Winter morning

Tags

fog, morning, PEI, Sea, sun, vista

This photo was taken this morning, mix of Sun and clouds with some fog over water opening unto the sea. Dramatic no? We get this sort of vista in Winter in PEI.

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The year 2018

Tags

Charlottetown, Halifax, memories, municipal, New Year, Nova Scotia, PEI, volunteerism, Wolfville

I was reminded this morning that on 28 December 2012, some 6 years ago I retired from the Foreign Service, time flies when you are having fun as they say. In that time I started to work as a volunteer at the National Gallery in Ottawa, then some 3 years ago we moved to Charlottetown, PEI. We had been looking for some time for a place to retire and the condo we were renting was up for sale, we had to move. Only on the day the new owners took possession which was also the day we moved out,  they told us why don’t you stay,  the new owners had no plan to move in, in the foreseeable future.

We moved with the old puppies and 4 tons of furniture to PEI some 1100 Km away and one time zone Eastward. We have made a new life for ourselves here, involved in a myriad of volunteer activities.

In November 2017 I floated the idea that I might want to run for Office at City Hall. This is a considerable challenge, first I was unknown here in town. I was also warned that not being born in PEI was also a handicap. This is a small Island Province with a total population no bigger than a neighbourhood in a large metropolitan area. It is an Island and though the mainland of Canada is only 12 Km away and visible, it often feels like we are in another country. The Islanders are a friendly bunch but being a small community they are weary of foreigners even if they are fellow Canadians. The Island still operates on the idea that they are a Summer resort which is a shame since there is so much to do year round.

I started my campaign in February 2018 for the seat of City Councillor in Ward 1 in Charlottetown, I met tons of people, made 7 YouTube videos on issues, attended all manner of events around our Ward, knocked on doors, talked with people, participated in a candidates debate, gave interviews to the press etc. It was a huge learning experience, my neighbours are chatty and will give you their opinion on any topic. Many have lived here all their lives, some were even born on the very street the now live on in old age. Some rarely leave the City, let alone cross the river to visit Stratford which is 2 minutes away.  I really enjoyed the inter-action and talking to people, I met and had coffee with other politicians, got advice from other city mayors, councillors in other Wards, Provincial politicians, everyone seemed interested in my campaign, many told me I was a brave soul to throw my name into the hat.

During the Summer, in August I took a small vacation and we visited with our friends MCR & DAW from Phoenix the Province of Nova Scotia which is about 90 minutes away from our home. We met in Halifax, a great city with wonderful attractions and restaurants. Designer Cocktails are all the rage and quite fun. We then drove leisurely towards Annapolis Royal which at one point was a bouncing ball between the French and British Empire with a hostage population of Acadians. This small town is an object lesson in how Empires can mismanage their colonies when distracted by other events in Europe. We then proceeded to Wolfville a college town on the Bay of Fundy and Grand Pré the celebrated Acadian settlement with its museum. The area is dotted with vineyards and good restaurants not to forget the beautiful scenery.

I never realized how much work campaigning was all about. In the end I did not win but did get more than 10% of the vote, which for an unknown like me was an accomplishment. Many people have since asked me to stay involved in City politics and I remain involved and have met with our new Councillor several times since election night. But I was exhausted and quite happy to take a Holiday to Portugal which I really enjoyed. It was a celebration, since Will and I were celebrating our 40 years together.

Finally in the week of 17 December Parliament in Ottawa ended its Fall Session and this will be the last in the Old Central Block of Parliament. The House of Commons is moving to the West Block next door for the next 15 years and the Senate will move across the street to the old Train Station. The Central block built between 1917-21 is undergoing the first renovation ever of all its mechanical system and the entire building will undergo a great renovation to bring it up to the modern age. This means when it re-opens again all the Members sitting in the House will be retired and the same applies to the Senators. The cost of renovating the buildings of Parliament is estimated at $3.1 billion dollars. Already the West Block alone cost $250 million in renovations and the old Train Station was another $210 million.

What will 2019 bring, well I do not know. I will continue with my volunteer activities and will follow developments at City Hall. Our New Mayor is a progressive guy with good ideas and vision for the City, which is a relief and an improvement on the past.

Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor of PEI, the Honorable Antoinette Perry and I at Government House. Every year the public comes to pay their respect on January 1 at the Annual Levée on January 1. I will be on site volunteering on that day and greeting people.

