Tod Inlet gets its due
May 22nd, 2015
Every inlet in B.C. deserves a book.
Helen Piddington’s The Inlet: Memoir of a Modern Pioneer (Harbour 2001) recalls life in 35-kilometre-long Loughborough Inlet.
Ray Phillips recalls the varied history of Jervis Inlet, where he grew up, in The Royal Fjord: Memories of Jervis Inlet (Harbour, 2015).
Fisherman, trapper, logger and all-round West Coast guru Bill Proctor has given the world the lowdown on the Broughton Archipelago in Full Moon, Flood Tide (Harbour 2004).
Now Gwen Curry of Brentwood Bay has recorded the history and beauty of her nearest waterway in Tod Inlet: A Healing Place (Rocky Mountain $25). Even though it’s located only about half an hour from downtown Victoria, this tiny fjord known as a “hidden gem” has had a low provincial profile. It was long home to the WSÁNE? (Saanich) people; then it became the twentieth century home to the Vancouver Portland Cement Company. A marine dock, railway access and employee housing were constructed to serve the factory, and the nearby limestone quarries (which later became the Butchart Gardens) offered the necessary base material. Long after the limestone quarries were depleted, development plans for this quiet inlet included hotels, golf courses and a marina. First Nations, local citizens, scientists and environmentalists fought against the development, and it was preserved as part of Gowlland Tod Provincial Park. Through her prose and photographs, Curry pays tribute to its vibrancy and wildlife. Gwen Curry earned a Master of Fine Arts at Arizona State University and has taught Fine Arts at the University of Victoria.
BOOKS:
Tod Inlet: A Healing Place (Rocky Mountain Press, 2015) $25 9781771600767
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