Starting Karl’s journey in my home Province of Nova Scotia made things easy. Although I must admit, it wasn’t the most exciting element to me. I was already thinking ahead to the eventual travels in Australia and India. I believed that Karl’s route through Nova Scotia to New Brunswick would be scenic, yet perhaps a bit dull. But, no sooner did I set out on the first leg of the journey from his hometown of Truro to Londonderry (formerly Acadia Mines) did my preconceived notions get challenged.
The towns visited by Karl had significance, and in the process of researching the background of these places, I was exposed to unfamiliar facets of Nova Scotia’s history. I felt like Alice in the rabbit hole: seemingly straightforward facts led to all sorts of other fascinating paths and tunnels. I may have underestimated the scope of this project and the total consumption and fulfilment it was bringing.
The first stop on Karl’s journey was met with a report to the Truro Daily News of “bad roads,” requiring him to walk five miles over sandy roads to reach Acadia Mines. Finally, he arrived in town and was purported to look: “happy and contented.”
At the time, Acadia Mines had been operating three local mines for about 50 years producing over 2 million tons of iron ore and would have been quite a bustling mining town. The 1880s was the beginning of a great bridge building period in Nova Scotia and many of our iron bridges date from this time.
Unfortunately, a mere 20 years after Karl’s visit, this bustling town changed dramatically. The amount of iron ore available from these mines was not as significant as initially expected and proved difficult to extract. Then, by 1924 the mine operations were closed, a culmination of a global drop in the price of steel, mismanagement, and a fire in 1920 that destroyed a large portion of the town.
Renamed as Londonderry, there is little left of that mining town, albeit some remnants of coke ovens, a small interpretive centre with mining artifacts on the former Londonderry Iron Works and some of those original Truss Bridges scattered through the Province.
One such bridge is the always picturesque Tatamagouche Truss Bridge. Built in the early 1900’s it is now part of the TransCanada multi-use trail system, which ironically connects Canada Coast to Coast. I’d like to think that if Karl had waited a few more years to start his journey, he would have had the chance to ride his bike across the bridge forged from the iron of Acadia mine.
The Londonderry interpretation centre
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