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As this is my last day in Kimberley I did have
a final assignment which was to meet Flo McGillivray who is 93 years young
and her daughter Myra Farquhar. Both were very kind in giving me some of
their time to talk about the old days in Kimberley.
They have broad Scottish
connections with Flo coming to Kimberley when she was just 2 years old.
Her heritage is from the Inverness area of Scotland as well as Kilsyth in
the central belt. Her folks were mostly in the mining industry.
They told me that in the
1930's they reckoned 50% of the people in Kimberley were of Scots descent
and football (the kind we play in Scotland) was the most popular game. In
fact if you arrived from Scotland and could play football it virtually
guaranteed you a job at the mine :-)
So a very pleasant meeting
to end my stay in the area. And what have I learned since I've been
here? Well certainly there are many people of Scots descent. The big mine
in the area developed the town and made it prosperous allowing it to build
a good infrastructure for the future. Since the mine closed times have
been more difficult and now the emphasis is on tourism.
Certainly the area deserves
to succeed as it is a great playground and not just for the rich. As you
will have seen prices are really low in comparison to other areas of the
world. In the winter there is fantastic skiing which runs through until
April and then a short break until the golf season opens up with a number
of championship rated courses all within a small area of the city. Add to
that great fishing, hunting, boating, and lots more you can genuinly say
that there is lots to do the whole year around.
The folk are very friendly
and helpful, there are plenty of eating places and good pubs. Various
festivals throughout the year to enjoy. And despite being the Bavarian
city of the Rockies there are plenty of folk of Scots descent to ensure a
great welcome :-)
My hearty thanks to Billy,
Debbie and Donald Robb for putting up with me for these many weeks and
looking after me so well. It's great to have discovered this part of
British Columbia as if it wasn't for the Robb family I'd never have known
of its existance.
And so tomorrow I head for
Ontario and Toronto and Guelph where I'll get to see a more settled part
of the country and who knows what I'll find out when I arrive.
And we had a final night
out at the Ozone and varous folk got hold of the camera... so here's a
mixture of shots :-)
And there endeth the farewell celebrations and
we weaved our way home :-) |
