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History on tour
Monday, May 11th, 2009 by GetawayBC.com
Gazing up at the worn white walls of the Bastion on Front Street, its hard to believe that this 156-year-old building was once home to prisoners, coal miners and now serves as a museum to history lovers everywhere.
My journey on the Nanaimo Historical Walking tour began and ended underneath this iconic symbol of Nanaimo’s past – each step in between on the concrete pavement bringing me a little bit closer to discovering the secrets and stories of the Harbour City.
The Nanaimo Historical Walking Tour is provided by Tracks Outdoor Adventures. Owner Paula Sandland is a second generation Nanaimoite and has given tours in the Harbour City for the past nine years.
“Some people just love history, and I’m one of them,” she said. “I love history and I love Nanaimo.”
She studies up on her Nanaimo history a number of ways.
“I read a lot of books, and the museum is excellent,” she said.
Sandland most enjoys talking about Nanaimo’s rich mining history, which spanned over the course of an entire century.
“There were coal mines on Protection Island, Newcastle Island, all in the inner harbour, and those were just the starting mines,” Sandland said.
Perhaps the most scandalous story on the tour is that of architect Francis Rattenbury, designer of the Nanaimo Courthouse. At 56, Rattenbury, famous for designing the Victoria Legislature and Empress Hotel, left his wife Florence and their two children for 27-year-old Alma Pakenham.
The couple fled to England, where Rattenbury would meet his demise years later at the hands of Pakenham’s 18-year-old lover.
Sandland says there is also a legend around Snake Island, just off the Nanaimo harbour. The story goes that a woman had eaten a posionous plant and it filled her body with snakes, so she was taken to Snake Island to die in isolation.
“They say, till this day, that the fish are filled with snakes who reside around Snake Island!” Sandland said.
The tour also touches briefly on the history of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, from whom Nanaimo got its name.
“They would move around different areas, from False Narrows to Mount Benson, and they would move with the seasons,” Sandland said.
Tour-goers often want to know what makes Nanaimo thrive, and ask about the city’s population, industries and pastimes, Sandland said.
“I think the knowledge of Nanaimo has never been quite well known,” she said. “Even to this day, a lot of people think we’re a small little fishing port. They don’t realize that we have over 80,000 people living here.”
The two-hour tour ends near the Bastion, usually just in time for the canon firing at noon. The tour also ends with a complimentary Nanaimo bar – a perfect chocolatey way to wrap up a truly Nanaimo experience.
For more information on the Nanaimo Historical Walking tour, please visit www.tracksoutdooradventures.com/
Participants should be sure to bring a camera, hat, and wear weather-appropriate clothing and comfortable walking shoes with good tread.