Recently I was in Lloydminster, AB. I say Alberta since I was staying on the Alberta side but part of the city is also in Saskatchewan. This brings up so many questions about laws etc...but I digress....
Saskatchewan is a mostly undiscovered territory for me. I wish I had paid more attention when I was younger, since I visited southern Saskatchewan just about every year. Fast forward many years...I had the opportunity to explore a bit in the very west central portion of Sask. On my earlier visit this year, I checked out
Waseca,
Paynton, and
Bresaylor. This time I stopped in Marshall, and a couple other sites on the backroads.
In Marshall, we saw a train approaching as we were stopped beside the grain elevator, I didn't have time to get in a better position for a cool train + elevator shot. This is my '
Train Geek' attempt.
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| Comin' in hot! |
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| Moving fast! |
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| Marshall Hotel now. |
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| Marshall Hotel then. Photo courtesy of http://peel.library.ualberta.ca |
After Marshall, it was onto a couple of planned stops. Just down the road from the church I was looking for, I found an old school that had become a community centre. It has an overgrown baseball diamond, and some rusty playground equipment. No one has played there in awhile, but that didn't stop my son from trying out the spinny, rusty, probably will need a tetanus shot thing. However, the area around the community centre was mowed.
The church and the community centre are both called Forest Bank. What does this mean kids? It means there was a pioneer community here. I could not find much info on the school, but I did confirm it was Forest Bank School #1659. While I was taking photos, my son told me the door was open, so we took a quick peek inside. As we went in, a familiar smell hit me. It's not a pleasant or unpleasant smell, just the smell of an unused place. Dust and time and forgotten things.
Once you go in you have to go up or down, the basement level was flooded, but a look from the bottom of the stairs showed some desks and other furniture. Not much to see upstairs, just left over paraphernalia from it's days as a community centre, chairs, kitchen equipment and various odds and ends. We left and made sure the door was secure. Remember, touch nothing and take only photos.
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| Fun? |
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| Game over. |
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| Thanks for the Memories and a crude primitive chalk drawing. |
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| Finger lickin' good. |
Down the road is St.Paul's Anglican Church at Forest Bank. This place is beautiful and there will be post later this week, here is a teaser:
Photos taken on September 16th, 2017.
Sure. Get me all excited about the church and leave me hanging. Great post as always. A lot of really cool stuff is in Saskatchewan and I love it when I can drive the back roads of that province as there usually something to see.
ReplyDeleteI might have to move there lol.
DeleteWhen I was a kid my Dad would sometimes take the family for a Sunday afternoon ride, stopping at some of the old abandoned schools. Your pictures of the old playground equipment brought back memories of a time when kids could swing and climb and twirl and nobody wore a helmet or protective knee pads. Good times!
ReplyDeleteHi Vicki! Even since I was a kid, playgrounds have changed so much, we had a big metal rocket ship that we played in at a local park and those awesome merry go rounds! The latest thing at my sons school is a 'spare parts' shed, they get a bunch of scrap materials and have to use their imaginations.
DeleteYour posts are always a treat but stop that teasing!! lol!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael! LOL I just didn't want this post to go on and on. Isn't the sign great for St. Paul's?
DeleteIt is! Wooden signs are quite rare these days so it's always nice to see one.
DeleteInteresting story and fantastic photos. I like the sign with the carved message, it's pretty unique. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving your comments.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week and I'll be back to read your teaser.
Bill
http://somewhereinirelanddailyphoto.blogspot.ie/
Thanks Bill, I love how here I get excited about 100 year old buildings but 100 must seem new in some places in Ireland! That carved sign is unique! I haven't seen anything else like it in my travels. Looking forward to seeing more of your blog and photos.
DeleteThat's an old KFC bucket
ReplyDelete70's or 80's I'd guess? Retro!
DeleteRemember the spinning buckets on the post in front of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant? Back when they spelled it out?
DeleteThose are very fine "train geek" photos! I like how you included the CN Marshall sign with the first photo... gives a good sense of place.
ReplyDeleteI'm always up for train and grain elevator combo photos!
Thanks Steve! The was just good timing that it happened to go by when it did...and it was moving fast!
DeleteThis area is similar to the outports towns in my native Newfoundland, falling to ruin. Young people leave for work taking young families with them. Sad!
ReplyDeleteYou captured the essence of what you saw, Jenn.
Thanks Marie. I like to picture parties and dances and people gathering in these places. Sad that community places like this seems to be disappearing.
DeleteHi Jenn :) The last photo is really nice, I love that sign. And I laughed at the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket...I haven't seen one in English for...forever it seems! I love the train shots. I worked for CN for a year in the locomotive training division, it was a very interesting experience! I didn't learn how to drive a train though lol...but I was involved in a lot of the compliance. CN means Canada to me! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Rain, I am working on the post for that sign now. That KFC buckets is very Retro, someone said I should've taken it but what would I need with an ancient grease bucket? Also I never take things.
DeleteWorking for CN would've been interesting!