Nova Scotia - Lunenburg

Nova Scotia - part 4

(sightseeing)

July 15, 2018 - July 18, 2018

Lunenburg

Lunenburg has an interesting history.  It was settled in 1753 by Protestant German, Swiss and Montbeliardian French Colonists recruited by the British.  This is just 2 years prior to the time the (Catholic) French Acadian settlers were deported from the area in yet another historical example of religious persecution.  If you're Catholic you must go - we only allow Protestants!  The Protestant recruits were farmers by trade but, because of poor soil in the area, they quickly turned to the sea for their livelihood and became successful shipbuilders, mariners and fishermen.  

According to my reading, old town Lunenburg is the finest example of a "planned British colonial settlement in North America."  A mere 265 years later 95% of the buildings in the old town date from the the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries making the town very interesting!

One thing we immediately noticed and enjoyed were all the colorful houses.

We also noticed an unusual design feature of many homes and discovered it is called "the Lunenburg Bump."  It consists of a 5 sided Scottish dormer that extends out beyond the eaves.  About 20% of the homes in old town Lunenburg have this feature.  Here are some examples:

And of course we saw many lovely gardens, flower boxes, hanging flower pots, etc.  The Canadians love their flowers.

One of the top things to see in town is the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. It's a big sprawling building with many different exhibits.  Cod fishing off what is now the Maritime Provinces has been going on since long before Europeans began to immigrate to these lands.  According to one sign in the museum it began with John Cabot's voyage in 1497, over 100 years before Europeans attempted to settle here.  The sign below explains why the fish were so abundant in this area.

This topographic map shows the Maritime Provinces in relation to the 3 major currents mentioned in the previous picture.
Blue: Labrador current
White: St. Lawrence current
Red: Gulf stream current

A robust fishing industry necessitates many businesses to support it and the museum did a great job of demonstrating these support industries.

Sail makers - some examples of the tools of their trade.

Boat Builders - examples of the tools used in their trade.

Demonstration of building a boat along the shoreline.

I wonder where a person could get this much resin.  Is it just time that makes it dry out and harden?

Fish processing

A fish skinning machine.  The fish is fed in on the left and it comes out on the right!

In case this is hard to read:  Two-tined fish forks were used to unload the tons of greenfish from the schooner's hold.

The fish were then washed to remove excess salt and clean them. 
Often, they were then piled to press out excess moisture, a process called water horsing. 

Next, they were spread out on flakes (wooden frames) to dry in the sun.

The finished product!  Yum?

Tracking workers hours - just threw this in because it was made by IBM about 1930!  Wow!

I think this is quite an elegant design.

Foundries making metal products for ships

Block and tackle.  An ingenious device.

Woodworkers making special products for ships

Imagine how long it took to make 18,000-19,000 of these for one ship!

Shore duties of fishermen - tanning the nets.

Ice Storage

Sawing the ice into blocks

The tools used to cut and collect ice. 

Ice in storage

Soothsayers and picture framers (😄)

And here's something I never knew or even thought of but found interesting!

Near Lunenburg is a place called "The Ovens." 

Shoreline near "The Ovens"

The rock here is all shale.  The exposed edges break up very easily.

Some really interesting colors show up in the rock.  This picture doesn't do the colors justice.

Nice trail along the coast.  Barney loved it!

Looking back towards Lunenburg.

Cement steps down to one of the "ovens" (sea caves).
If I recall correctly, these stairs were built by a couple of men who hauled over 2000 buckets of cement by hand to build them!  OMG!

Inside one of the sea caves.  Looks like you're looking out from the wrong side of a monsters mouth.

Wave action in the sea cave.

You can still pan for gold on the beach here.

If you travel to Nova Scotia make sure you put Lunenburg on your list of things to see.  We really enjoyed out stay there.

Nova Scotia - Granville Ferry

Nova Scotia - part 3

(sightseeing)

July 13, 2018 - July 15, 2018

We drove a relatively short distance from Grand Pre' to our campground in Granville Ferry through an agricultural area called the Annapolis Basin.


Annapolis Tidal Generating Station

Only a short distance away from our campground we discovered the Annapolis Tidal Generating Station.  It's one of only 4 in the world, the others being in Korea, France and Russia.  The desire to harness the huge power potential of the tides in the Bay of Fundy has been a long held dream. The station was built in 1984 as a demonstration plant an effort to determine if the huge tides in the Bay of Fundy could be used to generate electricity.  By any measure it's been a success but it's design (i.e. a dam) is not practical in the Bay itself.

