16 August 2013 Green Gables and west

Our main objective today was the Cavendish home of the fictional character of Anne of Green Gables near Cavendish. Lucy Maud Montgomery published "Anne of Green Gables" in 1908, the first of 28 novels she wrote. It was an instant success. The setting of the book is based on Montgomery's memories of her life growing up her grandparent's farm nearby. She spent a lot of time roaming the woods and paths of the farm, and also knew the children of the house. Patrice read many of the novels when she was in school.

The Green Gables Heritage Place is part of L.M. Montgomery's Cavendish National Historic Site of Canada. At the visitor's center we watched a video telling us about the author and the books.

We toured the Green Gables house. It sits amid lovely flower and vegetable gardens, and the day was sunny and warm.

 Green Gables

The house is meticulously furnished with items used during the period and the rooms are arranged as described in the books.

Green Gables wood cooking stove

There was actually a fireplace in the home that was used for heating.

 Notice the chamber pot under the bed--authenticity!

Geraniums on the kitchen windowsill

 Anne's bedroom

We took the one-kilometer "Lover's Lane" hike. It was a cow path, but Montgomery thought it was a romantic setting, and called it that. It was pleasant along a creek and several panels explained the trees, wild plants, and birds, along with quotes from Montgomery's journals that told how much she loved the natural world around her.

The Queen Ann's Lace is shedding petals

now and preparing for fall

Ferns

 Wild non-edible berries

Along the creek 

Carlos went with us on the hike--he was allowed on the grounds, but not in any of the buildings. He was one tuckered puppy when we got back to the car. He laid down on the warm road and here I'm playfully tugging on his harness, and he doesn't respond. I had to lift him into the truck--he's done this a couple times before, and we get a good laugh out of it. We ate our picnic lunch at a shady table nearby; by that time he was ready for his cheese snack and some water. And we were on our way again.

"Westward Ho" in search of more lighthouses! We found this one on London Bay near French River. Built in 1876, it has been abandoned and not opened as a tourist site.

London Bay Lighthouse

We drove west to Darnley and found the Malpeque Outer Range Rear Lighthouse. This lighthouse is located in the middle of a farmer's field, has been abandoned, and is not open to the public. It is in disrepair and will likely be left to the elements. What an amazing site to come upon! 

Malpeque Outer Range Rear Lighthouse

The Malpeque Outer Range Front Lighthouse is located about 2 miles east in a cottage subdivision. It is not open to the public and we do not know of its condition. We could see the top of it from a the road where we saw the other Malpeque lighthouse. There was a beautiful beach located near this lighthouse and is obviously a favorite of the locals.

We drove on west to the Cabot Beach Provincial Park near Malpeque. The lady at the gate of the campground told us where to go to see the Malpeque Harbor Approach Light. We could see it on the tip of Fish Island, a structure on stilts, looking like a rocket ready to launch. This concluded our lighthouse hunt for the day. As we left the Malpeque area Patrice caught sight of this beautiful heron on a roadside pond.

As we headed back to the campground, the map had showed us a couple of PEI "Scenic Heritage Drives."  The first 4.5 kilometer road is called "County Line Road" and it begins near Darnley and ends at Irishtown. This one-lane red dirt road is carved several feet down into the landscape and the overhead canopy is so thick that we felt we were driving in a tunnel. That is until we got to the top of the hill where the vistas into the valley ahead were breathtaking. We could see that the bottom of the valley was surrounded by gentle hills--the farmed fields of potatoes, corn, wheat, and soy beans were generally square and surrounded by lush vegetation and small trees. Neat houses, barns, and churches dotted the fields and skyline. This scene is very common in PEI. The road itself was historically used by rum-runners who transported their cargo to the town of Kensington.

We turned east two kilometers and drove to Irishtown where we turned south on to the "Millman Road." A beautiful Anglican Church in Irishtown was constructed in 1855. The short two-kilometer Heritage Road was one of the first roads so designated in PEI. It is more narrow than the  "County Line Road" and more deeply cut into the landscape. It is lined with hardwoods, softwoods, and apple trees, again making a lovely canopy. At the end of the road we came upon a water wheel just sitting beside a stone wall. We thought "what the heck" and a few feet further and we were amazed and curious.

