Alan Skeoch

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  • EPISODE 716 FAIRYLAND WITH BLACK BARN — THE MCLEAN FARM

    EPISODE 716     FAIRYLAND WITH BLACK BARN  — THE MCLEAN FARM


    alan skeoch
    January. 17, 2023

    The McLean’s built this barn in the 1870’s….same as the red brick farmhouse
    and they farmed the stoney land for 80 years….two sisters and a brother . Scottish.
    They also had a blacksmith shop somewhere near the east end  of
    the black barn where the giant sugar maples grow.  

    I remember Jean and Janet so well.  Angus McLean died before my bother and
    I began hiding among the Boulders  along the fence line where Jack in the pulpits
    popped up like little people.

    And we waded in their swamp on the west side of the barn catching frogs oblivious
    to the tiny black leeches that wanted our blood.

    Jean and Janet treated Eric and me like the children they never had,

    Now, in 2023, the McLean farm belongs to Nick Conn, Kevin and Andrew 
    Skeoch.  The farm has come alive again.

    It is a Fairyland today….decked out with hoar frost.

    A month or so ago was honey extracting time….and last spring
    was Maple Syrup tree tapping time.    Before that there was planting time
    and firewood splitting time…

    There are seasons in our lifetime.

    alan skeoch

  • THE GIRLS WHO MADE THE GUNS….THE LAKEVIEW SMALL ARMS COMPANY

    EPISODE 716     THE GIRLS WHO MADE THE GUNS AT LAKEVIEW IN WW2,,  “THE SMALL ARMS PLANT”


    alan skeoch
    January 14, 2023

    Who is this lady?



    Some called these ‘girls” the “bomb girls”.  I would rename them the 
    “Sten Gun girls” because they made so many of those World War II
    hand held machine guns.   I believe paratroopers were issued with a sten
    gun whenever a drop was planned.    Sten guns were made in other places but a 
    great number were made In Lakeview, now a suburb of Mississauga. 

    WHO WERE THESE GIRLS?

    Around the mid 1990’s or earlier Our historical society organized a reunion of the girls who made the guns at LakeView
    SMALL ARMS PLANT in World War II.
    They were a feisty bunch who came that evening..  Laughter and tears.   Many oF them were 20  years old in 1940 thus in their 70’s
    when we got them together for the last time.  Some got a little emotional To be sure, but my strongest memory is the noise…the joy…
    as the girls got together for what they knew would be the last time.

    NOTE:  I TOOK THESE PICTURES  OF THE GRILS/LADIES BUT NOT THE BLACK AND WHITE
    MACHINE SHOP PICTURES.  I HAVE NOT FOUND THE ARTICLE I WROTE
    AT THE TIME SO THIS STORY IS INCOMPLETE….A FRAGMENT SADLY…NO NAMES, NO 
    MEMORIES.  SOME READERS WILL KNOW  MORE.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD TO THE STORY.


     Miss Francescini  ( sp?) , daughter of the sand and Gravel
    company on Cawthra Road was one name I remember. 

    I did manage to get some pictures of the laidies along with the machines they operated.  and somewhere I
    have a writen record of the affair.

    What I do remember clearly is how these ladies took over the meeting.  



    “Women played a major role in the workforce at Small Arms Limited as can be seen in the cover photo making up most of the staff by 1943.  The factory produced its first weapons in June 1941 and by the end of the year had made 7,589.  By 1943 the plant was working three shifts, using 5,500 employees to produce over 30,000 units per month.  World War Two ended in 1945 and war-time production was completed in December with over 900,000 rifles and 126,00 machine guns having been produced.”





    “Construction on the Dominion Small Arms Limited munitions factory, including the Inspection Building (then known on the site as Building 12), commenced on August 20, 1940. The first rifles produced here were ready for inspection in June of 1941. At the end of 1941, the factory had 1,200 employees and had made 7,589 rifles. In 1942, the factory was in full production making pistols, Mark II Sten sub-machine guns, Lee Enfield No. 4 rifles, ammunition, and a myriad of other military supplies. By 1943 the factory employed more the 5300 workers, 65% of whom were women. “












    The demand for labour by wartime industries during the Second World War was high since many young men in the labour force were already enlisted in the armed forces. Small Arms Limited employed recruiters who travelled across Canada offering jobs for single women or married women without children with husbands in the armed forces. Hired workers were given free passage to Toronto for a good paying job in good working conditions. In total, the personnel department hired over 14,000 employees during its entire operation.


