleman so

Unknown Speaker 32:09
so then it come into your store here in full fernery and

Unknown Speaker 32:12
we didn't have the store then at full we have this just a store at Beaver point. When Mary and

Unknown Speaker 32:18
Charlie were living out at the reserve

Unknown Speaker 32:20
they were just store it Fulford that'd be repoint come quite often because they say they fish straight by the dories. But we had did have a lot of canoes and there were very few of them had engines in their launches. That was something when they got an engine they I had to see that

Unknown Speaker 32:48
got to know quite a lot from both coaching and main Ireland.

Unknown Speaker 32:55
When people come over from me in Ireland to shock

Unknown Speaker 32:58
a lot, the Georgians and all those used to come over quite often. Or there's no store I don't suppose it was. I don't remember they'd be a small store like ours, you know, probably they wouldn't have what we would have and we wouldn't know what they were you know, in those days it was I don't know people used to get around quite a lot more than I think they do now and stop at the wrong place long enough to see what they're really you know,

Unknown Speaker 33:28
would you go over to Victoria very often when you were living at Beaver point. Oh, I

Unknown Speaker 33:32
used to go old same thing dentist I used to go and to visit once in a while. But I used to go down on the boat on Wednesday you'll see. Or then you see Mr. Lasseter ran on a launch from forefoot for a long, long time. And used to go I think it was Tuesdays and Fridays I'm not

Unknown Speaker 33:54
mistaken. And where would he go? When the love Fulford harbour wouldn't be

Unknown Speaker 33:57
right to Sydney wharf. And then they plying line as they used to call a bus line in those days. It will fit Harrison had that. And we used to used to take us into Victoria in this is a seven passenger car and it'd be I don't know how many before we go. On the launch, you're asked to move up move up to the Hill, there's no moving. And then we'd have to leave some behind all at one time. He only went in the morning, cross in the morning and then again at night. But then later on. He made two trips a day. And then when Mr. Lasseter gave it up. Bob Pollack took it on and Mr. Pollack and Bob ran it for quite a long time. The ferries they launch service and porphyritic suddenly and then Mr. Pollack gave it up when the side pack Come on.

Unknown Speaker 34:53
In the side pack would run about three times a day with it.

Unknown Speaker 34:57
No, I don't even try Today, we're announcing well that was a first later on they did later on they had a different schedule but when they first started us to go out in the morning and come back and then go out again about 430 or something like that in the afternoon, I just forgotten just exactly it would go into Swartz Bay would it? It would go into Swartz Bay and then Ernie Brenton has a large car seven passenger they used to call them in those days and he would take them into tow from here you know to Victoria and he left finally he left from the from the depot just the same as the bus but it was just a car and all we used to come out sometimes sitting you know it'd be just packed in there

Unknown Speaker 35:50
well it sounds like the service was better than today.

Unknown Speaker 35:53
Oh my god I don't know I never found it very difficult in those days we used to get around just the same I mean to say we didn't go quite as often I guess maybe it could be that you mentioned beaver toy store there was their electricity did you have no power? No power no power? We had gas lamps. We had refrigeration no we hadn't that's why one reason why and even when we left in 51 there was no no power don't do it I don't know if it went any further than no one felt that they had electricity so we couldn't have fresh meat or fish or anything like that in the store. We just did the best we could with what we had we had the big ice chest at the back and when we went to any way possible we got fresh ice and that's all we have a fridge nice fridge in the house. Was there was there electricity anywhere on the island? Oh yes there was here for them. Not when no not when we came to the out No, no, no, no, no everybody mode store and all those places. They were all lit up with artificial lights and all that. I mean but not electricity. No no. Mr. Captain modwheel was the first to have it down here and we had to put in this place. And Captain mod had to put in up there and then they use it for the ferry. About what about what would that have been? Six well upside

Unknown Speaker 37:28
Peck started in 1930 or 31.

Unknown Speaker 37:32
In Liberty around in that area. Because you see early 30s It'd be the early 30s.

Unknown Speaker 37:40
Now from deeper point would Bob your son go to school?

Unknown Speaker 37:45
Never ever point he went to school at Beaver point. So grade eight Urschel grade seven and he went to Victoria for grade eight. And his three years of high school. He went to Victoria have to go all the way into Victoria East he boarded in their borders in in Victoria. Yes. For four years, like for three years high school and one year in grade eight.

Unknown Speaker 38:10
The children really had quite a ways to go to school then two, three

Unknown Speaker 38:13
miles from our place. And the teacher used to walk that three miles and I never heard a complaint yet about and they walked from the store. She boarded with three, three or four teachers staying with me. And the I never heard them make commendable again far.

Unknown Speaker 38:34
Well, it's such a beautiful walk.

Unknown Speaker 38:36
You know what I mean to say they used to

Unknown Speaker 38:38
take it for granted

Unknown Speaker 38:41
some very bad mornings if it was really rough. Will after we got our first car we'll run them up to the school and in all because when Bob started he was pretty pretty small. And he'd take him up but that's the teachers who used to walk from there

Unknown Speaker 39:02
was beaver point hall next door.

