Thursday, September 18, 2008

Mussels & A Picture Postcard Town

We were interested in stopping in Trinity, Newfoundland to see whether the Rising Tide Theatre was still open for the season. They are a professional theatre company which has been a major force in the artistic and economic life of the province for the past thirty years. Unfortunately, we have found that many of the tourist attractions are starting to shut down for the season or are operating on a reduced schedule. Fortunately for us, they did have a performance the evening we arrived and we were allowed to park in the harbor parking lot for the night. The play we saw was entitled “It’s Like A Dream To Me” and was a one man show based on the life of Paddy “Iron” McCarthy, who in his time saw sweeping changes in Newfoundland. It was very memorable and later talking with the actor at the library, he indicated he had written the play last winter after reading a book about Paddy McCarthy who fished for 80 years and is still alive today.

The little town of Trinity was a lot more than we expected. The town itself was small and a true coastal gem. They have several historical buildings, such as the Lester-Garland House which is a reconstructed Georgian brick house rebuilt to the 1819-1920 period. We especially enjoyed seeing the table made from a mahogany log taken out of the Atlantic Ocean which was riddled with holes and grooves made by a marine borer (worm) which lives in submerged wood. The carpenter simply worked around the holes and made them part of the design of the table. The St. Paul’s Anglican Church with its 102 foot spire was exceptionally beautiful.

The Hiscock House had a very interesting history. Richard Hiscock married Emma and had a home built in Trinity. Richard’s mother did not want him to be a fisherman because she had lost her husband to the sea; therefore Richard learned the trade as a blacksmith. After ten years of living in the house and with Emma expecting her seventh child, Richard left home to go to Shoal Harbour to canvass for the re-election of a friend. On that journey a squall came up and Richard was drowned. Although alone, Emma was a fortunate woman, Richard had left her a large house with outbuildings, a forge, a garden and a shop. Using these resources she was able to support herself and her children. She became the town’s postmistress, setting up the post office in her parlor. She and her children sold vegetables and herbs from their garden, eggs from their hens and milk from their cows. Emma also took in boarders to supplement the family income. Emma died in 1936 and the house has now been restored to the 1910 period.

The Green Family Forge operates as a living history blacksmith museum. The Green family worked as blacksmiths in Trinity since approximately 1750. Several generations carried on the family legacy until the business closed in 1955.

We were lucky enough to get to take a tour of a mussel farm on the M.V. Mussel Bound catamaran. We had noticed a large group of blue and white barrels floating in the bay when we pulled into the town and were wondering what they were. On the tour, we learned the history of the cove and the surrounding areas, the story of the ship which sank in the harbor, carrying a shipment of wine, how mussels grow in the water and we got to see them clinging on to the ropes which are attached to the barrels. Rick, the owner, can tell when the mussels are ready to be harvested by how deep the barrel is sunk in the water. The larger the mussels grow, the more they weigh down the barrels. It takes approximately three years to grow a mussel that can be harvested.Each year new rope ladders are built and set out for the mussels to attach to so they can begin to grow. They have a natural predator in the starfish which loves to eat them before they develop. Of course, a mussel tour wouldn’t be complete unless we got to sample some, and Rick and Jocelyn cooked up a pot for us. They were delicious. On the way back to the harbor, we had entertainment aboard the ship.

By the time we got back to the dock, it was late, so we decided to spend one more night in the parking lot as we had beautiful scenery, just waiting for us to enjoy.

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