    The demand for labour by wartime industries during the Second World War was high since many young men in the labour force were already enlisted in the armed forces. Small Arms Limited employed recruiters who travelled across Canada offering jobs for single women or married women without children with husbands in the armed forces. Hired workers were given free passage to Toronto for a good paying job in good working conditions. In total, the personnel department hired over 14,000 employees during its entire operation.

    In 1943 when Small Arms, Limited was in full operation, it employed approximately 5,500 employees working three 8-hour shifts producing over 30,000 units per month. Approximately 62% of the employees in the munitions factory were women, who earned approximately 50 cents an hour. One quarter of them were aged 40 or older. The Second World War marked the first time work in munitions factories were opened to women. In addition to the munitions factory, the company also built a large dormitory for its workers, and engaged its workforce in many recreational activities.In 1943 when Small Arms, Limited was in full operation, it employed approximately 5,500 employees working three 8-hour shifts producing over 30,000 units per month. Approximately 62% of the employees in the munitions factory were women, who earned approximately 50 cents an hour. One quarter of them were aged 40 or older. The Second World War marked the first time work in munitions factories were opened to women. In addition to the munitions factory, the company also built a large dormitory for its workers, and engaged its workforce in many recreational activities. 




  • EPISODE 716 YEAR 1955 WHEN FEW TEENS HAD CARS….HITCH HIKING WAS NORMAL

    EPISODE 716    YEAR 1955 WHEN FEW TEENS HADCARS….HITCH HIKING WAS NORMAL 


    alan skeoch
    January 12,,2023

    The year was 1955 when we decided to head to Lake Simcoe for a week end.  Nobody
    I knew had a car….only Russ has even access to a car. So we hitch-hiked as did
    lots of kids our age.  It was normal.  And being picked up was normal as well. Even
    interesting.

    “Where are you going boys?
    “Lake Simcoe for the week end.”
    “I can get you close…heading for Barrie myself.”

    Conversation was very relaxed most of the time.  We were not alone
    as hitch hikers.  Taken for granted that there would be boys here and
    there with their thumbs out.   Rarely girls, if ever.   Common to be two
    maybe three.   

    Hitch hiking alone was the fastest way to get to a destination but it
    was a little chancy.   One car picked me up heading from Wasaga Beach to
    my grandparents farm in Erin Township.  The driver and two passengers
    may have been drinking.  Not sure.  They decided to scare me by speeding
    and weaving.  “This is not good”, I thought and waited until the car came
    to a sharp corner whereupon I jumped out…perhaps rolled out.  Think they
    laughed, That kind of thing was rare. So it was remembered.  Not rude were
    great.


    Hitch hiking in the 1950’s was a good cheap way of getting from one place to another.   That’s Big Red Stevenson and i
    en route to Lake Simcoe .  Would you stop to pick us up?  Three of us.  My brother Eric took the picture.


    My good friend Big Red Stevenson, brother Eric and I took these pictures in 1955 …. Here we are at a horse ranch which is rather odd.
    Horses were obsolete.  No one seeks to hitch a ride on a horse.



    Three boys hitch hiking .   We did not always get rides so it was a chancy thing.   My brother Eric and I do not look too
    happy resting on s pile of rubble beside some highway.

    1959 == HITCHHIKING IS MADE ILLEGAL

    I guess Red, Eric and I grew up in the halcyon days of hitch hiking.   Another reason that our generation (the teen agers of the 1950’s ) were the
    luckiest generation of all time.  Is this an overstatement?  Not so sure.  

    Hitch hiking became more and more dangerous as more and more cars were built and sold….new and wider highways followed…increased 
    speed limits.  Hence more danger should some kind soul decide to pull to the shoulder because Alan and his brother and Big Red are
    begging a free ride.   Try pulling to the shoulder at 110 km some time.

