Thursday 27 June 2013

Glenelg, Nova Scotia

My first night on the road was spent at Fairwinds Motel, Sheet Harbour
... Note: You can click on Fairwinds Motel or Sheet Harbour for their individual websites



This was the view late evening from by my window of the church at the end of the bay

Saturday 22nd June 2013

Next morning there was every changing mist on the water




but by the time I came to leave the sun was out


























Around 20 years ago Rev Donald Beaton at Inverinate asked me to film a re-enactment of the Highland Clearances at Glenelg at the request of Glenelg, Nova Scotia.

This is the film made at that time:
Glenelg - Highland Clearances


I headed off on a quiet road rarely seeing any traffic for Glenelg around 65 miles away, knowing I would turn left at Sherbrooke Village about two thirds of the way there.  My satnav was showing a left turn way ahead, but when I got to it in the middle of nowhere it was a dirt road.  Whilst many roads are unpaved off the main routes, I wasn't taking this short cut, it may prove not to be so!  The satnav soon updated as I carried along the main road still showing roughly the same distance and I did eventually do a left turn at Sherbrooke.

Glenelg itself is a rural cross roads, one being an unpaved road to Waternish, there's no sign to say you are in Glenelg except that one road with a few scattered houses in signed Glenelg Church Road.




The nearest building to the junction is the small volunteer Fire Station


Glenelg Church Road is 5km long, most of it wooded to both sides, then as it joins the main road near Aspen are two churches, nearest to the junction and largest is the United Church, close by a road sign saying Glenelg 5km !  A few hundred yards away is the smaller Glenelg Presbyterian Church.  Bother churches are build of wood and painted white, which seems the norm for the area.






The Presbyterian Church






















I was to meet the minister who covers several rural parishes but he had been called away at the last moment.  He had arranged church member and local historian Olive to meet me instead.  We did an audio interview which I will put online at a later date about the history of the place, which raises doubt over whether Glenelg was named directly after its Scottish counterpart, or a British Goverment Minister Lord Glenelg.

It was surprising to see tartan banners hanging high up on the rear wall of the church along with a panel 'Hail to the Tartans', with local clan names and a square of their tartan.





Half of the tartan banners

This is the route on Google maps from the A is the Motel, B is Glenelg 'village' and C the Glenelg Churches at the other end of Glenelg Church Road.

Once I left the Glenelg Churches I headed for Sherbrooke Village, which will be the next post.

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