Historical and contemporary aspects of my beautiful island home. The landscape, the flora and fauna and my family will be among the treasures found in in these pages.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The War at Our Doorstep
With the outbreak of World War II, St. John's Harbour became an important staging point for convoys and warships crossing the Atlantic to Great Britain. In December 1942, the Canadian government installed two artillery guns below the Fort Amherst Lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour. In 1943, German submarines mined the waters ouside the well protected harbour resulting in the loss of an American freighter and a British ore carrier .
Today, the battery is in ruins but it remains a reminder of how the war touched the residents of St. John's from 1939 to 1945.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Friday, September 22, 2006
On Middle Cove Beach
Monday, September 18, 2006
Green Point Lighthouse
The Green Point lighthouse is located on a windswept point near the village of Hibb's Cove, Conception Bay. From the community, a rough gravel road leads 1 1/2 miles to the lighthouse. The light tower, built in 1883, is a round cast iron structure with red and white horizontal stripes. Today, its fixed white light remains an active aid to navigation.
In the autumn months, the treeless barrens surrounding this lonely outpost abound in cranberries ripe for picking - just in time for Thanksgiving Day !
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Crab Pots for Sale
A crab pot is a round rope- knitted cage with a funnel opening and a well in the middle to hold scraps of bait fish. The crab find their way easily in, but they can't get out. The pots are thrown over the side of the boat and are tied to long ropes attached to floats. These colorful pots are still awaiting their new owner in Port de Grave.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
The Lighthouse Keeper - Cape Race
Cape Race Panorama
Monday, September 11, 2006
High and Dry
Friday, September 08, 2006
Heart's Content Lighthouse
The Heart's Content Light was established in 1901 at the northern entrance of the community harbour. The 3o foot tower is a round cast iron structure painted in a red and white candy cane pattern. The lightkeeper's house and other station buildings have long ago been demolished. Nearby, in the community of Heart' Content,the first Trans-Atlantic cable was landed on July 27th, 1866. A museum, commemorating the role of the town in transatlantic communication brings many visitors in the town.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Making Fish
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
After the Storm
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Kittiwake ( Tickleace )
Smaller than a herring gull with wings that appear to have been dipped in black paint, the kittiwake is perfectly at home on the sea, drinking salt water, sleeping on the waves and feeding on small fish. These graceful birds nest in colonies on cliff tops and rocks overlooking the ocean. They rarely frequent land except to nest and they are often seen perched on the tops of icebergs that drift south with the currents to Newfoundland's northeast coast.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Powell's Head Light Beacon
Powell's Head Lighthouse is located near the entrance to Trepassey Harbour. The original iron tower built in 1902 was replaced by this square wooden structure forming one corner of the fog alarm building. Although not as dramatic as older Newfoundland lighthouses, this small lighthouse all painted in white with a red roof and a red octagonal dome lantern does make a pretty picture. It's flashing white light shining from a dioptic lens can be seen for up to 12 nautical miles at sea.
Cape Race Lighthouse - Lantern Lens
The Cape Race Lighthouse began operating in 1856 and is Canada's most significant landfall beacon. In 1912 radio operators here received the distress signal from the Titanic, which struck an iceberg 400 miles to the southeast. The original light tower was replaced by a white circular concrete tower in 1906. The giant hyper-radial lens, the largest ever built, contains hundreds of prisms that radiate light up to 24 nautical miles. The ocean beneath this beacon is wrought with treacherous currents and razer- sharp reefs and beset with fog, icebergs and storms.