    FEMALE HITCH HIKER — ANOTHER SLIGHTLY RELATED INCIDENT — WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

    A while ago I was driving north on Trafalgar Road and stopped at a red light
    ar Dundas.  And a woman jumped into the truck.  I never lock the doors.  Neither
    do you.  She was about 40 or so and not exactly dressed for a big dance.  First thing
    she did was reach for my coffee money on the dash.  Grabbed a few dollars as fast
    as a rabbit with a coyote after it.   Then she settled in…maybe even put on the
    safety belt.   

    I was startled and soon became scared.  As a high school teacher I have feared touching.
    Especially touching female students.  Even shaking hands.  Teachers are considered guilty
    until proven innocent when they touch students.  And some students are huggers.  They
    like a teacher and hug him or her.  Not me.  I back off like that rabbit I mentioned.

    So there I was.  Driving with a strange woman in the truck.  This
    could be bad…real bad.  What if she screamed “rape”?  Even kidnapping.
    I would be judged guilty until proven innocent.   What to do? My first 
    thought was i would drive to the nearest police station  wherever that
    was.   Perhaps Milton…a long way.   

    How the hell would I get this oddball out of my truck?  She could take
    all the change she could find on the dash or in the glove compartment
    if only she would leave.   Now she assorting my road maps.  he did
    no know I had a fiver clipped  to the sun viser.  At least not yet.
    She never said anything.  Too busy rummaging
    around for cash.  But she had settled in.  And I was damn scared.

    Then I got an idea.  Why not get her to become someone else’s problem?
    I reached Brittania Road and the light turned red.

    “I turn left here.”
    No comment.
    “This is a good hitch hiking corner for you.”

    And wonder of owners, miracle of miracles she unhitched the seat belt 
    and got out of the truck.   I breathed a sigh of relief and made
    my left turn even if  it took me in the wrong direction.  She was now
    someone else’s problem.

    I suppose you think I lock the truck door now when I drive.  NO. You
    are giving me credit for too much intelligence.  Maybe you think I keep
    loose change in my pocket rather than the dashboard.  NO.  Hard to 
    teach an old dog new tricks.   The left turn idea is best I can do.

    I think my police idea was best.  “Officer, this lady jumped into my truck
    stole my loose change and I fear she might claim I touched her. Can
    you help me?”
    “Officer, this man touched me.”

    Who would the police believe?

    That’s a reverse hitch hiking story.

    alan skeoch

    HITCH HIKING IS ILLEGAL IN ONTARIO .. FINE IS $65

    WOULD YOU BELIEVE THIS MAN’S STORY?

    Is hitchhiking legal in Ontario

     | Jun 04, 2019 | Comments 0

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    While it was mainstream in the 70s as the cheapest way to travel, “thumbing a ride” has dwindled to almost no takers in past years – due to dangers for riders and passengers, and the advent of ride share programs.

    However, with the summer weather creeping in, the Prince Edward County (PEC) detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) urges people to stay safe, and be vigilant with hitchhikers.

    Constable Pat Menard, Community Safety Officer, clarifies that Section 177(1) of the Highway Traffic Act (HTA) states that no person, while on a roadway, shall solicit a ride from the driver of a motor vehicle other than a public passenger conveyance (i.e. taxi or bus). If caught, a $65 fine could be issued.

    “The safety risk goes both ways when it comes to hitchhiking,” he said. “A driver deciding to pick up a hitchhiker is unaware of what issues that hitchhiker may have, or what reason they may have for hitchhiking at that point in time. Vice versa, the hitchhiker is unaware of who the driver is or what intentions they have for stopping and picking them up.

    “As a driver, picking up a hitchhiker comes down to personal judgment and trusting that gut feeling or vibe. There is nothing wrong with deciding not to stop, or passing right by that hitchhiker enroute to your own destination. Drivers who come across an individual or group hitchhiking while in the County, are reminded to allow plenty of space, and be aware of your surroundings.”


  • EPISODE 715 THE DAY I MET ELVIS (CHIBOUGAMAU, NORTHERN QUEBEC — SUMMER 1956)


    EPISODE 715     THE DAY I MET ELVIS  (CHIBOUGAMAU, NORTHERN  QUEBEC — SUMMER 1956)

    alan skeoch
    January 11, 2035

    OK  I NEVER REALLY MET HIM….EXCEPT IN MY IMAGINATION

    But I did pass some time in Heartbreak Hotel….