Unknown Speaker 39:05
No, there was no halls at all on at this end. No halls, no Pulford Hall and OB reporting Hall.

Unknown Speaker 39:13
It wasn't built till later on.

Unknown Speaker 39:16
Oh no. It wasn't built later on. I just don't know all the dates that were built. I have pieces of them are they opening up and then everything but

Unknown Speaker 39:24
which came first beaver point hall or Fulford home beaver point. It's a beautiful home.

Unknown Speaker 39:30
Well, that's not the hall we built first, that the hall we built first was burnt down. Do overs. You're not here. No, you wouldn't be here. The first Hall we built and it was very, very hard, getting enough to volunteers and hard labor and people would be repoint the older people. They certainly worked hard for it. And they got when the mill collapsed. There was a lot of lumber that then build a very large and boarding house for the mentor has worked in the Middle East Sea and they win the fight when the know was not going to be reopened. They let people have the lumber for very cheap and that's where the beaver point and came lumber for the beaver point first Hall came

Unknown Speaker 40:19
this is an American This is the mill that it was a Christian

Unknown Speaker 40:23
Christian call and the second beaver point Hall the flooring and as much lumber as they could get from Cushing called responsible put in there but that flooring was on the list from Cushing Cove bunkhouse really and the furnace that we had in our first Hall was from Christian Cove. They had a big furnace in the men's room boarding house and they gave it to a very reasonable and all they worked very very hard to get that first be reporting Hall together. Everybody did the volunteers Mr. Aikman and all that. Bob Aikman zankel And anybody that hadn't seen him it was all cedar shakes on top they've cut all the shapes and everything was more or less and and

Unknown Speaker 41:16
in size, would it be about the same as the present beaver point home?

Unknown Speaker 41:20
It may? It may be? No, I don't know that it'd be much bigger. It didn't. We just had the hall. We had all plans to put on the kitchens at that side and dressing rooms and that but it was burnt down before those were put on. So we just had the main hall for the first be reporting Hall. And then when they built the second Hall, they had all those were put on whether we're building it the dressing rooms and that and this is all for drumroll gave a lovely English piano for the first Hall which they The piano was donated to the second altar the snow. Yes, because they used to borrow a piano when they had concerts and things they used to. Mrs. Maxwell had a nice piano. This is Dave Maxwell and she loaned it two or three times and they used to bring it out and then take it back the next day. And then the after they got the other hall they won the present Hall now this is all for drunkle Her mother had passed away and she gave her two Christmases Alfred had a room and she didn't want to she gave one to the hall so that's how they got started there Fulford Hall was put up by volunteer labor you know, the Oh, my brother used to come down help a lot and that whole was he was interested in basketball naturally you wanted it straight.

Unknown Speaker 42:53
But now what was the point home used for us we dance?

Unknown Speaker 42:59
We used to play badminton all the time. And then we had badminton twice a week and and then there was concerts and there was parties and it was dances because you see there was no television in those days or anything like that you had to make your own entertainment.

Unknown Speaker 43:18
That'd be fun point Hall would be used for a variety of functions then whereas Fulford Hall would be more a sports Oh

Unknown Speaker 43:29
yes. Neva point Hall was not large enough for only for practice games and things like that but not for professional gamer anything like that wasn't overtime supposed to be flawless? I don't know if that's on the first Fulford home. This is a much prettier looking on the outside appearance than the first one but then they put the first one up with what they had.

Unknown Speaker 43:58
I'm admiring that stove next to you. Beautiful. Have you had it? Was it in the house when you moved here? Oh

Unknown Speaker 44:06
no. This is when I got the week after I was married. When I was married looks like it came right out of the showroom. It has a tank that fits on here but I took it off on it. When we moved here I got the tank and for the hot water because you see we didn't have any running water. Be the point. And knowing this store will be 66 Is it 63 years is coming and it's hardly ever been out really but I mean to say it's never been no start or anything like that. It's always been in use had a lot of care. And whether we were going to buy our things when we were first married, was allow. Look around and say what you want I said well, I don't I'm not going to be bothered looking around saying what I want I said I just want a good stove

Unknown Speaker 45:12
so when he said all this too is this this one here, and this another one that was a good one. He says you can go down picture once on your one. This one I like this. So I got this one.

Unknown Speaker 45:25
And then what would you do with you have it delivered to a barge and then brought them

Unknown Speaker 45:32
up on the otter? The otter brought the freight all and the Queen City there was another boat used to bring the freight. Oh no.

Unknown Speaker 45:41
And it would be picked up in Sydney and then

Unknown Speaker 45:44
no right in Victoria the boat ran right around Victoria in those days and all the princess to she didn't go. And then she came from right from Sydney, right? Right from Victoria wharf right around the university convenient

Unknown Speaker 46:05
it's been a good stall, and has never had a new grade. I've never spent the five cent piece on the stove since we got this doesn't belong to this listener. You see, as you know, you can see it doesn't belong to that this was a tank here. But the rest of it is not another we've never had a thing. So it was worth buying that decent store when we bought it. And you can see that the backs on this. Everything is not there's no warping in the moment. Well the rockets have got. They have lotus, we're lotuses, she has Mrs. Alford's monarch stove and now has her mother's and there are seven years older than this one. As long as I'm here, that stuff stays

Unknown Speaker 46:57
in tension, you had three or four teachers staying with you at different times. Yes, yes. Uh huh. Now they were teaching in Beaver point

Unknown Speaker 47:06
Hill, being appointed school. Well, there.

