Flume House construction update
Lake Banook plays host to Canadian Sprint CanoeKayak Championships – Nationals 2016
It is very appropriate to have canoeing events on Lakes Banook and Micmac as canoes have been associated with these lakes for several thousand years. Long before the arrival of the first Europeans the Mi’kmaq were canoeing this waterway as a means of moving from their winter homes in the interior of land to the coast where they spent their summers. However, at that time what are now Lakes Banook and Micmac were merely part of a wide stream. It was in the late 1820s that a dam was constructed just the south of the present Banook Canoe Club and the water was backed up to form the two lakes. This work was a critical part of the Shubenacadie Canal development. The Lock which you can still see continues to serve as a dam thus keeping the water level high enough to enable the canoe races. For those wishing to go beyond these two lakes, it is possible, with several portages, to follow the waterway across the Province to the Bay of Fundy – a distance of approximately 115km.
-Bernie Hart
The competition will run from August 30, 2016 to September 4, 2016 on Lake Banook.
Click here for more information on the Canadian Sprint CanoeKayak Championships_Nationals 2016
Stonemasons who worked on the canal-Patterson, Power and Purcell
This article on the Canal workers and their families features three stonemasons – William Patterson, John Power and William Purcell. Obviously, with the Locks being constructed with granite, these men played very important roles. During the first construction period, which is when our three masons would have been involved, no less than five granite locks were constructed between the Harbour and Sullivans Pond. While we can’t be certain, it is very likely these masons were involved in this work.
If you have driven along the lower section of Prince Albert Rd during the past few weeks you have seen the life-size replica of the Canal Cradle as well as the partially constructed Power House. What you have not yet been able to see is the underground stone Turbine Chamber and what is so very interesting about the Chamber is that the east and west granite walls are the remains of one of the original Locks which may have been built by one or more of our three Stone Masons. When this Greenway Project has been completed visitors will be able to look down into the Chamber and see these one hundred and eighty year old walls. Do any of these three names ring a bell – Patterson, Power or Purcell?