A little bit of Island history....

Have you ever had one of those days when you don't know what is in store and it can go either way? Well I experienced one of those days on Friday.

Hubby had to drop off some samples to a client and so I thought I would join him on the outing. The area in which this client lives is surrounded by a golf course and waterfront property....a pretty posh area. Anyhow, it made for a nice drive. After completing this task I suggested we go to a Provincial Park not far from where we were called Rathtrevor Provincial Park. I love this park...it has wonderful trails for running, there are fabulous campgrounds.....the beach goes out for ever...it's just a great family park full of all kinds of adventures.

So we headed towards Rathertrevor. Hubby hadn't been there in awhile and was really amazed at all the foliage and the huge trees. As we were walking along hubby commented on one of the many thorny floral bushes that we frequently saw along the trail. In my very amateur botanist opinion I told him what I thought it was.....it just so happens that while we are having this discussion this lovely elderly woman carrying a small picnic cooler asks us if we thought there was beach access ahead....we assured her there was just a few meters ahead. As we had now started conversing with this woman my hubby took it upon himself to ask her if she knew the name of the flower we were looking at....she said it was a Wild Rose and gave us the Latin name....we chatted a bit about the trees and how the species seem to really intermingle...we said our goodbyes and continued on our walk.

After a lovely walk through the trails,which bordered the campsites we made our way along the beach route and back to our vehicle. Well as fate would have it we met up with this dear woman and her husband.....my hubby made some comment about us meeting again...this led us chatting a little longer as we made our way to our vehicles.

She mentioned how much she and husband loved visiting Rathtrevor and proceed to tell us that they were on their way up to Telegraph Cove. When we heard this we were excited as hubby and I have wonderful memories of Telegraph Cove. I asked her if they were going Whale watching and how much we loved it there. She said no that they were going there for a memorial service for the woman who used to run the post office(she was 94). We gave our condolences. The woman then went on to tell us she grew up in Telegraph Cove and that is was her grandfather who named the Cove. She told us about how her father ran the lumber mill there and the house that he built. As it turned out hubby and I had spent a weekend in the house that her father built...and we went out whale watching on what use to be their family boat. Hubby and I were just awe struck. She then proceed to bring out what was a family album, but actually had been made into this incredible book. I asked her if they ever considered publishing this book but they said no...they didn't think anyone would be interested. I wanted to beg her to allow me to have a copy. We eventually said our goodbyes and I wished them a safe journey all the while I felt so fortunate to have met this woman.

This woman and her family I felt were not only part of British Columbia history but more importantly played an integral part on the development of the lumber industry on the northern part of Vancouver Island and the "telegraph line".

Her grandfather came to the northern parts of Vancouver Island and established the Telegraph line during World War II. If you click on the link above under Telegraph Cove it gives a brief history. I kick myself for not asking her name.....but because I was so impressed with what she shared I did a little research and figured out who the family was. Her father was Fred Westall...it was his father Marmaduke Westall who named Telegraph cove.

I felt so privileged to have met this woman and to hear some pioneer stories first hand! In 1980 the North Island Gazette printed an article about her father and stories of the early days in Telegraph Cove. If you are at all interested here is a link to that article about Fred Westall. and Telegraph Cove.