#40 Twillingate Part 1

#40 Twillingate

The highway to Twillingate (pop. 2196) turned out to be bumpier than we anticipated.  However,  the coastal villages we passed continued to look picture perfect.

 Peyton Woods our RV Park was very nice. 

We went to the lighthouse in Crows Head.  However, it was near closing time, so we decided to return on another day.  The Titanic exhibit needed more than 15 minutes.

We did enjoy the scenery from lookouts below the lighthouse.

The guys walked a path to the end of a bluff and attempted to take a selfie. Then they pretended to be closer to the edge than they were, to get a rise out of Lynn and I. The boys will be boys!

 We did a quick tour of town, went to dinner and plotted our schedule.  First off will be Fogo Island.

Thursday  Aug. 8, 2019

The island excursion requires a ferry so to make the first ferry at 8 AM we were up at 5:30 AM and on the road by 6:15.  My body usually rolls over about 9:05 every day, so this was a stretch for me. The ferry took off on time from the town of Farewell.  We were on the direct route to Fogo, and it only took about 45 minutes.  You can choose to stop at Change Island and see Newfoundland ponies, but we opted to skip that one.  The first stop at the visitor’s center offered us a group ticket to the 10 Heritage Structures on the Island.  It saved us $100.

Off to the city of Fogo.  By the way the Portuguese originally named it the Island of Fire. It is believed they fished here and saw the native fires burning.  Or another time perhaps they saw a forest fire.

The first stop was the Marconi Wireless Interpretation Center. The guys climbed the hill and could see anchor supports for his tower.

The structure was new and smelled of new wood, so I couldn’t stay long. It also echoed and with others talking it was hard to concentrate. We have seen Marconi centers in other places too.

This interesting house sat down the hill. It is being remodeled.

Stop Two proved to be the most interesting. Called Experience Fogo, it offers a glimpse of early 1900 living. The young attendant was Robert Oake.   He plans on becoming an electrical engineering technologist.  We asked Robert about the caribou here, and he said coyotes came across the ice in winter and have driven off most of the caribou.  They are rarely seen anymore.

The site included a garden, a trap shop, a carpenter shop, a stable, and a place to repair nets.

Across the street we found a “stage” and “flakes”.  A stage building sits above the water often at the end of a dock. The building is used to process the fish caught. So now we know the name of all the little shed buildings we see along the shore.

The table design is still used today to clean the cod.

 

 Raised wooden platforms made from long round poles and covered with evergreen boughs comprise the flakes.  Flakes provide a place to dry the salted cod.  Since weather isn’t always dependable “fish houses” were used to cover the fish and keep it dry in bad weather.

The Barking Nets was a process to dye the nets black so they would be harder to see under water.

Stop Three was the Bleak House Museum.  Originally built in 1816 for John Slade a powerful merchant in the fishing trade.  His bookkeeper John Owens took over the house and business next. When Owens retired his business partner Henry Earle and his family.  Just below the house you could see where his factory buildings stood.

 He processed cod, cat food, and partridgeberry sauce (like cranberry sauce except partridge berries are akin to Lignonberries).  The downstairs represented the typical rich home of the time period.  Upstairs had a feature we haven’t seen before. The entry to each room was determined by status.

 The Parents room was equal with the hallway. The grandparent’s room was a step up, to honor them.

  The children’s room had two steps down to enter, and the servant’s room, with the nursery, was three steps down.

The guest room was stunning.  I think if it were my house that might be the master bedroom. It was open and airy with bay windows that overlooked the factory, lawn and bay. But given the times the best bedroom and the parlor were always saved for guests.

The office showed some of the records Mr. Earle kept.

We passed by two other sites without stopping: the old Post Office in Tilting and the Former United Church in Fogo. 

Then on to Joe Batt’s Arm another little town on the island, east of Fogo.  We decided to pass on that too. Can’t quite remember why!  The fancy Island Hotel looks ugly with its modern architecture sticking up from a bluff. We were told it was very, very pricey!

On our way to the town of Tilting, we stopped by Growlers, Ice Cream Shoppe. They hand make their ice cream and have some interesting flavors.  Derrille and I chose Carmel ice cream.  I don’t think I’ve ever had more delicious ice cream.

The town of Tilting has Irish roots.

The Dwyer properties did not strike any interesting notes, except they do have parties here which might account for the modern kitchen.

Here we toured the Lane House Museum.  This house was an open room made into several rooms and then added a second story. The house showed distress.

 The interesting feature is the black and white spiral staircase that one must go up very carefully by placing your foot parallel to the riser.

Behind the house Jay and Derrille walked up to the Irish Cemetery.  This reader board states that this is the oldest Roman Catholic Cemetery outside of Ireland. It dates back to the mid-1700s.

One more stop in the town of Seldom to view the F. U. Trading Company.  The Fisherman’s Union has three buildings to visit. The board room looks like it may still be used.

One floor shows the restored F.U. Trading Company Store.   F.U. stands for Fisherman's Union.

One talks about the history of the union in these framed photos and documents.

One building held a stable full of stuff.  Some fishing supplies, some horse things, lots of miscellaneous things.

Then we headed for the ferry to get back to Twillingate.  It was a very hot day and waiting the hour and a half for the ferry in the heat was difficult for me. But we made it back and had quite a day!