    ELEVIS PRESSLEY

    MARJORIE AND I happened to catch an Elvis Pressley special on public television last night.  Seeing
    and hearing Elvis brought back memories of my first contact with him.   His big hit in 1956
    was Heartbreak Hotel which launched his career.  On a hot summer day in 1956 we ( fellow prospectors)
    happened to be drinking beer in the Chibougamau Hotel when the owner set the needle on the
    Pressley recording.


    These images popped into my consciousness.

    BIG EVENTS Usually go directly into long time storage in our brains.   Meeting Elvis Presslley was such

    an event.  I remember that meeting in total detail….total recall.  Rock and Roll.  I did not know who Elvis was that summer
    but I was overcome with his explosive lyrics to Heartbreak Hotel.



    P33 Fonds Godefroy de Billy
    Chibougamau looked much like this in 1956.  Only as I remember the road in town was gravel like the highway through the 
    seemingly endless carpet of spruce tress to get there.    These cars are 1950’s vintage so the main street must have been
    paved.   But only the main street.   In 1956 I do not remember as many shops.  The street was dominated by the beer parlour
    in my mind.  Imagination?    It was called a ’shack town”, a “white” town (no native person wanted to live  there with the whites),
    a “Mining town” in which  men who hammered the ore face deep underground were more admired than any priest or sunday
    school teacher.  Elvis spoke to us all.


    Well, since my baby left meWell, I found a new place to dwellWell, it’s down at the end of Lonely StreetAt Heartbreak HotelWhere I’ll be, I’ll be so lonely, babyWell, I’m so lonelyI’ll be so lonely, I could die

    Sounds sort of corny in print but the song was a super hit in 1956… first on hit parade

    from January to July.  And the vocalist, Elvis, was something new on the musical stage.
    He performed….wiggled his pelvis.

    We were drinking beer in the Chibougamau Hotel.  Our whole crew had been air lifted by Beaver 
    from the bug infested boreal forest to the town for a little R.. and R. before we got back
    to our Magnetometer in our search for chalcopyrite.  I was a bit of a prude because I did
    not drink…. broke that rule a bit having one or two draughts of Molson’s Export with my
    crew who were a mixed bag of characters from Joe, a professional alcoholic to two recent 
    immigrants from Germany…tough guys who may have been  members of the
    Hitler youth.  And three of us were high school students from Toronto.

    It was around noon when we started drinking, The room was dark and dingy.  Lots of
    cigarette smoke and spilled beer.  Small beer glasses in those days so we ordered a tableful
    of them,  Mostly men in the room.  In those days men’s beverage rooms were exclusively for men
    or men with ‘escorts’ so there were a couple of women present. Sort of hidden.  I only
    remember one woman but I recognized her.  We had travelled together in a taxi from
    St. Felicien to Chibougamau.  Five passengers none of which I knew.  All French Canadians
    All rather rough French Canadian men.   We stopped twice to take a leak
    on the trip.   They seemed oblivious to the presence of the girl.  

      She was stunning.  About my age. I was seventeen.  She may have
    been twenty.   That was some trip.  Gravel road in which the mining trucks from
    the Opemiskka copper mine had the rIght of  way. Spraying gravel at bay car that dared 
    challenge that right. Our Driver charged extra for the hundred or so mile trip
    because of the likelihood his car would be damaged from flying gravel.  I think he
    did get a crack in the windshield or he already had one. 

     She was so attractive that I
    was embarrassed when the other men just took a leak in plain sight.
     
    And here she was sitting in the beer parlour which was jammed with men who 
    were overdoing it on beer while the record player boomed out Heartbreak Hotel
    over and over again.

    She  got up and left a couple of times.  Always with a man…different man who
    left money on the table.  With her was one of the guys that was also in the
    taxi.  It took me a few minutes to figure out what was going on.  Then in a flash
    I knew.  The girl was a prostitute doing quick tricks for her pimp.  I was devastated.

    Could I rescue her?   Should I rescue her?  Wasn’t this none of my business?
    No one seemed to notice the transactions except for me.  Perhaps it was only
    my imagination gone wild on two draughts of beer.   I did nothing stupid.  Did 
    nothing at all.

