Eve Lazarus
Before it was a housing development and golf course, Westwood Plateau was a 1,400 acre-odd parcel of land that included a racetrack.
All photos by Bruce Stewart in 1970.
Two of the streets in the development – Deer’s Leap Place and Carousel Court – were named for the track’s most challenging sections.
The Dewdney Trunk Road Pleasure Faire was held over three days in September 1971, on land that was designated to become a federal penitentiary in Mission, BC.
All photos by Bruce Stewart
The Deluxe group—Alan Clapp, Dan Clemens, Ian Ridgway and Ray Clark—applied for the permit, and Clemens and Ridgway spent the summer deconstructing barns and designing and building a 60-acre village.
I went to the PNE last week, the first time in more than 15 years. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty underwhelming.
For this post, I thought I’d draw from comments left on my August 17 blog and on my Facebook page Every Place has a Story.
The Dollarton Pleasure Faire was held in the summer of ’72 at the Maplewood Mudflats in North Vancouver. It was a celebration of alternative living, an acknowledgement that its days were numbered, and it was timed to clash with the annual PNE.
At least as far back as the 1940s, squatters were part of a long tradition of settlements such as Crabtown in North Burnaby and Finn Slough in Steveston.
The PNE kicks off today (Saturday August 17) and runs until September 2.
In 1992, I worked at the Vancouver Sun and that year I spent most of my August shifts at the PNE.
One day I’d write about the rodeo clown who had broken every bone in his body at least once.
Last week’s blog on Kitsilano featuring Bruce Stewart’s photos, brought back memories and a healthy does of nostalgia from those of you who were lucky to have known Kits in the ‘70s.
In this week’s blog I’m delighted to bring you photos from Angus McIntyre, Gord McCaw, Peter Dobo and a couple more from Bruce, interspersed with your comments.
I lived at three different addresses along West 3rd in Kitsilano between 1984 and 1995. And, while I loved the beach, the restaurants, West 4th Avenue, and Granville Island, I would have liked to have known Kits in the 1970s.
An essay in photos by Bruce Stewart
Kits Pool:
Fortunately, Bruce Stewart spent half of that decade living in a $280 a month (heat and hot water included) apartment at 2340 Cornwall Avenue, just across from Kits pool.
The Nanaimo to Vancouver bathtub race ran from 1967 to 1996
When I moved to Vancouver in the mid 1980s, I lived in an apartment at Third and Cypress in Kitsilano. Over the next 12 years, I moved two more times up Third Avenue, and one of my summer highlights was heading down to the beach every July for the Nanaimo to Vancouver bathtub races.
