Thanks for visiting. This site contains a collection of photos and video of some of the places I've visited over time. Where possible, I've researched some of the history of the places and people involved. Look through the stories headlined below by clicking on the title. To look at locations categorized in different ways, see the menu above.
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Roger picked me up at home a bit after 8:00 am. The weather wasn’t great and deteriorated quickly. By the time we were on Highway 144 heading north toward Timmins, we were becoming concerned about how much worse things might become.Â
As it turned out, however, the snow was off and on, and we had many good sections along the drive.Â
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My father flew from Halifax to Toronto, and from there we flew to Winnipeg together. Everything went according to plan, and before we knew it, we were in an Uber on our way from our hotel to Union Station to catch our train that, for three days and two nights, would bring us ever closer to our target, Churchill, Manitoba.
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I boarded the boat with my equipment bag, excited for what was to come. This fort had been on my list of "to-do's" for a very long time, and I was finally about to see it. With our beluga whale escort across the mouth of the Churchill River, we arrived at the dock for our first look around.
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There is little I can tell you about this location aside from it likely being constructed in the 1960's as part of the nearby Rocket Range. Its use was to track rockets being launched nearby throughout their entire, relatively short, lifespan.
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Rockets were already being tested in Churchill in 1954, but it quickly became apparent that a better, more permanent arrangement needed to be made, and construction began in 1956. In July, 1957, the International Geophysical Year began, involving 67 countries and was highlighted by the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1. Churchill became a focal point since branches of the studies included aurora, geomagnetism, and glaciology.
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Naval Radio Station (NRS) Churchill opened August 1, 1943. Its primary role was to study the ionosphere, and learn how it affected high-frequency direction-finding equipment used to locate submarines in the Atlantic. Churchill was to become a hot spot for people wanting to learn about the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. With the end of the war, the Royal Canadian Navy closed down operations.
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November 13, 1979. It was a chilly, -20C morning in Churchill, Manitoba. A Curtis C-46 Commando belonging to Lambair had just taken off and reported increased oil temperature, and decreased oil pressure in the left engine. The crew of three, turned the aircraft around to go back, but it was too late.
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On October 21, 1922, the Frank A. Augsbury, a lake freighter built for the George Hall Coal Company is launched from the facilities of Fraser, Brace Ltd in Trois Rivieres, Quebec. She was 251 feet in length, 43 feet across with a draft of 18 feet. Powered by a 1,400 hp triple expansion steam engine, Augsbury traveled at 10 knots, with a crew of 37.
Over the years of her career, she would be renamed Granby in 1927, Parita 2 in 1948, Valbruna in 1951, Lawrencecliffe Hall in 1952, Federal Explorer in 1955, and finally Ithaka in 1960.
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While driving home from a weekend in Belleville, we stopped at this fascinating little cemetary. I had noticed it on our drive down, and made a mental note to stop on the way back for a closer look. I'm happy I did.
