The Port Hope Simpson Diaries 1969: 70 Vol. 2 Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: Summit Special

By Llewelyn Pritchard

The Port Hope Simpson Diaries 1969 - 70 Vol. 2 Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: Summit Special
Series Title: The Port Hope Simpson Diaries
Vol 2
by
Llewelyn Pritchard
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010 Llewelyn Pritchard
The original diaries of Ernie Pritchard - written as a way of helping him adapt to his new surroundings when he was 18 years of age on Voluntary Service Overseas from 1969 to 1970 in Port Hope Simpson, Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada.
Now updated with interesting newspaper articles, beautiful photographs, maps and illustrations.
Learn what it was like in his own words to spend Christmas 1969 and beyond in the small isolated community on the Labrador coast of Canada...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Llewelyn Pritchard
• Release date: Oct 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301974467

Llewelyn Pritchard

Llewelyn's collection of books include the Series: UK Travel and Tourism Travel Handbooks Photo Albums Illustrated Diaries about European Budget Short-Break Holidays The Port Hope Simpson Diaries 1969-70 Port Hope Simpson Mysteries The Voluntary Service Overseas in Labrador and "Hidden Gem" written in honour of the staff of an Oncology Unit within a General Hospital in the National Health Service (N.H.S) in the United Kingdom (U.K.) Llewelyn has worked with The Honourable Canadian Senator William (Bill) Rompkey, on writing the history of the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in Labrador. This is what Bill wrote in his letter to the first get- together of the VSO teachers at Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire 1-3 August 2003, "...Labrador called to you and we are calling you now. I hope you will do what you can during these few days to fill in the Labrador record with your recollections and reflections. This too will be an important contribution to Labrador history. But mainly I hope you enjoy your time together. Llewelyn Pritchard has done a remarkable job in bringing you together. He is as shrewd as Holmes and as persistent as Poirot. He could even be a great Canadian! We owe him more than we can say. It's his event and I know it will be successful. All good wishes. Bill Rompkey"

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The Port Hope Simpson Diaries 1969 - 70 Vol. 2 Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: Summit Special

Series Title: The Port Hope Simpson Diaries Vol 2

by Llewelyn Pritchard Smashwords Edition Copyright 2010 Llewelyn Pritchard

9 November 1969 – 5 July 1970 Ernie Pritchard, 18 years:

Voluntary Service Overseas,

Labrador 1969 – 1970

The Ice Rink

On the ice 9 November 1969 I was down at the rink, helping tonight 27th November 1969. Involving myself in a community project. Yes! We have actually got one! The ice rink is nearing completion. I played volleyball at the Pentecostal School afterwards. Stephen Cook and Pete joined in later. Pete just came in at midnight with the family tree he is going to make of this settlement. Everybody seems related to everybody else. I almost had my first ride on Claude’s snow cruiser tonight but there was ice in the fuel tank and it wouldn’t go. I borrowed Edgar’s shovel to work at the rink where I did quite a bit of snow shoveling with the locals. I feel I am on very good terms with everybody here. I gave my knee one heck of a bang tonight when I fell, carrying a kettle partly filled with boiling water, on an ice-covered rock outside Scott’s house. I didn’t spill any but my knee feels some tender at the moment. I intend to try and learn to skate on the rink. It’s down beside Blackwater Brook, about thirty yards below the bridge. We’ve got some more water to pump into the rink tomorrow. The teachers involved are Ed Osman, Claude and myself. Someone’s volunteered to look after the pumping tomorrow. Ed is mainly responsible for this rink. He’s a nice bloke who organizes (a key word).The lack of organization in everything, games and otherwise shows up throughout the community. Lights! It looks like this place is going to get lights before Christmas. The men are in now installing generators for the community.

Bell telephone men, Vic Penney and Henry James Butt 6 May 1970

The Powerhouse Port Hope Simpson 26 November 1969 Claude’s still struggling to get the lights in at our School. Goose Bay School Board have to send somebody in to do the wiring. Oh, I nearly forgot! We’ve had a bit of snow. It came down for approximately forty-eight hours! A forewarning of what’s to come.

28 November 1969 The Springdale is due tomorrow. I’ve just returned from Ben and Ursie’s with Pete. There was a money interrogation session just before I left which was hard with Pete there. I am taking John, Bella and Rosetta for a walk tomorrow. I asked Pete to come along and he accepted of course. I had lunch with Ursie, John, Bella, Rosie and Pete (lunch means a snack always before bed.) The Springdale will be the last boat this year. From then on the mail will come in by plane and by anything else I suppose. Claude’s cruiser is now going. Scott fixed it at dinner time and he had a ride on it of course! Scott is jealous of Claude. The skidoos are out. The ground is still frozen hard like concrete with a couple of inches of snow covering. Knee still tender, bruising starting to come out.

