It’s under wraps for reasons unknown, a strange Boler cocoon – will a butterfly emerge? But we can guess what’s going on here…mostly likely it’s leaking windows. It happens, a common problem in fact, old gaskets rotting out and cracking, allowing moisture in. They’re probably original, so darn old. It’s...
Stop the presses folks…we’ve reached a milestone here. This post, which you’ll soon be enjoying, is the 1000th here at BIGDoer.com. Yes, our society has produced that many pieces and in only five years to boot! Not 1000 simple photo essays, but rather painstakingly researched history write ups, in-depth articles...
These are the words oftentimes heard when describing long forgotten places…”if these walls could talk”. It’s a catch all phrase really, some might say an overused one at that, when one’s thought are overwhelmed – “this empty old farm house…if these walls could talk”. Still, more often than not, it...
This is one easy hike, really just a lazy walk through the forest with some scenic views of surrounding hills and ridges to boot. Pretty nice, but hardly worth a long drive and best done if you’re already in the area. In our case we were doing some trail scouting...
All eyes on this strange empty building found in some industrial park in small town Alberta. Cold and sterile, yet at the same time all those odd and varied angles give it a kind of weird character, with a real bunker-like quality to boot. I know, it’s right out of...
It looks like any other pasture or field, something you might expect to see cows or horses living in. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. Yet, mostly hidden from view by tall grass, there’s danger underfoot. Scattered here and there, randomly and numbering in the dozens if not more, are...
It’s that close to being a guarantee, a rock-solid one at that. That’s how confident we are. When driving down the streets of near any random town of any reasonable size out west here, there’s more than a good chance one will come across a Boler. It happens all the...
We’ve been eyeing up the Strawberry Hills for some time now. These, a series of bumps, treed on the lower slopes, but with open tops mostly of grass, can be found in South Kananaskis, one of the least visited sections of that vast recreation area. Seems we know others who...
Twilight: that most magic time of day. The sun’s last and final hurrah, that warm golden glow enveloping the world dark shadows and a deep blue in stark contrast. It’s serene, peaceful, something damn powerful and words alone don’t seem enough. Then, add a train, a tour train taking in...
In the 1970s pinball was king. You couldn’t swing a dead cat, to use that always chuckle-worthy adage, and not hit one. They were everywhere…your local arcade, back when there was arcades, the corner store, the mall, the neighbourhood watering hole, pool hall, anywhere one could be plopped down. And...
The Canadian Civil Defence Museum And Archives is once again offering tours of the RCAF/CFS Alsask Radar Dome just outside Alsask Saskatchewan. This Victoria weekend coming up and select weekends after. Contact them for info.
The dome is the last of its kind and an amazing look into the Cold War mindset of the 1960s-1980s period. The world was on edge and nuclear war one everyone's minds. It's not if the bombs would drop, but when. This radar building was one of many in a network and which scanned the skies for approaching enemy aircraft or missiles. The Soviet Bloc was the main enemy and if they came, it'd be up and over the pole. That put Canada in between two hated foes.
Thanks to Coinoath Sarsfield for helping with this shoot! If not for his lighting experience, we'd have never pulled it off.
Link to more history and photos in the comments. 👇
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2023. Posted by Johanna (Connie).
The Chinook Motel, Crowsnest Pass Alberta, about fifty years apart. It was operating back when the original was captured, but long closed on our visit (on what happened to be one of the coldest days of the year) although the main building and one little cabin remains.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 1960s and 2015. Posted by Johanna (Connie).
The old tramway tower at a Drumheller area coal mine. Rosedale Collieries was in production for just over forty years starting in 1912 and produced over three millions tonnes of material in that time. It was a large operation with a company town and little bits of it still remain. The owner let us freely explore the site but was adamant that we not venture up to the tower, which we would have done in a heartbeat if we could.
This tower helped with removal of waste material brought up from underground - coal fines and shale. This includes the red-ish material you see below the structure. There was a mountain of it here once, but most of it was shipped off in recent times to be used for ball diamonds and civic pathways. Had we stood at this point in the 1960s, we'd be buried under the material.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2022. Posted by Johanna (Connie).
One day a few years ago, on a crazy notion I guess, we decided to walk the entire length of Centre Street North Calgary in search of sidewalk stamps. From new to old, Beddington to Downtown, so about nine or ten clicks. We began in the 1990s and went all the way back to the 1920s before they petered out. No ones older were found and this is likely due to redevelopment in downtown obliterating any trace. Still, we looked.
Here's one from '62 and later that day that very same bus would later take us back to our starting point.
Back in time with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2016. Posted by Johanna (Connie).
Another Beer Parlour Project moment. Rob Pohl's view camera always draws attention and between shots he's kept busy showing it off to curious bystanders. It's easy to be confused by the image displayed on the back panel as it's both backwards and upside down. Here's a behind-the-scenes from our visit to the The Greenhill Hotel in the Crowsnest Pass and we'll be posting about this visit soon on our website.
Exploring history with Off the Beaten Path with Chris & Connie. Photo: 2023. Posted by Johanna (Connie).
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