Chedderville Anglican Church

Just north of Caroline, Alberta on Highway 22 on July 31, 2015. I think it might still be used. I could not get access to the inside. A peek through the windows shows a very simple plainly designed church. No idea how old it is. There is a small cemetary in the back.

More school markers

Ran across these on the weekend of August 1st and 2nd of this year north of Drayton Valley, Alberta. Usually markers of this type have bronze looking lettering on the steel plate. There is no lettering on these and no evidence of if there ever was any lettering. I wonder if there was a lack of funds on the part of the historical society or if there was a change in how these were done.

Cameron School July 26, 2015

Coleman, Alberta. I think the school was built in 1919. Abandoned now. Some internet searching shows it is on a list of sites to be restored. Coleman is not a ghost town. It does have a lot of interesting old buildings and sites from the coal mining era. The problem is that it has too many. I doubt there will every be enough resources to restore everything that they have on their list. Sometimes the ruins are more interesting.

Taylor Siding August 13, 2015

I was here last winter. Years ago this used to be a rail siding on one of the rail lines that ran to Drumheller, Alberta. When I was last here there were poles with glass insulators on them. The poles are completely gone. There is likely other things that have been removed. It looks like someone is trying to clean up the site, they are just taking forever to do it. There are a number of steel rail bridges on this line and I have heard rumours those might be torn up. The tracks were torn up years ago.

This is what is left of the rail line.

I walked across this wooden bridge. I will not do that again in the future, the wood is getting rotten. I also got eaten alive by bugs. A further advantage of exploring in winter.

They did a good job of tearing up the line. The rails are completely gone except for three that I could see. I thought the area would be littered with spikes, I saw four. I suspect a few souvenir hunters have taken items. There is the remains of a couple of buildings nearby but they are littered with junk. I really do not understand the desire for some people to turn places into dumping grounds.

I found a couple of glass insulators in the brush. I posed one for a photo and left it at the scene.

Cacti in Alberta. Not a big one. The first I have seen in this part of the province.

Mayerthorpe, Alberta May 16, 2015

I wrote, scheduled, and pulled this post many times. I wanted to say more about it, I just could not find a way to make it work to my satisfaction. So I stripped everything down. 

On March 3, 2005 James Roszko ambushed and killed four members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police near Mayerthorpe, Alberta. It truly was one of those shocking events in Canada. James Roszko was wounded by another member of the force and after retreating shot himself. It was the worst one-day loss of life for the RCMP and the worst multiple-officer killing in modern Canadian history.

A memorial and park commemorating them stands at Mayerthorpe, Alberta across from the police station. 

The memorial building.

Their portraits hang inside the building.

On the other side are statues of the four members. It is a moving sight.