Vic Penney's skidoo with repair men also working in background on another machine Saturday

29 NOVEMBER 196 I had a very nice day down the shore with John, Bella and Rosetta Rowe and Pete. I’ve just come back. Received letters from Elaine plus newspapers and present, Chris, Mum, Will and Anne (plus present), Mrs. Agnew, Bruce and E.P.A. (Eastern Provincial Airways)Snow is on the ground of course and hands freeze if not careful. Pete and I helped Ben lug his water barrel laden komatik (Eskimoan word for sledge.) Will got his PhD which is great. I’ve written to E.P.A., Jim Miller (Bowaters, Cornerbrook), Chris Humphries, and Mr. And Mrs. Eison, Graham Mills, Roy Smith, Mum, Will and Anne and I still haven’t finished. Been at it all day! I had beaver for dinner with carrots, pease pudding, gravy, potatoes with pudding and custard for afters. Very nice. I have also written to two of my teachers: Norm. Packer and Roy Hayward.

Monday 1st December 1969 Boy! Time is sure going quickly. Before I know it I will be on my way home to England on the wood boat I hope. Before I forget…The Bay has frozen over for about three quarters of the way to the other side of the river. At a rough guess, I’d say the other side is about one and three quarters miles away. The ice was over three inches thick of that I am positive. I think it was probably five or six inches thick overall. There is a little girl in the house with a walkie talkie. I hope the one I’ve ordered is just as good. There is a good foot of frozen snow on the ground now. It was great fun crunching through it to and from School. At the moment I have plenty of paperwork to keep me in the house. I will probably be going hunting with Scott on his skidoo on Saturday. I sent off a pile of letters yesterday, Tuesday including one to E.P.A. booking our charter flight to Goose. The weather was dirty last night with rain on snow. A lot of the snow is melting. Scott is putting in a new door into his and Rita’s bedroom. School went OK today. There was a funny episode with Paul and his cut thumb. I put a sticking plaster on it for him and it made his thumb jut out some odd. I must close for the moment because there is fresh meat coming up for supper and I have to wash in my plastic bowl. It’s been blowing hard today with a lot of the ice having melted to a sloppy (quote from Mrs. Ward) mess. It’s difficult to stay upright! It’s much easier walking about when there is a cover of snow on the ground. Mind you, that’s also difficult because you have to lift your feet much higher off the ground than you have to ordinarily. I wonder what snow-shoeing is going to be like? Scott hasn’t even thought about making snowshoes since his last What I’m going to do statement! Douglas gave me a tassel today. They enjoy giving teacher anything. I don’t grumble! I wonder if those partridge claws are smelling yet? They are somewhere in my room. Redge Russell gave me two more beaver teeth today> It sounds like I am collecting things…well I am but only the occasional thing. School went well today 3rd, just about like every other day. I think it’s a smashing job. Mind you, it needs one heck of a lot of patience at times when the kids don’t do their homework well enough. I am very pleased to say that I think I have that patience. It’s called self – control. Last night I learnt a good bit about life in PHS when Bowaters were here. The twenty or so wharves in the middle of the river, about four miles from here, were for attaching chains. The chains were part of the log boom that was used to transport wood downriver. The wharf that is in the middle of the river, opposite my lodgings, was the one where the wood boat used to tie up. The peeled (de barked) logs were floated downriver to the boat where they were loaded using large grabs.

I wonder when my mail is going to get out? Pretty soon I hope. Wallace gave me a tassel today. I’m making Christmas decorations with the kids last lesson this afternoon. We are going to get a volleyball court marked out somewhere near the School tomorrow. The Pentecosts have volleyball around their School.

Pete and I were up at Ted Penney’s last night. Ted is seized by the Holy Spirit! He almost hates the Pentecostals. We had a very nice lunch up there of bread and cheese, pineapple chunks, fig biscuits, marshmallows and two cups of tea. The people around here like to bring out something special for the teachers. It’s very foggy outside. I can’t see the water from my lodgings, a distance of about one hundred yards.

I wonder when my mail is going to get out? Pretty soon I hope. Wallace gave me a tassel today. I’m making Christmas decorations with the kids last lesson this afternoon. We are going to get a volleyball court marked out somewhere near the School tomorrow. The Pentecosts have volleyball around their School. Mr. Ted Penney has thirteen children living. Gus Penney has eighteen! This came out last night when Pete was extending the family tree he is making. Big families are the order of the day. Ted has his face washed by his woman Clara. Brian, Terry and Pauline are three of the schoolchildren in Ted’s family. I kept mum about religion whilst Ted spouted forth the scriptures (his quote). Pete’s here to go down the School. He calls in on his way down to the School.