    Although it’s always crowdedYou still can find some roomFor broken hearted loversTo cry there in their gloomBe so, they’ll be so lonely, babyThey get so lonelyThey’re so lonely, they could die


    This all happened in one afternoon session.  About four or five o’clock we were
    gathered together and ferried by bush plane back to our miserable camp site.
    Joe F. was falling down drunk by then and regailed us with his sexual exploits
    at his home town of Rouyn, Quebec…to Joe sexual activity was an open book
    or maybe he just made up the stories.  None of them dare I repeat.  Use your
    imagination.   I Liked Joe.  He was the gregarious type.  Later when our food
    supply of bacon and eggs, rolled oats and canned milk,  pork and beans ran
    low we called in a bush plane and sent Joe back to Chibougamau for grub.  He 
    arrived back at camp so drunk that he fell off the pontoon into the water laughing
    all the while.  He did not bring any food but spent our money and his time
    in the Chibougamau Hotel.

    The French Canadians I met did not like me.
    How do i know that?  Because our line cutting crew were French Canadians and
    they were fed less than we were fed, they did not get an R. And R. break but instead
    were expected to get the survey lines laid out as fast as possible so that we could
    tae our Magnetometer readings and report anomalies it there were any. Bull work.

    Anomalies …. speculations … were profitsble on the penny stock market
    back in Toronto where get rich quick schemes sucked he greedy into 
    buying stock on places like Loon Lake Mining Company (a fictitious title from my
     brain).   On that job I learned lots.  

    I was a Boy Scout…a Rover sScout…convinced that I could right the wrongs
    of this world by my presence.  A bit of a prick really.  And a failure.  I did not
    rescue that poor girl….did not even acknowledge I knew her.  And when I did
    act In attempt to make friends with the French line cutting crew I was reminded
    harshly that friendship was not wanted.  When I sat at their hand hewn table
    one French Canadian jabbed his slashing knife into the table in front of me.
    I still remember tat knife waving…it was a machete.  The point was clear. Two
    Solitude. Get the hell back to your own tent.
    Now, the bellhop’s tears keep flowin’And the desk clerk’s dressed in blackWell, they’ve been so long on Lonely StreetWell, they’ll never, they’ll never look backAnd they get so, they get so lonely, babyWell, they are so lonelyThey’re so lonely, they could die
    Well, now, if your baby leaves youAnd you got a tale to tellWell, just take a walk down Lonely StreetTo Heartbreak HotelWhere you will be, you will be lonely, babyWell, you will be lonelyYou’ll be so lonely, you could die

    Post Script:
    1 ) Decades later when I was asked to write a chapter for a Canadian
    history book for senior students, I wrote up my experiences that summer
    of 1956.  In all its glory and brutality including the young girl.  I thought
    my chapter reflected what has happening in Quebec.  The awakening
    of French Canadian nationalism.   The reasons behind it. Guess
    what happened to my chapter?  It was laundered…cleaned up…made
    sotfer.  Beer parlour and sadness of prostitution cut out.



    2 )  Beer was a discovery for me in 1956.  One of the guys smuggled a
    case of  Molson Export into our camp and he gave me a can.  Dad liked beer so
    I rolled the can in brown paper, printed our address (then 455 Annette Street
    in Toronto), and stuck a couple of stamps on it then dropped it in the outgoing
    mail.   It reached Dad.  He slipped it in the fridge, levered it open and gulped it
    down as pleased as punch.  Told his friends that Alan mailed him beer
    from northern quebec.




  • EPISODE 714 PRICE PAID FOR HIGHWAY WIDENING JUNCTION QEW AND 403

    EPISODE 714   PRICE PAID FOR HIGHWAY WIDENING   JUNCTION QEW AND 403


    alan skeoch
    january 10, 2023

    On two separate occasions I chanced upon two distinct barns that were lost 
    sometime in the last 40 years.   I don’t know why I took the trouble to approach
    these barns.  I had a feeling we were losing something when a road widening 
    occurs for the public good.

    EPISODE 714   PRICE PAID FOR HIGHWAY WIDENING   JUNCTION QEW AND 403


    1)  Barn on fire as we came home from our farm one afternoon.   South side of QEW just as highway turns south
    toward the Ford plant.

    2)  Barn about to be bulldozed.  “I was paid for the barn but wish I had it back.  So many nice memories.” said 
    the former owner as he stood in the old sable.  North side of QEW directly opposite to the barn fire.


    alan skeoch