It Continues: Elk River Inn Hosmer British Columbia. Here we’re paying a visit to a small town hotel for the Beer Parlour Project series with vintage film camera photographer Rob Pohl. Maybe you’ve seen him before on this website and while our techniques and equipment are worlds apart, we share a common passion for documenting the world around us. As such we often hang out.
What’s this project? Well, we’re on a mission to document old hotel pubs (or beer parlours as they were called in the old days) before they disappear. These throw backs to another era are an endangered species and we’re going with our cameras (digital too) and documenting the the goings on. We chat with owners and patrons, have a couple cold ones, shoot a few frames and capture the vibe. It’s totally unpredictable and done free style.
When we’re done, and it’ll be a multi year project, we’re going to compile into a big post to share it on this website. And we suspect elsewhere. We have grand plans but won’t go into too much detail right now. It just seemed like a project tailor made for us and we all jumped in with no hesitation.
The Elk River Inn (don’t mistakenly call it the Elk Valley Inn or you’ll get an earful from Len) sits right there beside the highway and you can’t miss it. The traffic zips by, but not many folks stop in and you know, they’re missing out on a unique experience. Stay tuned.
Short Subjects: Reports that are short and sweet in nature. Think silly little snippets, vignettes and things of that sort. You’ll be in and out in no time.
It’s very similar in character on the inside. We’ve driven by a countless times too and often wondered what it was like, and now we’ve done it. And survived! Haha! Len the owner/barkeep is a hoot.
We used to do something called the "pointless challenge" 🤪 and miss those days. It was so much silly fun and often frustrating as heck. In these we'd invite people to send in random photos of obscure locations, but not give any information, and then we'd track where it was and shoot something similar.
Most of these came from old family collections, as was the case here. Anyone up to resurrecting the series?
In hindsight, why didn't we pose someone in our shot?
Pointless: “Devoid of meaning (or) senseless” Merriam-Webster.
If you like what we do and want to support this ongoing project (12 years now), go here: https://www.BIGDoer.com/help-the-society/ Thanks to Connie for making this post possible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: ca1970 and 2014. Posted by Connie.
Captured on a cold, cold day many years ago. We've been passing this old house for decades and it's little changed in that time. At some point we expect to drive by and it'll be gone.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
When retired old railway cars usually get cut up for scrap. Sometimes, however, they find their way into the hands of the general public or whomever. Flat cars make good bridges, and boxcars can be transformed into storage buildings and the like. Case in point here. We see them used like this often enough and in this case, it's part of a corral.
Incidentally, this boxcar dates from 1950 and this was found by tracing the old road number, which is still visible.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
This central Alberta racetrack was never a commercial operation but instead just a fun place for car enthusiasts in the area to get together. Early '70s or thereabouts and it only lasted a few years. Even thought it's been abandoned for that long, there is no doubt what was here.
You know we like the the obscure stuff and this one fits the bill perfectly. Found by accident while backroad cruising and the history comes thanks to local car guy Mike.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
On top of little Myrtle Mountain in the Kimberley (BC) Nature Park.
There's some good wilderness fun to be had here and nice views as you can see, but the real reason we came is mining history. The whole area near the ski hill was extensively worked over a century ago and we were looking for evidence of this. We didn't find much in the area searched, but it's a big chunk of property and we hope to return to cover more ground again soon. Of all the subjects we cover, mining related is a favourite.
Still, it was a good hike and that can't be bad. Look to the comments for more info 👇.
Exploring nature and history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Connie.
It's a strange curiosity in south Kananaskis, there on a hillside and we have no idea who created it. We asked around and no one's completely sure about its history. In the past it showed the Canada 100 logo from 1967 but in 2017 someone changed it to reflect the country's 150th.
That's our friend Emily from DanOCan.com having a look.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2017. Posted by Connie.
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I have driven by this place countless times but never once stopped in to look inside. I guess I felt nervous a bit lol.
Interesting! Have driven by it multiple times, but have always been apprehensive to stop and go inside.
It’s very similar in character on the inside. We’ve driven by a countless times too and often wondered what it was like, and now we’ve done it. And survived! Haha! Len the owner/barkeep is a hoot.