Thoughts About the Food It’s 9.30 p.m. now and I’m just wading through Grade 5 and Grade 6 workbooks. A part of the book said that many Canadians regard pork and beans as their favorite dish. It’s very nice. At first I thought it looks just like a lump of fat with some beans but it’s really very, very

Sketch Map of Port Hope Simpson 15 February 1970

tasty. Rita cooks her haricot beans in molasses with the salt pork. The pork is just a lump of fat. Well, it’s just a lump of fat here anyway. My midday meal today was potatoes and tinned meat. Rita bought one small tin, enough for one person and it was spread between all of us here. Mind you, the other day I did have fresh meat – big deal! My mouth waters when I think of it! Well, anything is better than the fish and bruse I had up at William’s Harbour by kind (?!?!) courtesy of Charlie Larkum. The bruse was softish pulverized bread, absolutely unrecognizable as anything like bread of course. It’s tiring work marking these workbooks. I’m having too many late nights lately. Regardless of kind mocking from Scott who thinks that three hours sleep is enough for anyone! That’s all he says he needs. Well, he sleeps most of the day anyway so it’s not really surprising! It’s raining cats and dogs outside now. The weather changes so very, very quickly in Port Hope. I’ve been told it’s dangerous to go somewhere only wearing the clothes which suit the weather at the time of leaving. In the afternoon or evening a blizzard could easily be blowing and you could be frozen to death. Unpredictable is the best word to attach to the weather out here.

7 December 1969 Clive’s in. I put the notice board up in School. I’ve been down at Mary Ward’s most of the evening where I had lunch. I had my best mid-day meal on record yet: whole chicken with all the trimmings. It was fabulous.

The Effects of the Weather Clive’s sleeping in my room tonight in the sleeping bag which I usually put on top of my bed. I put my clothes on my bed tonight, over my four or five sheets including one medium thick blanket. It’s going to be frosty tonight which isn’t surprising because it’s been snowing for most of the day. To be frosty the sky has to be cloud free. Hence when it’s finished snowing the sky often clears up very quickly to give quite a heavy frost. The heaviest frost we’ve had so far produced a three to four inch thickness of ice out on The Bay (seawater). Vic said he isn’t going to Goose. Tony’s coming down. No charter flight. Well…another week of school is coming up.

Patience is a virtue. How very, very true that saying is. I needed it in School today with the kids. It’s all too easy to work oneself into a sweat about something. The Grade 6 kids just hadn’t done the amount of work that I wanted. Mind you, I suppose all kids are the same. I just felt like Is it all worth it? today and the answer now is Yes! I am pleased to say. There was a good bit of frost last night and today with about two inches or so around the shoreline. The brook that Pete and I have to cross every morning looks very picturesque with the icy water cascading over its icy banks. Clive went out at about 2.00 p.m. today on Bob’s long liner. He is planning to be in around next weekend to get up to Goose for Christmas. I wonder if we are all going to be able to get on the mail plane? That would depend upon how much mail it’s carrying! There should be a mail plane in very soon now because the planes have taken over the mail service from the boats. So much depends on the weather out here that it cannot be stressed too much. The mail plane schedule is disrupted to an incredible amount by the weather. If The Bay freezes over with only a thin layer of ice then the planes won’t land. They will land, however, if there is an open enough stretch of water which is ice free. Christmas is a particularly difficult time for the planes to get in and out of this place. PHS appears to be cut off from the rest of the world whilst Rexon’s Cove (where Clive is based) can be cut off from PHS!

Oh! I do have some news, (please remember, dear reader, that everything is news out here!) Mumps are just beginning to go round the settlement. Jo Ward and Mary Russell were both absent from class today. I also had to send Austen Ward home because he was feeling sick – weak stomach or something. I’ll tell you one thing…it’s very easy for me to get an attack of diarrhea. I think it must be due to the food I eat. Today, I had a very nice dinner with Clive of chicken, salt beef, carrots, potatoes and gravy with pie for afters. I had pork and beans for supper about an hour ago. The beans were boiled. Scott was in the woods today with George Penney looking for a spot where they can cut firewood. He’s planning to cut enough for winter and haul it out on skidoo.