The Power station from the parking lot.

We prepare to go down into the plant by donning hard hats, safety glasses and ear phones which will allow us to hear our guide.

The turbine is the orange device.

The Annapolis River - looking downriver from the power station.

Annapolis River - looking upstream from the power station.

As the tide comes in, water flows upstream past the dam through some sluice gates, filling in the upper reaches of the tidal basin.  That is what is occurring in the picture above.  Once high tide is reached the sluice gates are closed.  The water level on both sides of the dam are now the same.  As the tide falls on the downstream side of the dam the water levels become uneven.  Once the difference reaches 1.8 meters, the water behind the dam is allowed to flow through the turbine, generating electricity.  The generating cycle lasts about 5 hours until the water levels on each side of the dam are about equal again.   The power plant generates power twice a day as the tide rises and falls.

Since a dam on the Bay of Fundy is not at all practical, other types of systems have been looked at to harness the energy of the tides.  Many different designs have been proposed and tried. Some of the designs look remarkably like the propellers of a wind generating station.  One of the things everyone has agreed is that whatever system they decide to test, it must be easily removable from the bay itself.
Other concerns of the testing are how the turbine affects the sea life and how it affects the distribution of the silt in the water.  Tests are currently ongoing.  The video below shows one of the designs being lowered into place in the bay.

Port Royal Habitation

The Port Royal Habitation was the main reason for our visit to the area.  It is a reconstruction of a 17th century French compound, one of the earliest European settlements in North America.  It was originally built in 1605 after a disastrous attempt at another location in 1604.  This attempt was more successful but when the leader's fur monopoly was revoked, the colonists returned to France, leaving the Habitation in the care of the Mi'kmaq tribe.  In 1610 a new group of French people came to Port Royal.  They were welcomed by the Mi'kmaq tribe.  Things proceeded nicely until 1613 when the colony lost it's financial support.  The leader went back to France to seek financial backing. While he was gone and the settlers were away, an English expedition from Virginia looted and burned the Habitation.  Most of the settlers survived the winter with the help of the Mi'kmaq tribe.  When the leader returned in 1614 he found his Habitation in ruins.  His response was to transfer his land holdings and leadership duties to his son whereupon he returned to France.  It remained a ruins for over 300 years, until an amazing woman took up the cause.

Harriet Tabor Richardson is the answer to the question "what can one person do?"

Panoramic picture of the Habitation.
The area sticking out on the left is the cannon platform.  The palisade on the right is an area where guards could stand to fire.

Main Entrance

Panoramic picture of the interior from the top of the stairway.
It's basically a fort without a palisade.  Entrances to the interior are few and there are no gaps between the buildings.
Kind of a very tight "circling of the wagons." 

The entire construction is done with wooden pegs or dowels.
The timbers used were large and very heavy.

Floors, all pegged into the supports below.

A different log construction style.  Short sections placed between vertical beams.

Animal hides were used as "windows" to allow some light in.

This jig is used to saw boards.  The saw is resting on the end of the large saw horse closest to us.
A man would stand with one foot on each of the two boards laid between the two saw horses.
His job was to handle the saw from the top.
The object to be sawed would be between his legs. 
Another man would stand on the ground in order to handle the saw from the bottom.

The blacksmith was in charge of making all the necessary metal items for the inhabitants.

A few loose examples of the art of blacksmithing.

Some example of blacksmith items in actual use.
Hinge

Door handle and peep hole.

Fancy metal window "bars".

Sliding bolt latch and shutter catch.

In the carpenters shop there was a spring pole lathe used to create candlesticks, table legs, etc.

One of the rear loading cannons on the cannon platform.
Notice it's aimed toward the harbor.

Communal kitchen

Bake shop

The common room - set up as a dining area.

The chapel.

The Governors residence.
The fine woodwork over the fireplace distinguishes this from other residences.

The Governors bedroom (upstairs)

Prayer kneeler. The French were, for the most part, Catholic so prayer was an important part of their lives.

Dormitory.  To the right are areas where the sick could be isolated while they recovered. 
The sick beds were laid out next to the chimneys for warmth in the winter.

To put this settlement into perspective, it was burned to the ground 7 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock!  A French Settlement in what is now Canada, rebuilt because of the efforts of an American.  Who says history isn't interesting!