Category Archives: History

My Uncle Lorne lives on the home place where he, my mother Hazel, their sister Jean and other brother Louis grew up and at least five previous generations of MacLean’s since sometime before 1812 when they arrived from Colonsay, Scotland. The MacLean gambrel-style house is 200 years old this year. Lorne lives in Meadowbank, butContinue reading “The Lay of the Land”

It is not that unusual to leaf through a children’s story book that an older sister purchased for her seven-year-old brother except if she bought it for him in 1937. The family had travelled over to Moncton to visit their Aunt Minnie, and, on the way back across the ferry, she signed the book “ToContinue reading “A Storybook Gift from a Sister to her Brother”

There would have been a time, long before I was born when an afternoon ride on a two-seater buggy pulled by a handsome horse would have been a desirable way to spend a leisurely Sunday. And today would have been the best; the temperature was hot but not too hot. A country breeze offered justContinue reading “Horse and Buggy Ride in the Baltic Road”

How delightful spring is! These pictures were taken in Clyde River on May 1, 2012. They represent signs of spring that are delightfully beautiful and free. Too bad the sounds can’t be duplicated because the frogs clucking at night and the little birds chirping in the sunlight are so cheery. We also hear a woodpeckerContinue reading “Scenes and Sounds of Spring”

(Article as appeared in The Guardian, October 22, 2011) The Community of Clyde River has created a commemorative sign featuring the names of those buried in their pioneer cemetery along with photos of the site. The cemetery is located on the banks of the Clyde River, which is a long distance from the road withContinue reading “Clyde River Remembers its Pioneers”

I took a drive out to Clyde River yesterday to deliver something to Sharon MacLean at the Clyde River Baptist Church. Jo-Ann MacPhail was there decorating for Thanksgiving with pumpkins, apples and coloured leaves from her collection of props. What a talent she has for making things beautiful. Sally Ross was also there to ensureContinue reading “Thanksgiving Weekend in Clyde River”

An old cemetery tells a story. It tells of the founding families in a community, a child coddled by her mother for only a few months, a young husband whose wife died in childbirth and was left to raise an infant, a young person taken by a disease that could be treated today and anotherContinue reading “Clyde River Pioneer Cemetery – Never forget those you come from”

When I think of the beginning of a school year, I am reminded of all things that smell fresh and new…new shoes, new satchel, new books, new scribblers, pens and pencils. Maybe for our grandparents, it was a new slate. Now, it is a new iPad which is rather like a slate, only with someContinue reading “School Days Begin Again”

This past week, I took a tour of the archaeological dig in Stanhope. The site is on one of my favourite hiking paths within the National Park, the Farmlands Trail which is 2.5 km. I have walked the trail many times, but this time we had a Parks Canada guide and a local historian joinContinue reading “Stories under the Ground”

When I dropped by the Fitzgerald’s, Mike was busy in the workshop making Adirondack chairs. He had all the wood pre-cut and ready to go for a customer’s order of six. He is using Western Cedar from British Columbia; it’s expensive to buy and there is a lot of waste when cutting out the curvedContinue reading “The Fitzgerald’s – Woodworking, Gardens and Views of the Marshes”