I felt sorry on the way back from morning school today

9th December 1969 because as Claude, Pete and myself were walking back here The Springdale came in on its last call. Last boat of the year. It’s a mail boat but it’s not carrying any mail because the mail planes have taken over. The mail plane had to turn back due to engine trouble on its first flight here. It calls at other settlements along the coast too

The SS Springdale Port Hope Simpson. It’s late evening now and I’ve just come back from Uncle Bob’s and Aunt Edith’s and their son Vic. They are a very nice couple of old people. I’m taking my photographs round to show them tomorrow night. Before visiting, I was down at the ice rink watching a game between the locals. Pete was already there. We’re planning to go off somewhere to learn to skate on one of the ponds. It’s quite easy to get concussed if you fall heavily whilst learning I’ve been told. I’m just going to try to be careful! It was Ben’s birthday today but I didn’t call in without a present. Oh, I nearly forgot. We also called in on Billy Ward to see how he was doing. Apparently, Scott said, he had a stroke. He was complaining of a bad left leg. Psychological or otherwise? Who knows? He was closely related to Aunt Jessie I believe, maybe her son or something. That’s all for now dear reader, goodnight

.Cruising 10th December 1969 I’ve just returned from a cruise to Uncle Bob, Aunt Edith and Vic’s where I had a pile of bake apples after just mentioning that I loved them! Which is true. They’re scrumptious! Uncle Bob called them The Labrador Fruit. I showed them my pictures and left some leaflets with them.

We talked about everything and I phoned up Pete from there and he came along at about 9.00 p.m. It came out that salmon had been sold for only three cents a pound! The merchants were the baddies. Everybody agreed. Uncle Bob’s family was one of two families who first colonized Rexon’s Cove. Uncle Bob (Russell) and Aunt Edith are two very nice old people, about sixty years of age I should think. Apparently, Sheila Hinchcliffe (ex- V.S.O.), spent a good bit of time with them when Nellie Stone used to lodge there. Nellie taught at the School at the same time that Sheila was out here. Nellie is now married to Bill Larkum and she has gone, or, very shortly is going to St. Anthony’s Hospital for maternal reasons. Ha!

l. –r. Uncle Bob, Scott Coish, Henry and Gary Russell Aunt Edith unfortunately just out of shot.. I also went down to the rink because some of my kids were playing. They went down after I had kept some of them in for not knowing their tables well enough. I have just finished a week of testing them

I’ve just returned from a cruise to Mrs. Jim Sampson’s where I stayed all evening. Pete was down at the rink. He said he was going to watch the hockey which was very rough apparently. I called in on Stephen and Sandra Cook at about 10.00 p.m. on my way back just when they were feeding their quiz team with hot dogs – an opportune moment! I had a nice snack there and then came down to bed. It then started snowing at about 10.45 p.m. I wonder how thick (tick) it will be in this morning? I battened myself down and walked home with my photographs and guide book of Exmouth. The people here seem to really like me coming into their homes and showing them my photographs and pictures. I call it some good fun too. It’s really very nice to just go into somebody’s house (whom you are already acquainted with beforehand of course) and spend an hour or two just talking and picking up lots of news about things.

Mrs. Sampson’s son, Aubrie, was recently suspended from School for five days and he didn’t return to see Claude. Mrs. Sampson is victimizing Claude who, from what I know of him, is doing a good, worthwhile job. Tidying up the place? We’ve just got a garbage can to put outside the School. Maybe it will be used. It’s ingrained into the people here to drop their litter anywhere. Maybe the garbage can will have some effect? Only time will tell. There was no mail plane today and I’ve heard that there won’t be one tomorrow either!!! The mail service is something shocking. Pete said that he had heard on the radio that a hovercraft was going to operate along the coast starting in March next year. That probably means March 1971 knowing the speed at which things get down around here!

12th December 1969 I’m just waiting for my supper now at 5.40 p.m. It looks as if we’ve got chips and salt fish. Good old fish and chips. Well, another week has gone by. It always seems to be Thursday or Friday out here! Time certainly flies by.

I think I forgot to mention that Scott put down some canvas (lino) two days ago. He wasn’t in the woods today because of the snow that is thawing which also makes it very difficult to stand upright. Pete slips all over the place in his $28 mountie boots (he was done!) and I find it very easy to land on my bum! I’ll describe my walk or slide to School in the mornings.

Morning Walk to School I leave this house at about 9.15 a.m. or thereabouts depending upon whether or not Pete is early or late. We walk down and often meet Claude, Ed Osman and Stephen Cook. The latter two we pass going in the opposite direction to the Pentecost School. I navigate the frozen bog down by Edgar Hicks’s store and then get on to the icy road. After about thirty yards I come to a fairly steep part of the road with a drop of about six feet within twenty yards and manage to get down onto the level part of the road. So far I have also crossed one of the two bridges to get to School. The first bridge doesn’t have any water running under it. I walk along the road until I come to the second bridge, passed the generator house and turn off the road to School. The whole walk only takes about four to five minutes, that’s all.

School went