Low Down Articles
Echoes from the Past
Article 39 of 111
This article first appeared in the "Echoes from the Past" column of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
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Kirk and his Ferry
What would possess an Irishman from Londonderry to install a ferry on the Gatineau River in faraway Canada? Perhaps the fact that Thomas Kirk acquired two pieces of that earth, one on each side of the river, suggested to him that a ferry to take him from one property to the other of his possessions might be a sensible answer to his problem, especially as bridges were few and very very far between. Imagine having farmland divided by a river and having to drive a team of horses from one farm, which had just been ploughed, to the other by a circuitous route, remembering to take the plough by wagon. Why, by the time he had got his team, together with the plough, to the side opposite a whole day or more would be lost.
Fortunately for Kirk the stretch of river between his two properties was flat and placid for some distance, a situation not very common on this rapid river which was only to be tamed in 1925/26 by the installation of the hydroelectric dam at Chelsea. This had the effect of "drowning" the low ground and greatly widening the river and slowing its current. Prior to building the dam it was necessary to move both the train tracks and the highway to higher land. A number of islands were submerged completely and other heights of land became islands as the water rose.
Stretching between the present yacht club's outer most island and the opposite shore there was in Kirk's day, a chute or, rapids, which dropped the water very rapidly from one level to a lower one with a thunderous roar, with spume being thrown high into the air as the water was forced past the rocky defile. It was called Eaton's Chute and it was, of course, drowned by the dam construction.
Two other families, both being Blackburns, who arrived in the area prior to the Kirks, each possessed land on each side of the river. Here were potential customers for Kirk and his ferry.
Kirk chose the route his ferry, originally oar propelled would take as far north as he could and away from the fearsome chute. As the ferry was eventually to be cable operated, a flattened V shaped passage would be followed from one side to the other. One might expect that the western landing to be at the foot of the present Kirk's Ferry Road but this was not the case, for the site chosen was at the water end of the Hellard Road, slightly northward.
A hamlet did develop at the end of the Kirk's Ferry Road. Here was the Fairy (Ferry) Hotel, Hellard's stopping place, and Mrs. McAllisters boarding house, a church-cum-school and a few other buildings, all of which disappeared when the water level was raised. Kirk ran both ferry and hotel and also operated a machine sales outlet. With all this business Kirk was forced to engage ferrymen, one of whom, Paddy Fleming, was to to marry Mrs. McAllister's daughter, Minnie. Of course, during the winter months the ferry was grounded so that Paddy before his marriage used to spend his time cutting wood on the Cantley side of the river. One can conjecture upon which side of the river he spent the winters after his marriage.
The landing on the eastern shore was slightly north of Blackburn Creek, from where a road took travellers over the hill to the highway running past Cantley.
By the way, Kirk's oldest daughter married a Mr. Eaton. Was Eaton's Chute named after him or a member of his family? This query has to date not been answered.