 

Wishing all a very Happy New Year with all manner of good things. 

Bonne et Joyeuse Année 2019.

Canadian Coast Guard wharf, Port of Charlottetown, December 2018 the number 9 has been put in place. 

Events

Tags

Charlottetown, elections, municipal, PEI, synagogue, Vote, Ward 1, XMAS

So today 5 November is Municipal election day in PEI in the 4 big towns, Charlottetown, Stratford, Cornwall and Summerside. The other places are more resort or settlements with less than 600 people living in any one spot so they simply have assembly meetings and people discuss issues and vote on them.

Charlottetown the Capital has 36,000 people, Summerside 15,000, Stratford 10,000 and Cornwall 6000. In the last 7 days we have had lots of torrential rains and during the past weekend 18 hours of 95 to 130km winds which I am told is hurricane grade, this is what happens here in the Fall and Winter Season, high winds. So canvassing was not possible and many of my electoral campaign signs just vanished or were badly damaged by the wind. What I have learned though is that you only put up your signs in the last 6 days of the campaign, no need for signs prior to that since the most important element is to meet people on their door step and chat. I did that a lot and visited them again reminding them of what we had talked about.

Today I walked around the neighbourhood and met at random people, all told me they had voted for me and why they did. I found that very encouraging, I am hoping for the best. However if I do not win it will not be the end of the world and life goes on, I do have lots of projects and volunteer work and will still keep in touch with what is going on at City Hall, which is not difficult to do in a small town.

Of course now that we are about 7 weeks from XMAS!!!! a lot of fairs and charity events are in full swing. For the Holiday Season there is a lot of food and clothing drives and gift donations for poor children.  There is a lot of poverty in PEI but it is often well hidden until like me you start walking the neighbourhood or go out in the small settlements and see how people live. Makes one wonder how they survive in Winter, when the choices between food or heat becomes stark.

One Charity we like to support is called

Christmas Tree Dress Fashion Show Fundraiser

this is part of the Santa’s Angels Charity drive, the idea is to arrange for a $50 Xmas gift for a child who has never had any gifts on Christmas Morning, it also includes food and clothing for a family who are in need.

There are many other such charity events around the Province, Farmers give out 10 pound bags of potatoes, the CBC our National Broadcaster does a turkey drive and each year will collect over 1000 turkeys for families who cannot afford to buy one. There is also a warm clothing drive for adults and for children. Visits to Seniors home and to Hospitals. The idea being not to leave anyone behind or alone.

All of it done by volunteers, hundreds of them, it is quite the operation.

This is the WESTJET Airline entry into the Xmas Tree Fashion Show.

A group photo of the Fashion show, the idea being that each dress would be appropriate for a Xmas Party event.

 

Yesterday the 4 November around 3pm the small Jewish population of Charlottetown and other residents gathered in front of Founder’s Hall, which is the old Canadian National Railway repair shops now transformed into a market place to commemorate the memory of the 11 victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg last week.  A nice quiet service attended by about 100 persons.

 

 

None but the Brave

Tags

Charlottetown, municipal, PEI, Politics, Ward 1

Today is Friday 26 October and advance voting has started in PEI on the municipal elections. By having a lot of days of advance voting PEI Elections hopes that more people will participate and vote. I have encouraged people in my speeches to vote, young or old, you must vote it is your Civic duty as a Citizen. I did so this week to a class of 16 year old at a school near us. They can vote in 2 years and luckily their teacher had prepared them well.

I voted today for a new Mayor and for myself as Councillor in Ward 1. It took all of on minute to do. I also finished thanking the people of the Ward for receiving me and listening to me and giving me their views.

All along I ran a dignified campaign according to several people who took an interest in what I was doing. I continually emphasized that it was about the people and not me the candidate, my wish is public service and what I can do for you.

I was the first to use YouTube to produce videos on issues, I ran an 8 month long campaign, most probably the longest in the history of this Island Province, however I wanted to attract the attention of the public who often was not interested. Would I do it again, yes but differently. I learned a lot about society in PEI and complex alliances amongst individuals. I also learned about the economics of the province and its social problems. I have now a far better understanding of the Capital and the Province. My past government work experience helped a lot.

