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c i thursday june 2nd 1995 the acton free press scton ontario paob nvi pollock and campbell manufacturers of highgrade memorials memorial engraving 62 water st north gait telephone 204s l for chixdben on1v mtldmay ont cp plans have been completed for one of the first restricted fishing streams in ontario for children under 1 a meeting of the saugeen valley con servation authority mildmay coun cil and rotary club- set may 14 as opening date ten junior game war dens will patrol the stream in mild may park to watch for adult poachers were on a pedestal haltons pages of the past speyside looks back to century of activity with sawmills hotels hop kilns and quarry by gwen clabkb sure were proudl weve got a reputation to maintain for the finest in dry charring service call us today i main street 2 7 3 acton halfway between milton and ac ton on highway 25 and no is side- road there is a very small commun ity known as speyside consisting only of a few houses a general store and gas pumps a century ago the picture was very different there were several hotels at i spey theny a ta s stone quarry two general stores village hall shingle mill post office a considerable number of houses and a log cabin there were seven streets all told the registered plan of the village shows the main thor oughfare as cruickshank street east of cruickshank was ashbury mill and water streets west of cruickshank first second and third street speyside with its ltttlo creek tumbling over the rocks forming a miniature waterfall was named after the river spe in scotland it has a high elevation and from the top of the mountain road high way 2s there is a magnificent view from which the countryside is vis ible for miles around in fact on a clear day the blue of lake ontario merges with the haze of the distant horizon rocky and wellwaoded speyside is still a rocky and well wooded section of esquesmg town- r r ship so it is easy to believe that in j y its early days great pines grew in i the district many fine timbers were sold to the shipbuilding trade but only handhewn timbers were ac ceptable tor this purpose sawn logs were refused because handhewn timbers were known to withstand the weather better than those ut downwuha jsaw sine ojlthi sawmills set up was in the woods back jcthe present dufferin school a curious little incident gave the place its name of st helena haggardbrothers of brampton makers of milling machinery had received an order for such require ments arid sent some of their men headed b their chief engineer wil liam hampshire to look oxer the location wm hampshire was the father of w j l hampshire an octogenarian who still lives on highwav 25 the partv dlove through acton weaving then way among the stumps on the main street of the village and then proceeded south to speyside from speyside they con tinued on foot through the dense forest and after considerable trouble located a slight clearing which they presumed was the in tended location of thi sawmill looking around the wild almost in- black ceiling looks higher hst post office at speyside thisearly log cabin was located on the southeast comer of no 25 highway it was also the dwelling place of the first postmaster robert mcpherson who was succeeded by connelly plank and james martin accessible territory ww hampshire exclaimedthis must surely be st helena evidently he could nut imagine the scene of napolean s exile being much more desolate than this section of esquesmg stone from hume quarry the name stuck and it has re mained st helena to this day- i i i i i f j j i t i t a personal message to you from premier leslie m frost lesue m frost prime minister of ontario dear friends yqpr community along with a thousand others forms the keystone of ontarios progress and prosperity as your popula tion grows ontario grows as your schools hospitals utilities and roads jmprove ontario improves and as you and your community prosper ontario forges ahead as the greatest province in canada to keep ontario and all its people going forward to greater progress and prosperity i ask you to reelect your progressive conservative government in the provincial election being held on june 9th give the progressive conservative candidate in your riding the opportunity to carry on your governments excellent record of making ontario a better place for you and your family ab proof of that record look at these facts i this year govftrmrwitit grant tn miinioipnlitiga nmnnnr to 165 million or more than 44 of all provincial revenues this large sum of money will help build new schools hospitals roads bridges co c and othe bervicesallthisgillbe 3 your progressive conservative government has helped bring the modern convenience and comfort of hydro to over 85 of rural ontario half the cost of bringing in rural hydro lines has been paid for directly by the province 4 jobs for over 175000 people will be provided by the 700 million construction program of the province and its municipalities which is now underway 5 your provincial government was the first in canada to make discrimination illegal every citizen of ontario regardless of his race colour or creed has the opportunity to live where he likes to work at any job he chooses and to rise as high in life as his own ability can jtake him 6 ontarios government has provided grants for 74 new homes for the aged 25 thousand new hospital beds we have secured old age pensions for all at 70 and for the needyat45 ontario is the first province in canada to provide pensions for the totally disabled and the blind at 18 done at a saving of about onethird of all the local tax bills 2 we believe that every child in ontario has an equal right to free education and that ontario should have the finest schooling in the country in 1955 your government will spend over 102 million on education including the greatest school building campaign in our history the spectacular achievements of the past three and a half years have been accomplished with no new faxes and