Aimless in Abbotsford

Been a while since I have been Out and About, as the saying goes. Between Covid restrictions and the onset of the poor weather, I have been doing a lot of staring at my collection of video and photography equipment hoping I get a chance to use it again.

This Sunday was an unexpected day where we had nothing on the agenda, and pretty well all the chores were up to date. An break in the non-stop chain of rain storms meant a few hours of dry time for me to be out wandering around.

I kept it simple, I picked my trusty point and shoot camera, and headed to the Fraser Valley town of Abbotsford. I knew of a few eye worthy places to snap some pics, and thought I would explore some of the little sides streets I had not been down before.

To see these pictures in a larger format, click on any photo.

Go ahead, you know you want to !

My first side excursion of the day was to poke around Matsqui, a farming community on the north side of the Fraser River. Straight roadways lined with trees planted as windbreaks is a hallmark of farming areas and there were plenty examples to be seen here.

The flat farming terrain also provided views of the low clouds enveloping the low mountains forming the ridge of the Fraser Valley. 

  The clouds clung to the higher mountains on the northside of the valley even more so, blocking out any scenic shots to be had in that direction.

After dawdling in Matsqui I headed over to main main objective for the day, the Township of Abbotsford. And now you are wondering, what's so special about these two buildings in the picture above? Well, if you have ever watched those Hallmark TV movies you would have seen these two buildings in many of those movies. At least, that is what my wife tells me ..  yeah ....

Vancouver is called Hollywood North and it is not uncommon to have two dozen TV/movies shoots ongoing at any given time. One of the most common movie channels to shoot in the area is Hallmark. For some reason they seem to love this two buildings - they are either using the older white building or the larger brick building as a main movie location. Seeing as I was already here exploring Abbotsford,  I naturally had to see for myself where these were actually located.

The Hallmark buildings are located in the old section of Abbotsford, which is roughly five blocks squared. I parked the car and meandered around the side streets and alleys looking for worthy subjects and came across the murals seen here. They encompass the back of the Hemmingway's book store, a very large and popular used bookstore in town. A lot of time was spent by the artists painting these vibrant murals and they look great and add life to a forgotten back alley.

A few years ago the Downtown association commissioned several sculptures to add to the visuals of the area. These three guys are very lifelike and have been in many a tourist photo. I also have snapped them a few times over the years.

The Goose in the Truck adds a touch of whimsy to the scenery, I have to admit, this Goose looks like he has real attitude! I can just imagine him leaning on the horn yelling for people to get out of his way! Must have received his license in downtown Vancouver  :)

The "art" scene is represented as well with a bench in the form of a large easel complete with dripping brush, all supported by a squeezed out tube of paint. Sadly the surface of this bench is in need of some TLC. Would look so much more vibrant if it was cleaned up and resurfaced.

 After exploring more of the downtown side streets, I decided to head towards another historic section of the general Abbotsford area, in the village of Clayburn. As I drifted in that general direction I kept my eye out for anything that caught my eye. And this sure did - Snoopy flying a Sopwith Camel airplane! I spotted this in someone's backyard mounted high for all to see from the street. That was definitely worth a stop to snap a picture - great job by the resident ! 

I took the long way around as I headed into Clayburn as I wanted to reach higher ground to obtain an aerial view of the surrounding area. I had circled back towards the Fraser River and was getting close to the Matsui farmlands again. Clayburn is nestled against those low mountains seen in the first scenic picture of this post. These low mountains have something needed for building construction at the turn of the century - clay. Perfect for molding into bricks and when heated and fired, perfect for building brick buildings.

I have been to the village of Clayburn several times over the years but only to look at the old General Store and the ruins of the brick ovens in the nearby bush. 

Today very little remains of the original town buildings. A few brick bungalows that were workmen cottages, and the General store. The land where the original factory buildings stood seems to have been cleared and is now a soccer field. It is quite possible they have bulldozed away the old kiln ovens. In the past, when I have walked through the bush, you would stumble upon a pile of brick rejects that broke during the firing process, so they were just dumped outside in a pile. I have retrieved a few bricks from those piles, all bearing the Clayburn name. So popular were the bricks, it was not uncommon for me to discover historic buildings in other cities in Southern BC built by bricks bearing the Clayburn name.

Today I spent an hour or so walking the side streets and discovered the original Clayburn School, and the Clayburn Church, which were new to me. These two building were only a block off the main street,  but I had yet to see them in all my travels in the area. Thus proving one of my favourite adages - "take the road less travelled, for there is more to see" 

 

These two buildings leant an air of charm to the small village and you could imagine the town folk of the day actively using the buildings as part of their daily lives. While the visible remaining structures from the original Clayburn townsite are small, they still allow you envision a time when the brick factory and the local community compromised the entire world for the work force. Vancouver probably seemed a long ways away. In the day, a trip to Vancouver was an all day event using the B.C. Electric train that ran from Chilliwack to Vancouver, with stops at various Fraser Valley communities along the way.

My last stop of the day was back across to the north side of the Fraser River into the town of Mission. Originally a major First Nations community, the first Europeans were Oblate priests whom established a mission high on the hill above the river.

With the coming of the CPR railroad, the city itself was created through a land auction by the stake holders of the railroad. Farming was the original economy of the area, however the salmon industry soon became a driving force as well. Five species of salmon inhabit the Fraser River, providing a large industry to exploit. White Sturgeon are found from the Mission Bridge, upstream to the town of Yale in the Fraser Canyon. The White Sturgeon live for over 100 years and grow up to 20 feet long. The sturgeon are true dinosaurs, as they have not changed much in millions of years.  

Supplementing the fishery industry was the boat and net repair companies. While many of these businesses have died off, the small industrial riverfront area shows its heritage by the businesses along the side streets    

The shore front has been cleaned up allowing for pedestrian access. A large viewing platform has been created for the locals to rest and sit on the benches while they enjoy their coffee watching the comings and goings of the local ship traffic. The local mountains complement the view by providing a scenic backdrop for daily life on the river. Like Abbotsford, Mission City has begun to install pieces of art around the city. With its large First Nations presence, some of the pieces have been created by local native artists. The Bald Eagle sculpture shown here represents the importance of the eagle in First Nations history. The statue also serves as a reminder of when the Bald Eagle congregate in the area each Winter. Just to the east of Mission is the Harrison River.  Each winter thousands of Bald Eagles migrate south from their summer grounds in Alaska and spend the winter feasting on the salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest. The primary winter feeding grounds are; just north of Squamish in the town of Brackendale; in the Harrison River area of the Fraser Valley; and in the U.S. south of the border in the upper Skagit River Valley. I've been to all three locations during the winter feeding times, and by far the Harrison River offers the most accessible viewing of the eagles. 

   By now the day was coming to an end, as daylight was beginning to wane, and the small bits of open skies were being replaced by darker clouds. Another round of rain storms are on the way, but at least I enjoyed a long overdue day of being Out & About in my extended "backyard" compromised of the 100 mile long Fraser Valley. Time to head home, download my pictures and see what I captured of the day.

If you liked the write up please leave a comment below.

A more complete set of the day's pictures can be viewed on my Flickr site here