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November 1998 WEST VANCOUVER HISTORICAL SOCIETY Pages AND THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS Cabin Builders on Hollybum By: Barbara Johnson^ Contributions Editor Barbara Johnson's friend, Harold Plumsteel sent her the following article which. Barbara feels.it will bring back happy memories to many people of their early days enjoying the beauties of the Ridge and the companionship of the Hollybum brigade. My memory takes me back to the late 20s on Hollybum Ridge. Cabins were being built by the dozens. We slept in an old deserted shake cabin while we built our log cabins. James Nasmyth had the trees on the West side for cedar shakes and shingles. On the east side, for cedar shakes and shingles. Shields operated its flumes and railway, taking shingle bolts too. In 1930 we found dozens of shingle bolts left behind and in good shape. We cut these bolts into shakes for our floors and roofs. Thick shakes for the floors, and thin ones for the roofs. This helped us greatly. Our cabin, the Circle Five® was built by five chums. There was a cluster of 5 cabins close together. These were the “Smokehouse, ” “Doghouse, ” Circle ®, “Buccaneers, ” and “Musketeers. ” The 3 large cabins would house 6 to 8 each, and the 2 small cabins 3 to 5 persons each on weekends. This meant a group of over 30 boys and girls (some sisters and other girlfriends). All would party Saturday night at the large cabins or travel to Hollybum Ski Camp for dances. Later, as the number of visitors grew, we doubled the size of the® cabin. ... all would party Saturday night,.. Sunday would find us up on the slopes skiing. Early winters, we could ice skate before the snow deepened. Only half our group had steady jobs after the Big Depression of 1929. This was not important, as we were living at home and just through school. Those not working steady could spend more days enjoying cabin life and doing chores. The offices and trades usually finished the week on Saturday nocMi, while retailers had to work until 6:00 p.m. This gave those in the stores a very short weekend. Once a winter, cabins on the Ridge held a dance at the Lodge Hall that later became Ferguson’s Storage on Marine Drive, west of 22nd Street. Here we danced till midnight before starting up to our cabins. For a while there was a even Roller Rink by the Ferry Dock to coax us in. Some of the loads we packed were so laige, the Vancouver Street Car Conductors refused to let us board. We would have to wait for a near empty car. At the north end of Columbia Street, we embarked on the West Van Ferry. This boat trip was usually calm in the Harbour, but often rough sailing at the First Narrows to the West Van. Dock. The winter fogs were a real problem too. I can still see us going below in the bow, packed like sardines. We sure tmsted the ferry crew with our lives. Often we saw killer whales. After arriving at Ambleside dock we usually walked along Marine Drive to 22nd Street, stopping at Allysons General Store on the S.W comer. Here we got items we forgot to bring, from potatoes to carbide and candles. On rare occasions we had to use one of our old cars to take up bedsprings, stoves and pipes, etc. This meant travelling by North Van Ferry or Second Narrows Bridge. The cars of the 20’s and 30’s were prone to dampness getting into the electrical parts. We would remove the distributor cap first and dry out with a small paper fire. One weekend we found dozens of cabins broken into. Our cabin lost 5 pairs of skis and ice skates. After this a patrol was started by Scotty Finlayson, who later patrolled the Lions Gate Bridge and ended working with the West Vancouver Police. We paid 25c per person per week for this patrol service. By the latter 30’s the Depression was still on. Couples were planning marriage and no city jobs were available so, one at a time, fellows left for far away jobs. In oui®cabin, Fred Mcdonald left for the Butedale Cannery up coast. His brother. Bill Mcdonald, went to a ranch in the Cariboo. Grant McQuarrie left for Ocean Falls Paper Mill and Bill Fleming departed to McBride to work for the C.N. Railway. I was the only one left and very unhappy at losing my close pals. But marriage changed this and I gave the cabin to five younger fellows I knew. At our 1995 Summer Reunion on Hollybum I happened to meet the third©cabin owners. I showed ftiem snaps of the original cabin and they talked about the changes they made to it. This was the highlight of the Reunion for me. Did You Miss a Meeting? Did you know that we video tape all our guest SPEAKERS AND THAT, AS A SOCIETY MEMBER, YOU ARE WELCOME TO BORROW THE VIDEO? So, IF YOU MISSED A GENERAL MEETING AND WANT TO HEAR THE SPEAKER, DROP BY THE Gertrude Lawson House and borrow the TAPE TO WATCH AT HOME.