West Dalhousie

I love the drive up the Morse Road to West Dalhousie. It offers such ‘a sense of place’.

On the one hand, I remember living up there in 1980, in the Buckler house, next to the O’Neil family : George, Bep, Bill and Ronan.

On Saturday, we hosted the EBLES event at the West Dalhousie Community Hall (site of the school). The fifth event celebrating Ernest Buckler – and his sense of place. Our list of presenters included Elizabeth Hay, Whit Fraser, Ken Maher and Kim Doolittle.

My role was minor, arranging the door prizes.. Heather Stewart, my wife, role was flower arrangements. From our Valley garden in Paradise to South Mountain.

Having time before the event ‘Reading where we live, a Celebration of Local Writing’, I was able to meet members of the West Dalhousie community, who put on a wonderful tradition turkey dinner, with all the fixings, and desserts.

The West Dalhousie community hall (4868 West Dalhousie Road) sits on bedrock. The hall contains a number of posters, describing the history of the community, the schools and the hall. The schools go back 200 years (1818). The last school closed sixty years ago. In 1820, three hundred and fifty people were living in West Dalhousie.

Ernest Buckler, in his youth, was a teacher in the one room school house.

Most of the families worked in the woods. The logs were shipped to Bowater Mersey Paper Company mill in Liverpool between 1945 – 2012. Since 2015, the forests have been managed by WestFor Management.

From the posters, I discovered that Rachel Brighton had put together a book ‘Out Home: a step back in time ‘ (will try to find a copy)

On Saturday evening, Daniel Frost brought a series of paintings by Gerry Spicer to the hall. The eight paintings covered the chapters in Buckler’s ‘The Mountain and the Valley’.

The EBLES event was a success; around a hundred folks made the drive. The location was ‘a big hit’ because of the hospitality shown by the community, its history and local writing. Thank you, Ernest.

Postscript

On Friday, we took the grandchildren, Quinn and Isla Rose, to the Tupperville Museum. We enjoyed hand-made ice cream, the history of the one room school, a poster and books by Ernest Buckler.

Acknowledgements

Jane Borecky, Anne Crossman, John Montgomerie fellow conspirators of EBLES for organizing a stellar program. Heather Stewart for the flower arrangements.

References.

Ernest Buckler. 1954.The Mountain and the Valley.

Rachel Brighton (Ed.) 2011. Out Home: A Step Back in Time. A Community History of West Dalhousie, from Military Settlement to Today. Copy in Lawrencetown Library.