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COMMUNITIES 198C Page Scotch Block farmer taught in one room school black dots multiply on most recent map of village The times they are changing in Ashgrove Who might know better than a former Ashgrove school teacher and curator of the histories Bird was bom in but she came o teach school in Ashgrove in 1W3 Sties been a part of life in the liny hamlet over since Pulling out a map from 1877 prepared by the Ashgrove Women Institute every little detail is carefully laid out for future students of ruralhlstory You sec all the little dots You can hardly get all the houses jc counted for really she said On the concessions back roads such as the Eighth Line there has been a lot of residential development over the years she said The other older maps arc so plain in comparison she said noting the lack of lutlc black dots The Ashgrove history In maps dale back to said Mrs Bird Mrs Bird was trained as a teacher In Toronto Jobs were plentiful Ins the war and it was possible to be selective In choosing where you she said I wan invited to teach close to the city but I wanted to be my own boss have my own school in the country he said The Job meant teaching eight grades and looking after 36 students One of her biggest thrills was tear how to use a camera Indoors so that she could capture special events on film such as school plays The brick school In was built In 1670 It Is still standing and is now used as a mechanics shop op posite the Jeff Nurse farm on Trafalgar Road of pupils from families who moved in to work at a Sixth Line sawmill Mrs Bird married husband John in 1951 who farmed In on Trafalgar Road They raised three children together The young peo pic would get together at the church and also at young farmer socials she said As a young woman remembers donees In and corn roasts in the fill The church in Ashgrove was on Lot near the school The old brick church was dismonlled and rebuilt into a house in In the Hornby and Ashgrove lions amalgamated and United Church was built The four comers of now support more people than it once did Mrs Bird said Until about years ago there were five or so houses Now there about she IMUmS NOTE The above aril i from a Feb lt84 Herald Stair tanning has been a way of life for Jim Fisher dad grandfather and great grandfather Ever since great grandfather William Fisher left his Scottish homeland with his relatively new bride the fishers hove lived In the area on Scotch Block Many Scots settled in the area stretching from Sideroad to down to Second line the There were some English Scoli and Irish down the tte never hod differences Some of them Scots even married on Irish girl Mr Fisher said Bock on Nov 1H76 William 100 acres of land from William Hoe for he sum of The mortgage was set at percent Jim fisher still has the deed with Its black Inked lettering A while haired farmer with green eyes to the green worksfilrl his overalls Mr Fisher has been the of the farm property for many Bom in Mr Fisher has seen a lot of changes Fifth Line As kid I used to ride horse from this Steelcs Avenue to gel formers to sign for rural moil he smiled Next was far the ravel on the road and next the ydro Before the arrival of rural mail farmers would pick up their mall from a post office In a white house that stilt stands on the north corner of the village off Trafalgar Road People by the name of Hoods us ed to run it Mr Fisher said It us to be one for a card and two cents for a letter Of the original acres hydro has taken acres and acres hove been sold to neighbor Bob Law son a cousin When Mr Fisher was a dent at Waterloo School SS No he used to go early to dust the desks and start up fire in the Fourth Line building so that the school would be warm for the teacher and other students due to arrive He was the caretaker for the school and would leave at IS a m Mr Fisher s dad would let him take the horse in the winter and by Itself the horse would trot back to the farm One Mondav morning I went there and there been a tramp over on the weekend They would walk down the track and beg their meals along the way Mr Fisher There were four grades and one tencher in tilt school room Mr remembered his first being Charles Day of lie was a bad bugger I seen him give one student the strap so bad he couldn write next day He brutish Mr tishersoid A favorite activity of Mr Fisher boyhood wis smoking cedar bark The lads would take the bark off the telephone post and roll it up with a piece of butter paper like a cigarette They got a good lecture I the teacher Ihem Not doing well in Grade a Mr Usher left school Easter ding to start his year ogam in September 1 ve been working on the form ever since he said Helping his dad out Mr Fisher would take learn of two horses on the walking plow and turn up ih sol Plowing one acre is the equivalent of walking 15 miles There were acres to plow so that wheat so beans pumpkin and a rape seed could bo planted On the wall of the home built in 1897 by Mr Fisher s father when he married is a painting Georgetown s Sieve Clayton It shows Mr Fisher with the walking plow and two horses We always hod good neighbors go help them with threshing and there d be from 12 to 1G men here for meals when they to help you he said There wen crosscut bees for firewood and cularbees At one point in villages history there were three hotels three stores a paint shop a chair factory Huff man wagon shop and Hood blacksmith shop There was also a weigh scale at the corner for the grain farmers she aid The four horse stage which operated from to used to change horses in Ashgrove Mrs Bird said A post of flee operated In the village from 1S52 1913 Most buildings are still there the core ones like the grain storage bam she said The Ashgrove Twecdsmuir history was started in An Ashgrove Women Institute was founded in 1920 Thus far there are large size pages in the history collection consisting of pictures and articles The collection is available on microfilm at the Georgetown Public Library And 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