#CollectiveMemories Monday - Wonderful Woody Point with Jack and Sue Parsons

View of Woody Point 5, from the water. Colour photograph. Photo of Woody Point (1950) showing schooner.
Collected and donated to HFNL as visual documentation for the Woody Point Registered Heritage District.
Photo courtesy of Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative.

As part of the Collective Memories project the ICH office is showcasing community material which has been placed on Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative. This interview with Jack and Sue Parsons was conducted by Lisa Wilson in 2014 and is about their experience of growing up and staying in Woody Point. It includes information on family history, the school system, local businesses and events, and what it is like to live in a National Park. This interview was conducted as part of the documentation around designating Woody Point a Registered Heritage District.

The ICH office is helping communities place previously recorded materials online. If your community has material you would like to make publicly accessible reach out to the Heritage Foundation at 1-888-739-1892 ex.2 or ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Old gates in historic Harbour Grace, Newfoundland

I spent a couple hours this morning, walking around the heritage district and surrounding neighbourhood of Harbour Grace, Conception Bay. I'm giving a presentation to the town tomorrow on cultural mapping and inventorying of heritage resources, so I just wanted to see what I could see.

One of the things that jumped out at me was how many properties still maintain their old gates, some of which are of a very similar style. Some of these were possibly constructed by Art Tapp, a blacksmith who "fashioned many of the iron gates and fences in the district" (Harbour Grace Heritage District Report, HFNL, 1992).

A very preliminary walk-around revealed a large number of wrought iron gates and fences standing, some possibly Tapp's work, others of later periods. To give you a sense of numbers and variety of styles, a selection of photographs follows, taken today, 6 May 2015.