In the oratorio Alexander’s Feast by Haendel, the aria None but the brave deserves the Fair = Success comes to those who dare and act.  The proverbs which illustrate that success comes only to the people who are ready to work hard. This proverb means that one can attain success only when a person is bold enough to act and ready to give up every other enjoyment in life and sweat for his success. The goddess of success visits only those who dare to act and lay everything at her Altar. I hope the goddess will smile on me and Fate will reward my efforts on November 5. But who knows, I take nothing for granted and hope that it comes to pass. If not well life goes on and I have other plans. One being travel, we will certainly travel in late November somewhere and again this Winter. I also have my volunteer job at the Art Gallery and at Government House plus other volunteer work at the Fédération Culturelle as Secretary where I have been reconfirmed for another 2 year mandate.

 

 

End of the trail

Tags

Charlottetown, Election, municipal, PEI, Ward 1

Well I have been at this campaign since 15 February 2018 and it is coming to an end.

Saturday 27 October will be the first advance poll and then 29 Oct and then 2 Nov. Most people vote on Advance Poll days and once this starts canvassing is over.  The Official day is Nov. 5.

As I said before despite strong support I do not take for granted that I will win, anything can happen. I got my Thank you Ward 1 video up on my FB page Larry for councillor.

I chose this Old Lutheran Hymn composed in 1529 by Martin Luther, based on Psalm 46 for today to mark the end of this long trail.

16 October Poll

Tags

#PEIPOLI, Charlottetown, elections, municipal, PEI, Politics, urban

Here is a Poll from The Guardian in PEI on the possible results of the Municipal Election in Ward 1 Charlottetown. Voting Day is November 5.

 

Have your say in our online poll

Today’s question: Who will win in Ward 1

Laurent Beaulieu  46.15%  

 

Paul Haddad  25%  

 

Alanna Jankov  15.38%  

 

Leo Killorn  9.62%  

 

Ron Dowling  3.85%  

 

Thanksgiving Sunday

Tags

Charlottetown, Food, Harness races, Holidays, PEI, Turkey

Well yesterday we went to the races at the Charlottetown Drive Park where since 1888 you can see daily harness racing. The race track is only about 5 minutes from our house and PEI is known for its horses and racing. The CDP claims to be the Kentucky of Canada, I suppose that makes us all Colonel’s of the Island Regiment. The food is quite good and so are the desserts. The dining room faces the track so you can have your lunch and a drink and place your bets all at the same time. Each table has a small flat screen TV so you can watch the finish line replay if there is a dispute. It was great fun.

So today is Thanksgiving and we had a very nice turkey lunch with appropriate vegetables of mash potatoes, steamed carrots in dressing, broiled Brussels Sprouts, no dressing. Will made his famous pumpkin soup to start and a beautiful apple pie for dessert. We had nice wines and champagne to top it all off. He also made corn bread perfectly shaped like a corn on the cob.

Will and I have had these dinners and luncheons with our friends at our home for 40 years. You have to give it to Will he always comes up with new recipes and new ways of presenting things. There was a time he would go into very elaborate dishes and it took days to prepare one meal. Gourmet Magazine was then the guide he followed, then he switched to Cook’s Illustrated. Helen Corbitt the Chef at Nieman Marcus Zodiac room was also a favourite. Now he finds recipes on the Internet and tries them. My job has always been setting the table, polishing the silverware and ironing the table cloth, getting flowers and doing all the food shopping. I use to dread doing food shopping because some recipes called for ingredients found only in great metropolitan centres and not in the town where we lived, in some foreign Capitals we often had to invent on the spur of the moment. Will has cooked for Birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas day, New Year’s Eve, Easter Sunday Lunch and all manner of other occasions like afternoon teas when he would prepare the perfect finger sandwiches in a wide variety that would make your Aunt Hecuba jealous.

We do have our favourite dishes, broiled Brussels Sprouts, Caramelized carrots, Roast Goose. Then the standards like Pumpkin soup or some kind of Summer soups for warm weather. We always invite friends who are alone for any Holiday. Now Will says he would like to try his hand at making Moonshine, which is a great favourite here in the Maritime Provinces. Will asked our guests today if they knew the difference between Whiskey and Moonshine. Whiskey is aged and Moonshine is not.

We are now turning our attention to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day lunch menu.

Here is Will putting the finishing touch to the mash potatoes which he did in the slow cooker over 4 hours, they were very good and creamy. Our friend and expert turkey carver M.G. helped.

Thanksgiving Sun Flowers in our Breakfast room.