In the yard of a beautiful house we saw a stone replica of an ornate cathedral, and saw several other small buildings. After driving by this yard several times and not seeing any signs about this area, I got up the nerve to knock on the door of the house and ask what we were seeing. 

A gentleman and his daughter answered the door and explained that construction of the replicas on the grounds began in 1945 by Colonel Johnstone, a World War I veteran, and his son Archibald, a World War II veteran. This 25-acre park called Woodleigh's Replicas was opened to the public in 1957 and became a popular attraction. Buses full of tourists toured the place. Ill health of the last owners and diminished public attendance at the facility resulted in the Province foreclosing on a mortgage and the property being offered for sale. It was closed in 2008, and it is still for sale.     

The replicas constructed in the park were all models of famous United Kingdom landmarks, including St. Paul's Cathedral, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shakespeare's birthplace, The Old Curiosity Shop, Dunvegan Castle, The Tower of London, and several others. We were invited to tour the grounds but told we could not enter any of the buildings. The first replica we investigated was a stone and tin model of Yorkminster Abby in the front yard of the park. It was about 20 feet long, 8 feet wide and high. Lights had originally been installed in the model and we could see that it had fallen into disrepair. We could see the colored glass used in the windows with the sun shining through.

All of the replicas are in need of major restoration and TLC--the wooden replicas are in the worst shape--the wood waterlogged and the paint nearly gone. The gardens that are left are well-tended, but the walls are cracked and sagging. Water is no longer in the moat around Dunvegan Castle, and there is not longer a pond around the island, only a damp marshy area, with the cattails and grasses overgrown.

York Minster Abby Replica

Other replicas we observed in the front yard were models of St. Giles Church, and the 12th Century Manor at Stoke Poges. Both models were about 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 3 feet high. In a field directly behind the front yard stood several much larger replicas. The model of Dunvegan Castle was about 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 30 feet high. Three wooden replicas had been erected in this area and the one we could identify was St. Paul's Cathedral. This model was the same size as Dunvegan Castle.

St. Paul's Cathedral Replica

The Tower of London replica was about 200 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 30 feet high. The inner building of the Tower, White Tower, was about 75 square feet and 40 feet high. The stones used in the construction were much larger and the features of the building were amazingly detailed.

The Tower of London Replica

White Tower of the Tower of London Replica

Patrice investigated two stone bridges even further back of this area and found that one led to an island. She also found dilapidated picnic tables and playground equipment including a basketball court, swings, jungle gym, and this slide structure. It was lopsided and failing also.

On the way out of the park we found this stockade near Dunvegan Castle.

Online we found many images of this park when it was popular and kept up. There were wonderful flower gardens all around the grounds, and a labyrinth was mentioned in some of the postcards. The people that I spoke with said that they were trying to buy the place, and there is a facebook page called "Save the Woodleigh Replicas." This place was an amazing discovery, and we hope the property gets bought and the replicas restored.

We then drove to Cavendish and had supper at a beer pub and eatery called The Sandbox. Patrice had the best seafood chowder ever and I had a beer and burger. After supper we drove back west about two miles to Cavendish and had some "Cows" ice cream. The choice flavors was fun--I had Moo Henry and orange pineapple and Patrice had Moo Henry and Cow Crunch. Tee-shirts and many other items are sold with black-and-white cow decorations, and there's always a line to oder ice cream cones. Cows ice cream in PEI is equivalent to Ben and Jerry's in the States. It's known by other names in other countries, and is said to be the best ice cream in the world. We thought so.

Heading east toward our campground, we drove through Prince Edward Island National Park, Cavendish, and in addition to the stunning ocean and red rock cliffs we encountered this little fox. He was in the middle of the road and not about to leave, getting lots of attention from the couple of cars that stopped to watch him. The only way we figure that he was able to appear without being nervous is that it was getting on to sunset, the traffic was very light, and there were no bikes on the bicycle path. Beautiful little thing.

We were so fortunate to end our day with such an enchanting encounter.!