Along the eastern shore

It was warm and sunny the other day. We had wanted to go scavenging along the eastern side of the island, and it was finally a good day for it. Dylan and Devon went scavenging last week, but since then there had been another good storm to wash more treasures ashore. We are lucky that we never have to worry about being beaten by the competition. There's always more where that came from.

Walking along the eastern shore is in some ways even more treacherous than walking along the shore west of the lighthouse. There's no higher ground where you can occasionally retreat from the ever-present rolling rocks beneath your feet. You must just trudge along and not take your eyes off your next step. That means no multi-tasking. If you want to look around then you need to stop walking. One thing at a time.

As you walk south in the direction of the lighthouse there are cliffs on your right, topped with forests of spruce. Sometimes the cliffs drop down until the island's edge is on a level with the shore. But the forest is too dense to enter easily from the shore. Some of the cliffs reveal deposits of clay, which may have been used for brick making in earlier times. Some of the old maps show a place named "red bank" along here.

We came upon a pond just inside the shingle beach.

We watched a few lobster boats coming home along the eastern channel. You can see Government Point in the background, the site of the former military base.
Here's a view of the eastern shore looking back toward Sandy Point and Shelburne.

Classic cobble beach, as far as the eye can see. If you were to walk further south, almost to Cape Roseway, the shoreline would be much more dramatic.

We brought home a pretty nice haul.

A provincial heritage property, maybe

In late 2008 I applied for our house to be included in the Provincial Registry of Heritage Property. It's a list cared for by the Province that indicates properties of special value to Nova Scotia.

I wasn't sure whether this house would qualify. It's not especially old by Nova Scotia standards. Its vernacular Greek Revival architecture is typical of its time and culture but I didn't think its style was exceptional. And it was the house of plain fishermen and farmers, island folk. Nobody famous ever lived here and nothing "important" ever happened here, as far as I know. So I wasn't sure if it would meet the Provincial standards.

I was hopeful, though. Historic preservation as a movement has come a long way since its own beginnings. Its focus has broadened to recognize the significance of properties that evoke the everyday life of ordinary people and a pre-industrial world we have lost.

Here's part of what I wrote: "[This house] is the last remaining of several that formed an island community throughout the nineteenth century and up until the Second World War, when most residents left the island. Besides Cape Roseway Light House, the island had a school and a post office, and various businesses such as canning. The islanders kept vegetable gardens and owned sheep whose descendants still roam the island and are themselves an important (and overlooked) part of Nova Scotia's cultural heritage."

I'm always wanting to put in a plug for the sheep while I'm at it. I also wrote about all the island's history that I knew of at the time, and added a bibliography of references to the house that have appeared in various books and articles over the years.

Then, while we were away, we received notice that the house had been recommended! A registered letter lay waiting patiently in the Shelburne post office until I could come home and sign for it. The letter says, in part, that the house is "very rare in terms of its architecture and its survival as an original residence on an offshore island. " That statement makes me curious about the other offshore islands, and whether any of the original houses are still there.

The benefit of being listed as a Provincial Heritage Property is primarily to help people realize the value of this shared heritage, which can be so easily lost. A Provincially Registered Property can't be demolished, so the designation affords a degree of future protection. There's also some financial support for specific kinds of work done on the exterior of the house. For example, I would love to eventually replace the asphalt roof singles with cedar shakes, which they would have been originally. This designation could pay for some of that expense and make it a bit more feasible to consider doing it.

So, now that I have signed for the registered letter, we're in a thirty day comment period. After that, a final decision will be made about registering the property.

To find out more about this program, take a look at The Nova Scotia Historic Places Initiative web site.

You can read about this photograph of William Perry's signature at the post entitled Autographed House. There are many other blog posts about the house, all under the label "house."

A long-tail, but not Cassandra

I thought this was the notorious Cassandra I caught on film the other day. But Leroy d'Entemont, the shepherd, wrote me to say that I had got it wrong. This is a ram lamb he dropped off on the island with the other rams on December 22nd. Why the long tail? I wrote back. I was just lazy, Leroy said.
Leroy d'Entremont is probably the least lazy person I know. So that's what I get for focusing on one aspect of a creature -- in this case, its tail -- and thinking it told me all I needed to know.