The Gorge was once VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 playground, a place where folks would converge to take in the regattas and vaudeville shows, to swim for the day or dance the night away.
From 1890 to 1930 it was a social hub of the city. Those days are long gone.
This year is a landmark year for Victoria and Esquimalt, with each celebrating their 150th and 100th anniversaries, respectively, and six years since Saanich celebrated its centennial anniversary.
The Gorge, the common border between the municipalities, has been the focus of a push from local community groups to get locals back out there swimming in the waterway again. ItB次元官网网址檚 also been the focus of one historianB次元官网网址檚 research for the last 20 years.
B次元官网网址淭he GorgeB次元官网网址檚 history is probably the most colourful youB次元官网网址檒l find anywhere in Victoria,B次元官网网址� said Dennis Minaker, author and resident of the Gorge-Tillicum neighbourhood. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 quite remarkable, actually.B次元官网网址�
That colourful history spans from the early farmlands of the Craigflower area and all along the inlet, where the Royal Navy regularly hosted regatta events.
B次元官网网址淚t became the centre for outdoor recreation, and that included swimming, boating, picnicking, camping B次元官网网址� and the centre for some of the grandest houses ever built in Victoria,B次元官网网址� Minaker added.
Those houses, built along Gorge shorelines in all three municipalities in the latter part of the 19th century, have all but disappeared, as did the amusement park and Japanese tea gardens that once lined the waterway. But tales from the day remain and Minaker, author of The Gorge of Summers Gone, is just the guy to tell them.
Minaker hosts the annual Saanich Heritage Bus Tour & Tea on Sunday Sept. 16 from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
This yearB次元官网网址檚 tour highlights the Gorge Waterway, including a stop at the Naval & Maritime Museum at CFB Esquimalt and afternoon tea at the historic St. PaulB次元官网网址檚 Garrison Church. Tickets to the event, which sells out annually, went on sale today for $30 plus tax.
Register in person or by phone at any Saanich recreation centre or online at (course code 492204).
For information contact Saanich Archives at 250-475-1775 ext. 3477 or email archives@saanich.ca.
nnorth@saanichnews.com