Unknown Speaker 47:11
Are there any teachers that we would know?

Unknown Speaker 47:14
Well, Miss Mrs. Palmer. Yes, she stayed for the whole term. No, she only stayed one term and be reappointed.

Unknown Speaker 47:22
And then she cheated somewhere else in the

Unknown Speaker 47:25
Ganges era. I don't know whether she went to I think she went. I'm not quite sure whether she she taught over it may not on for a little while, but I don't I've just forgotten whether she went to Ganges because she was. So it must have been for she came to me that you're taught on me now. And Endora and McLennan Marie McClellan's wife, she was Dorothy juror from Victoria. She stayed with me for a year. And Gordon Hartley

Unknown Speaker 47:56
was there and he taught for a year he taught for a year

Unknown Speaker 47:59
he repoint you went to high school with Bob and Victoria reeling. And he came on stage with me for a year. I could have had more teachers and wanted to but wasn't very easy. In those days. I had no water in the house or anything else. But anyway, we got by.

Unknown Speaker 48:27
Well, would you be able to tell us the history of the mail from the beginning?

Unknown Speaker 48:31
Well, Mr. Bowman's property minister. But they're, of course it was an American firm. And they were very anxious for as their boss from the States. He spent all afternoon one afternoon trying to persuade us to leave be reappointed and go on and run a company store for them. But Christian COVID And I have a post I was transferred up there. Christian rial and luckily, we didn't you know, because it wasn't that long for the warth. It wasn't there very long before the warfarin though.

Unknown Speaker 49:12
How many people would be living at the mill, although there

Unknown Speaker 49:15
was quite a few living there with their families. There was one large family there but the name of magnums and then there was people coming and going all the time, you know,

Unknown Speaker 49:27
would you say maybe about 25 people more

Unknown Speaker 49:30
than that. They had a big bunkhouse. And everything took to run a good size sawmill so

Unknown Speaker 49:43
and the wood from the solemn sawmill would be shipped to Victoria wood.

Unknown Speaker 49:48
All big boats came in they had a big war. You see, the big boats could come in there. There's quite a quite a deep place there in front of a cushion Cove. Deep Water Internal saltwater so good size boats came in there for the lumber

Unknown Speaker 50:04
and where did they do their logging mostly to be mostly in the beaver point

Unknown Speaker 50:08
they had logs brought in from different places on the island not particular I guess on the island at that time that they have the island timber those days was not considered number one timber

Unknown Speaker 50:22
so it you know it was sold pretty cheap but they didn't get the top price for like the only certain places and that so the logs would be brought in process processed

Unknown Speaker 50:42
a lot of people very sorry when it went down because it meant a good thing for within the men

Unknown Speaker 50:51
I can imagine the population in the school would increase them

Unknown Speaker 50:56
yes or no it was a lot of single men you know, lived in the bunkhouse not a man married men just didn't bring their families they just can work you know like themselves like left their families wherever they were settled before round with all the I think the one of them went up to run a Melbourne somewhere in Nanaimo. He didn't go back to the states he went up that way

Unknown Speaker 51:28
Are there any other businesses you can think of Mrs. Patterson

Unknown Speaker 51:33
isn't any any anything of any you know not down this way?

Unknown Speaker 51:41
How about fishing back then

Unknown Speaker 51:44
all the fishing was just some might say as much like it is more or less now they had to go away you know that was fishing boats the steams isn't those people with their fishing boats and the pop and burgers and with their fishing boats and that but they all had to go no different places there's never been any big fishing grounds except the costs on Pendo and they put that fish plant there

Unknown Speaker 52:17
because you see the beaver point could never develop not be reappointed right down the wharf because Mr. reforms and have any any any openings there for any businesses at all.

Unknown Speaker 52:33
Even back then just like today it's such a beautiful part now isn't that have you been down?

Unknown Speaker 52:39
No, I've not been down for a long time. I must go down that you know where the store was, don't you? Yeah, where that big cement block was That was my background really. But oh, it was a beautiful place. You really saw more of the outside world out there than you do here are not loading I mean to say the car switched back and forth. But they're the bolts was always assumed that the bolts used to come in for the nature and like that and that always got the store and most of them there were Americans that are very friendly people to know quite a few of them that way.

Unknown Speaker 53:21
Did you take in borders other than that? No, no,

Unknown Speaker 53:25
only of there were stranded Mr. Captain new came in you know can Galliano it came in this store not too long ago, I mean, across the street. And he said to me, he said I'll never forget the night you gave me a bunk asleep it said Starry Night and couldn't get back