with some tax reductions- ontarios taxes are the lowest n canada on june 9th i ask for your support of my government i urge you in your own best interestsrto elect the progressive conservative candidate in your riding for the prosperity and progress of everyone m this great province forward ontario vvawtomtario y the mill tom hume s sawmill did a considerable amount of cus tom work and us a sample of the cost of lumber in those faroff days we will give one instance james murray on the fourth lane es quesmg lost lift barn bv tire he decided to rebuild and ordered sawn lumber from humes mill at the rate of 5 per 1 000 feet delivered there was also the hume quarry baik of the present glenspey farms this was aftei wards own ed b a man named lobv rented to eddy uid thill to bates most of the stone used the building of boston chureh cami from het and manv of the bridges in halton countv weie const ucted fiom stone from this quarrv twenty stone luttiis weir tmplowd most of the turn mmv oidirs win meivcd fi tin ntv or toionto fill stoni mib- ihr commonk usi d l fun ct mt nt sidiuilks cjmi into bi ing tlwsi ouhstonis wen fi om r to k fi it long 5 to 0 mrhis widt uid ibout two fe t diep win n s t into plan the curbstones wen imbtddfd it liast a foot into tin giound saw mills and hop kilns hops wen grown quite i tensiv e k in the speyside district and wi re dmd in farnx rs in tin ir own kilns until a few veais iro two of thi se kiliw were on the prupeitv of robert diedge but hae since been de molished to maki loom foi modern btnldinrs howivcr th n still ie- niains on the dredre farm an old buildinc now usid as a toolshed which vds once a pioneir home the firt hotel in speyside was owned bv david dewar who later sold out to donald stewart and then removed to milton to open what is now known as the commer cial hotel on main street west the stewart hotel was very popular and stood on the northwest corner of the crossroads alonr with several houses all have lonr since disap peared there was a tannery own ed by philip drummond an irish man who it is said was quite a character another sawmill was owned suc cessively by cruickshanks a mr henrj and peter sayers the mill did a lot of custom work in barrel staves the villare smithy was a man named taylor the first genc- ral stores were opined by kennedy and john plant respectively thi present corner store now run by in finishing a basement many people hesitate to put a celling un der the exposed joists because of it emphasizing the low headroom a large furniture store pressed for more space and compelled to use its basement for additional showroom solved this problem n a novel manner ah ceiling beams pipes and con duits were left exposed but painted black bright lights with large hallow reflecting shades above them were placed flush with the joists the lights concentrated vision on the brightlycolored furnishings ind away from the- coiling which was so black that none of its maze of utilities could be seen btfvc ry ti mrs william douglas was first opened bv john crawshaw on land bought from one of the early set tlers ephraim moore popular village hall until quite recently there was an old log cabin on the southeast cor nel- of the crossroads this was the first post office at speyside it was also the dwelling place of the first postmaster robert m wh6 was succeeded by connelly pnpk and james martin the village hall a roomy well- constructed building was a verv popular place for many years it was one of the first places chosen bv d d christie and the hon dav id henderson m p as headquarters for northhalton political cam paigns many of the oldtimers around speyside had a reputation for being hotheaded hardfisted partisans and speyside became known as a good place for a fight but the village hall had other uses before waterloo and duffcrin chools were opened a community st bool was held in the hall for a number of vears where the three r were imparted to a rreater or less er degree according to receptive- n ss of the students when the hall was no longer required for the ibme mentioned purposes it was tnkn over h mr tavlor and be came a blacksmith s shop and we understand the blacksmith s forre iv as a gn ati r attraction to the children than tht hlnrkhoaid had i v i r been a wonderful panorama tlie hnd iround spe side when clean d of lock and stumps proved to b excellent sandy loam soil good tor fn id crops fruits and mar- k t rird nuir this the early set- tltis wi r quick to discover and as a risult rood productive farms win soon verv much in evidence among thi well known farmers of ih it time we find familiar names such as michie mc arthur mc- naughton moore hume dredge hampshire and duff the four corners at speyside now hold little interest for travellers alonr the way but just south of the intersection the view is just as good if not better than in the days of the pioneer here there is a won derful panorama of the surrounding countryside from the highway that is wellworth a trip to see look ing down into the valley craiglca i plainly visible which as we men tioned in a previous column was the home of john stewart one of william lyon mackenzies most loyal followers duffcrin the little red school house has taken the place of the village hall but alongside the school there is still a steep narrow and tortuous road lying between treacherous rocks and gullies lead ing to the oddly named section of land known as st helena reproduction right reserved nv dills printing publishing company s ogres c fi v c onservativ wdkvamq f cofliuig kome now-r- at the end of the dav there s nothing more exerting than dads voice to report when he will be home for dinner it males such a big difference to little people who have waited all dav forfdaddv s voice it males a difference to vour wife too she lilcs to have some warning when ou have been dclaved f this is ust qpe of the countless wars vour i telephone pas itswayas ir make life happier easier more secure jbs the ieu 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