Springtime brought an interesting painting to the Metchosin Museum Society, donated by the granddaughter of Frank Blake, who established Beechwood Farm on Metchosin Road.
An old newspaper article (circa 1940) describes it, B次元官网网址淏eechwood is like a model farm in its neatly-painted barns and sheds, and many tourists have stopped to admire it B次元官网网址次元官网网址� The barn is at the very entrance to Metchosin and is an icon in its rural nature; it is still a tourist attraction and has even been used as a backdrop for wedding photographs.
Frank Christopher Blake was born in England, emigrated to farm on the Canadian prairies in about 1908 and moved to Victoria in 1917. Around 1919 he bought 40 acres for $4,000 in Metchosin. Over the years he added to the farm, bringing Beechwood Farm holdings to more than 300 acres.
Except for the front one acre, the rest of the property was forested, which he cleared himself with the help of his sons over the years. The family appears in the 1921 census as Frank Christopher Blake 38 years, Bessie age 42, Constance 15, Leslie 11, Reginald 8, Marjory 6, Edgar 3 and a boarder, William Henry Belbeck, age 62.
In 1928 BlakeB次元官网网址檚 name was submitted to the lieutenant governor to be appointed as chief electoral officer for the Esquimalt District. In the 1940B次元官网网址檚 he was the president of the Metchosin FarmerB次元官网网址檚 Institute.
Blake, and subsequently one of his daughters and her husband George Musselwhite farmed the property by raising turkeys and chickens and dairying. His granddaughter notes that the little building to the right of the barn in the painting, still standing today, was the bullB次元官网网址檚 shed. She and her cousins were strictly forbidden from going anywhere near the shed, as the bull was considered very dangerous. The painting shows Jersey cows looking contented and calm lying by the haystack.
The farmerB次元官网网址檚 plight has not changed much over the decades. The earlier news article states of Blake, B次元官网网址淒airying is his first choice for the Island agriculture, B次元官网网址榠f you could get a good market for the milk,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� he says. Blake goes on to say, B次元官网网址淔arming on the Island would be much better if we werenB次元官网网址檛 swamped by all kinds of early produce from the United States. People get tired of the stuff. Take strawberries for instance, (which is) why the public has eaten strawberries for so long that theyB次元官网网址檙e not very keen about ours when they reach the market.B次元官网网址�
Over the past 10 years, the present owner of the property, now known as Green Acres Golf Course and Driving Range, has put a full concrete foundation under the barn, roofed it with metal over the original cedar shakes and braced the walls inside. The large, solid cedar gate posts which are not in either picture, but are remembered by many Metchosinites, are stored on the property.
To see the original watercolour, signed by artist B次元官网网址淗. Carpenter,B次元官网网址� please visit the Metchosin Pioneer Barn Museum behind the fire hall on Happy Valley Road, during the FarmerB次元官网网址檚 Market on Sundays between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The old School Museum is open Saturdays from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information or if you have stories to share, please call Wendy at 250-474-4651 or Bert at 250-382-1989.
Wendy Mitchell is president of the Metchosin Museum Society.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