The Crows at the Art Gallery by Gerald Beaulieu (no relations) entirely made of tires. They are quite big about 10 feet long by 4 feet wide

Of course Crows are ubiquitous with Charlottetown, they are everywhere and quite aggressive and territorial.

This is the view from our friends home in Lower Montague on Cardigan Bay, PEI. In the far distance is the deserted Boughton Island and Nova Scotia.

 

 

 

 

Gâteau Suèdois

Tags

cake, PEI, Recipe

This recipe comes from the Culinary Institute in Charlottetown and is provided by Chef Ilona Daniels. I was thinking of a certain blogger Roijoyeux who prepares cakes every Sunday for his friend Tauche and spouse.

Swedish Princess Cake

Recipe Adapted by Chelsea Willis

Vanilla custard

2 cups whole milk

2 Tbsp vanilla

6 egg yolks

½ cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

In a pot over medium heat, heat the milk with the vanilla until it simmers. Turn off heat and let it sit. Mix egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Slowly pour milk into the bowl, stirring constantly. Return to the pot and whisk 4 to 5 minutes over medium heat, until very thick. Add butter and stir until melted. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Sponge Cake

4 eggs

¾ cup cornstarch

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract (optional)

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 350 F and prepare a greased 9-inch springform pan. In a bowl, beat eggs and ¾ cup sugar until very thick and pale, about 5-7 minutes. Add almond extract. Add flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder to egg and sugar mixture then fold to combine. Stir in melted butter just to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden. Let cool completely and turn onto rack.

Chelsea Willis creates some layers with sponge cake, pastry cream and jam. Time and focus are key in making a Swedish Princess Cake.

TO ASSEMBLE YOU’LL NEED:

1 batch of vanilla custard

1 batch of sponge cake

4 Tbsp of your preferred jam

1 pound of fondant

2 ½ cups of heavy cream

2 Tbsp sugar

Green gel food coloring

When the cake is completely cooled, use a serrated knife to carefully slice it into 3 even layers. Divide the jam evenly between the first two layers, spreading a thin layer over the top. Next, add the sugar to the heavy cream and whip until it holds stiff peaks. Fold half of the whipped cream into the pastry cream, reserving the other half. Evenly divide the pastry-whipped cream mixture between the first two layers, spreading it carefully over the jam layer.

Stack the first two layers and then top with remaining cake slice. Use a spatula to shape the remaining whipped cream into a dome shape on top of the cake, then set the whole thing in the fridge for an hour to set. While the cake is chilling, knead your fondant until pliable. Add a small amount of green gel food coloring and knead until it reaches a light lime colour. Place it between two sheets of waxed paper and roll into a 16-inch diameter circle, large enough to cover the cake.

Take the cake out of the fridge and gently drape the fondant over the cake. Shape and smooth the fondant around the cake to get a clean appearance, then trim the edges and tuck them neatly under the cake. Decorate with a pink fondant rose on top or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Nova Scotia

Tags

Acadians, Annapolis Royal, Blomidon, Caribou, ferry, Grand Pré, Halifax, Kismet Bar, Nova Scotia, PEI, Port-Royal, Seafood, wines, Wolfville

We went on a short trip, 4 days, to the province next door to PEI, Nova Scotia. A long time ago prior to 1740 it was known as Acadie and populated by French settlers who developed a dyke system for farming on the Bay of Fundy.

We first travelled from our home going East towards Wood Island to catch the ferry which crosses over to Caribou in Nova Scotia a 90 minute trip. The ferry service accommodates both big trucks, buses and cars. Once in Caribou we drove towards Halifax, the capital of the province which is about 90 minutes away. We rented an Air B&B by the Citadel and the architectural wonder new Library on Morris street. A very nice apartment with a nautical theme in the original design, this being an older well preserved building. By walking down hill you arrive in the Port of Halifax where Pier 21, the Canadian Museum dedicated to immigration and many other attractions are located including a larger than life statue to Sir Samuel Cunard, a native son and founder of the famous Cunard Shipping Line.

Halifax has many beautiful colonial stone buildings, old churches and museums. Founded in 1749 and replacing the original capital of Port Royal on the Bay of Fundy. It has a population of half a million people, lots of very good restaurants and bars where drinks mixology is the craze with very good barmen competing on who is the best. I often wonder how they remember all the complex drink recipes and it is great to watch them in action.

