Recollections
T . H . E . . E . A . R . L . Y . . Y . E . A . R . S
Personal memories
recall landscapes and lifestyles
of a bygone era
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Cadboro Bay Road
"Wonderful memories" from the early 1930s |
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by Phil Ballam
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Ernie L Plant photo courtesy John Bromley
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Gary Wilcox Collection
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Streetcar on Cadboro Bay Road
(1946)
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Click on image to view enlargement
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We lived on Fort Street — now known as Cadboro Bay Road — where the Casanave building is located, presently the office of Pacific Coast Credit Union. The building we lived in was a combination storefront and dwelling. It had a large garden area with fruit trees, and sheds for chickens and a cow. It backed onto "the Creek" that still runs there.
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| THE STREETCARS |
| There were two sets of streetcar tracks in front of our place. For the first few weeks we lived there I thought the streetcars were coming right into my bedroom! |
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For the first few weeks we lived there
I thought the streetcars were coming right into my bedroom! |
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| One set of tracks went to the Uplands turnaround, and the other went along Fair Street to the fairgrounds. I recall the wonderful fairground buildings, the race track, and covered grandstand. From the racetrack up to Lansdowne Road was a field of wheat, a lovely sight in Autumn — shimmering gold in colour! |
| CASANAVE FARM |
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From where we lived to the Casanave main house was a field where Mr. Victor Casanave grew mangels (a large turnip) for food for his cows. They were pastured in the field behind his home. There was a barn there, and a milk shed where Vic separated the cream from the milk.
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| PATRICK ARENA |
| As one of the kids of the neighbourhood, you might get lucky and receive a hockey stick from Mr. Casanave! It seems he had been the skate sharpener at the Patrick Ice Arena, recently burned down [1929], and had salvaged some used sticks. The Arena was right across from his property. Apartments are now located there. |
| ST MARY'S CHURCH |
| I attended St. Mary's Church Sunday school by walking through the fields, over the creek, and up through a field to Elgin Street. The minister was a Canon A.E. Nunns, I recall. He had a pretty daughter, which I observed from a distance when, some time later as a young Boy Scout, we were doing our "good turn" by putting his load of firewood from the driveway into his basement! |
| MUNICIPAL HALL |
| The Municipal Hall was on the corner of Hampshire and Oak Bay Ave, with the police station at the back. The police chief — a Mr John Syme — and family lived there. |
| VICTORIA LAWN TENNIS CLUB |
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The Victoria Lawn Tennis club, with lovely grass courts, once stood where the Safeway complex is now located.
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 Victoria Lawn Tennis Club Where the Safeway complex is now Duncan MacPhail photo courtesy Royal BC Museum and Archives | I-01441 |
| We swam at Willows Beach in the summmer and enjoyed the waves when the CPR steamers went by, which they did several times a day! |
| WILLOWS SCHOOL |
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I went to Willows School for Grades 6, 7, and 8. I recall our principal, Mr. F.G. Dexter, a Miss Alexis M. Brown, a Tommy Horne, and a special teacher in grade 8, Walter Brynjolfson — a great rugby hero. He played here against the New Zealand All Blacks and scored a try, or so the story went. I played Rugby and loved it. We played against St. Michael's and University School and won our games as, of course, I would report!
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| ORIGINAL OAK BAY HIGH SCHOOL |
| The old Oak Bay High was located where the present Municipal Hall is located. We went to that building for our Manual Training classes — wood working — under our teacher, Mr. Maddock. |
 Orginal High School Where the municipal hall is now Photo courtesy Royal BC Museum and Archives | F-00118 |
| If you went out to Cadboro Bay on the streetcar it was almost open fields with bullrushes after you left the Willows School area. I recall seeing and hearing the red-wing blackbirds. |
| Wonderful memories! |
The History of Oak Bay Website
A CENTENNIAL LEGACY PROJECT