Saturday Travel Feature

Happy Birthday Laura!

Long Beach, B.C.

The house in the photo above was taken in 2005 in the small town of Ucluelet B.C. Ucluelet is the southern of two towns at either end of B.C.'s Highway #4 on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The northern town on Highway #4 is Tofino. These towns are among the most western outposts of Canada. Halfway between Ucluelet and Tofino is the stretch of beach known as Long Beach. And on the hill above this beach is the original site of the house in the photo above.

Photoshopped to look more like house above Long Beach

This house is a Panabode House, a prefab made to look like logs inside and out. It was built as a one storey house with three bedrooms, a living room with a fireplace, dining room, kitchen and laundry room. Under part of the house was a dirt basement, where the water from the washing machine drained. The water supply to the house was a hose running from a creek on the hill above the house. The view from the livingroom and master bedroom windows was of the stretch of Long Beach, the Seal Rocks where the sea lions basked and honked, and the Pacific Ocean.

One view of part of Long Beach

The house was built on the hill of the gravel Combers Beach Road, just after the bend where it headed down to the water and west of Staghorn Creek. The owners were the Norton family. Mrs. Norton was an avid gardener and planted over 26 types of daffodils from catalogues she ordered from around the world. She cleared the salal from the side of the house for a patio and planted the daffodils along the gravel driveway to the house. The house was often rented out to teachers working in the area. One of these families was The Grants. And in 1969 to 1971 it was The Wilson's. This is the house that Laura Wilson came to in 1970 when she was one week old. She came from Vancouver General Hospital with her mother Suzanne, her father Alan, her sister Amy, and her brother Richard.

In 1970 Pacific Rim National Park was established. The house on Combers Beach Road fell within its borders. Soon after The Wilson's moved from the area the house was moved out of the park and into Ucluelet where it now sits. Some of Mrs. Norton's original daffodil bulbs were taken to North Vancouver by The Wilson's and planted in their front yard where they bloomed each spring for several years.

Note Highway #4 leading to Ucluelet and Tofino

Photos: Taken of house now moved into the town of Ucluelet and of a section of Long Beach in 2005 by SW. The lower photo of the house is photoshopped to resemble the house closer to what it looked like when it was actually on the hill above the beach.

Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ucluelet

Link 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Rim_National_Park_Reserve

St. Aidan's on the Hill

Ucluelet British Columbia is a small natural harbor town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island is 290 miles long and a 1 1/2 hour ferry ride from the mainland of British Columbia. To then get to Ucluelet is another 2 1/2 hour drive through small towns and then across the mountains. Until the 1950's the only access was by car to Port Alberni about in the center of the Island, and then by boat, probably the rough and ready Lady Rose. In fact, until the 1970's only a gravel logging road could be used for the the trip up one side of the mountain "switch backs" and then down the other side to the wild west coast rain forest that lead to the highway along the ocean and to Ucluelet at the south end and Tofino, an even smaller town, on the north end. When you reached Ucluelet all purchases cost 20 cents more per pound because of the freight charge. Today a paved road extends all the way to Ucluelet, Tofino, and Pacific Rim National Park. (See Link 3.)

Ucluelet means "people of safe harbor" in Nootka, the name of the Native Peoples that first populated the area. In 1870 a trading post was established and settlers followed in 1890. In 1898 the Presbyterians built the first Mission. In 1903 a lighthouse, telegraph station and lifeboat stations were added. The town became incorporated in 1952 and today there are 1500 residents.

St. Aiden's on-the-hill sits at the top of the hill at the intersection of Peninsula Road and Main Street, the street that leads down to the waters of Barkley Sound and the town pier. Across the street from the church is the Coop making this corner the hub of the town. The church was built by the Anglican Diocese of B.C. in 1952. The prominent bell tower with the cross on it was added at a later date. St. Aiden's is named after a Celtic saint and for that reason Celtic liturgies are used from time to time. The minister is shared with the congregation of the Anglican church in Tofino and lay people help in leading the service and music. The entrance door to the church is on Peninsula Road, the opposite side of the church to what is seen in the photo above. The sanctuary is in the left side of the church photo with the altar in the punch out area where the window with the cross can be seen. The sanctuary can seat 60 to 100 people, however, in the early 1970's only about 20 people actually attended the 9 am Sunday worship service. Joan Scander the present minister reports even less than that in the pews on Sundays. The church at 1663 Peninsula Road is also rented out for community events.

Thank You: For additional information about the church to Joan Scander

present minister at St. Aiden's.

Note: St. Aiden's was attended by Suzanne Wilson when she lived on Long Beach in the early 1970's. Her husband was the district school librarian.

Photo:Taken in 2006 by SW.

Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ucluelet

Link 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_Island

Link 3: http://www.longbeachmaps.com/parks.html