We had great weather and being in September the tourists crowds were less numerous despite the fact that 3 cruise ships were in town, it is a big enough city you can find oasis of calm. Halifax has always been an important sea port and a busy one.

     

The 78th Highland Regiment of the Halifax Citadel. Their bonnets are made of bird feathers unlike the Grenadier guards whose Busby were made of black bear skins.

The famous Bluenose II featured on our 10 cent coin in Halifax harbour.

We saw the Bluenose II in port, a beautiful sight and you can sail on her with her crew twice a day. I don’t know if there is something more Canadian than this ship.

We also in Halifax had some great meals and cocktails, mixology is all the rage now. We went to a new bar called Kismet on Agricola street. The four of us ordered from their cocktails menus drinks and then watch the barman create them, it was fascinating. Kismet Bar also has a wonderful kitchen and the food was excellent.

Then we travelled by car to Annapolis Royal formerly Port-Royal under the French Regime and the original Capital of Acadie today Nova Scotia. The drive through the countryside is very nice, green and full of beautiful sights.

Port-Royal was founded by the French envoy and explorer Pierre Dugua, Sieur des Mons and Samuel de Champlain in 1604.

Champlain declared that the site was “the most suitable and pleasant for a settlement that we had seen.” They called the spot Port-Royal, in recognition of the French king Henri IV who had granted de Mons a monopoly on the area’s fur trade, and it became the first European settlement north of Florida.

Under the direction of Jean de Biencourt, who led the expedition after de Mons returned to France,  Port-Royal was built in the summer of 1605, resembling the fortified farm hamlets that could be seen in 1600s France.

We visited Fort Anne in Annapolis Royal first established in 1629 by the British and Scots colonists. The region reverted to French control in the 1630s and Charles de Menou d’Aulnay began work on the first of four forts on the same site, then known as Port Royal. In 1702, the French began construction of the current Vauban fortifications that we see today. During Queen Anne’s War, the fort fell to British and New England troops after a week-long in 1710 which marked the British conquest of Acadia. A British governor and garrison replaced the French at the fort renaming the Port Royal settlement Annapolis Royal in honour of Queen Anne. With the Treaty of Utrecht three years later, the British gained full control of mainland Nova Scotia and kept Annapolis Royal as the capital until the founding of Halifax in 1749. We had a nice time visiting the area though the sky was cloudy and rainy. Upon leaving we stopped at a distillery named STILL FIRED on Highway 8, sampled some of the goods and it was delightful. The owners suggested we stop at Blomidon Wineries in Canning near Wolfville and so we did.

The weather was stormy but the clouds were moving fast and it rained intermittently, when we arrived at Blomidon   https://blomidonwine.ca we visited the shop and had a great lunch of Charcuterie and cheeses with the wines on offer. It was great fun and we bought a few bottles.

The wines were very pleasing, a red, a rosé and a white.

We arrived in Wolfville on the Bay of Fundy and stayed at a wonderful Bed & Breakfast, the former home of a high society family of the area. Wolfville is a University town, Acadia University established in 1838 has about 4000 students, the town is quite pleasant surrounded by wineries and historical sites including Grand Pré, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Wolfville is on the shores of the Bay of Fundy and you can see the dramatic tides coming and going, impressive. Grand Pré is the site of an Acadian (French) settlement and where a peaceful people were violently and forcibly removed by British troops in an act of ethnic cleansing in July 1755 ordered by British Governor Charles Lawrence. Some 10,000 people were deported and lost all their private property and belongings. Grand Pré is also the site of the romantic novel Evangeline by Longfellow, a beautiful park, a memorial church and a museum helps visitors relive the life of the area. A cross marks the site where families were separated before being forced on board leaky boats, some 3000 died at sea.

Grand Pré is also an area where you can see the agricultural efforts of the Acadians to reclaim salty marshland from the sea for cultivation. A very ingenious system requiring a lot of work over a large area. It is well worth the visit.

Grand Pré, the park which was formerly the cemetery of the French settlement

High tide on the Bay of Fundy, at low tide the water disappears and a depression of 40 feet red mud is created.

Here is a map of the area where the Mi’ kmaq have lived for the last 15,000 years. Today the Maritime provinces, part of the Gaspé péninsula in Quebec and Newfoundland.

