Trinity Newfoundland

When driving up yesterday we passed the fishing village of Trinity. I noticed a sign on the side of the road advertising Historical Walking Tours daily at 10 am. Trinity had been on my radar as it is known for its historic preservation of its old buildings and churches. I checked the tour out online and learned that the tour was led by a retired St John's school teacher who was originally from Trinity and had moved back in his retirement. For 15 dollars a person it sounded great. We arrived having to drive down from Bonavista in the fog with only a few minutes to spare. There were 20 of us on the tour and we recognized some of the other baby boomers from our hike the previous day. We had hiked the loop counter clockwise while the majority of the people had hiked clockwise.

From Kevin our guide we learned that the Trinity area had been first explored in 1500 by the Portuguese but soon became a destination for English fisherman from Poole who would come for the summer with servants they had picked up in Ireland. Think slaves. Cod fish were caught dried and shipped back to England in the fall. It was a tough life for the servants. To maximize profits they would sometimes leave their servants behind in order to take more fish. The English government finally banned this practice as being left behind meant certain death. The English merchants initially discouraged residency in Newfoundland but by the 17 century this was inevitable. The merchants were then able to capitalize on trade with the resident fisherman. The merchant fisherman became very rich over the years and developed family dynasties all based on trade and bringing fish back to England.

Kevin regaled us with stories of shipwrecks and fishing accidents as we walked around town learning the history behind some of the buildings. What appeared to be special about Trinity compared to other towns in the area was that they had formed a historical preservation society in the 60s with the goals of preserving the buildings they had and had enacted building codes to ensure all new builds conformed to the style of the 19 century. Their efforts had led to the preservation of some of the older churches and buildings. Walking around town it was difficult to tell the new builds from the old. Kevin told us that there were 3 companies in Trinity busy year round in the preservation/ construction industry. The main industry in town was now tourism. After the tour, Cheryl and I walked around visiting some of the houses that had been preserved and opened as museums to the public. It was like Fort Edmonton but with some of the historical houses being occupied by their owners. By 4 pm we were growing tired of looking at historical fishing Nic Nacs so we drove back to Bona Vista.

I have finished my first book for my holiday: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. Set in Newfoundland it is about a character who moves to reinvent himself after a troubled period of his life. It gives one insight into living in a small Newfoundland town in the 90s and the characters that one will meet and the adventures that will be had. Very enjoyable.Read more