On the last day we made our way back to Caribou to catch the ferry back to PEI and we arrived back on the Island around 6pm and made our way to Point Prim to have dinner at the Chowder House which closes for the Season on 30 September. It is one of our favourite spot to have dinner facing the Strait of Northumberland, great food.

The view from the Chowder House at Point Prim with the setting sun.

Here is a cruise ship exiting the Harbour of Charlottetown and making its way into the Strait going to Cape Breton. Such a dramatic view.

Orwell Corner Village

Tags

heritage, Lindsay-Stewart house, McGill University, Medicine, Orwell, PEI, Sir Andrew MacPhail

A few weeks ago we went to a Strawberry social which is the most popular event in the Summer on PEI. Orwell Corner Village is or was a real village until 1963. When I first moved to PEI, I thought that it was named after the author George Orwell, not so. The village dates back to 1890, populated with Scottish Highlanders. It was a name place since 1766 in honour the British Minister of Plantations Sir Francis Orwell, during the reign of King George III.

Following Trans-Canada Highway 1 out of Charlottetown by crossing the Hillsborough Bridge you will arrive within 20 minutes at Old Uigg Road follow the road to Orwell Corner Village. Since the people of this village moved out in the 60’s the buildings have been perfectly preserved and the old cemetery is still in use to this day. People did not move far away some only a mile down the road.

The village boast, the old one room school, the old austere Presbyterian Church, the Clarke’sgeneral store and post office with the Clarke’s grand house attached, a blacksmith shop, a carriage house full of old carriages and a hearse, a machine shed, a shingle mill, a community hall, and several farm buildings with animals. All of it in operation during the Summer Season and lots of volunteers do a wonderful job of showing you around.

It also has the famous guest house built by Sir Andrew MacPhail for his dinner and visiting guests. The house is currently undergoing restoration and it quite beautiful and grand, hard to imagine that this house was built only to house dinner guests or day visitors who could not make it back to Charlottetown. In those days it took a day by horseback to return to the Capital on bad roads or through forests. The guest list of famous people who were friends of Sir Andrew is interesting, Rudyard Kipling, Canadian Author Stephen Leacock, Lucy Maud Montgomery amongst others, stayed at the house.

The Homestead of Sir Andrew was just a half mile away. Sir Andrew was very eccentric like all men used to the grand life, he was a famous medical professor at McGill University in Montreal, an author of many books and erudite in many topics, he only came home to PEI in the Summer. He would entertain lavishly but his guests had to stay/sleep at the guest house not in his house. So he would have a carriage and horse ready to ferry them the short distance. The guest house had servants etc. so it was quite nice.  The guest house is known as the Stewart-Lindsay house, named after his daughter Dorothy Lindsay and her own daughter Meg Stewart and was lived in until about 50 years ago. It has grand formal rooms, salon, dining room, study, a large kitchen, a grand staircase and a servants staircase in the back and bedrooms for guests and in the attic several servants rooms. It also has a large glassed in sun porch. If you visited Sir Andrew you would have your breakfast at the guest house and then be summoned to come and see him for lunch or dinner. Lots of music of course, walks around the beautiful estate and conversation on books and other topics.

Part of the restoration project is to clear the brush on the slope that goes down to the Orwell river to give the house the view it had once. This project will take years to complete it is all done on donations from the public but the volunteer association is hopeful for a government grant.

Personally I think that this is a site that is worth its weight in gold given who came to visit and the village and scenery. Orwell Corner Village also sits at the intersections of the old country roads that once took you to Charlottetown and other settlements and towns. The roads now disused are still clearly marked.

The guest house/Lindsay-Stewart House in need of restoration. It has brand new concrete foundations and new roof. The interior needs a good cleaning up otherwise all is good.

 

The Old Presbyterian Church where services were conducted in Gaelic and English.

The old one room school house

The old road intersection indicating where the nearest town was. Belfast is an anglicized name from the French, Belle Face.

The back of the Clarke’s home with the general store at the front.

The original Island Road to Charlottetown

The old original Island road to Belfast (Belle Face)

Jason who has been working with the PEI Museum for many a years and gives an excellent description of the life of the general store and its clients.

The Clarke’s general store in Orwell Corner Village.

If given a choice between visiting Cavendish and Anne of Green Gables or Orwell Corner Village, I would prefer the later simply because it is real and real people actually lived here until recently and their descendants are all around, including the Family of Sir Andrew MacPhail, many of whom are scholars.