Well spring has sprung and that means it’s time for something we’d been waiting for since winter began, photo adventures! This trip we decided to head along route 60 that takes you along the coast of Conception Harbor, with stops in Holyrood, Chapel’s Cove and Brigus — but by the time we got there it was snowing pretty good and the photo opportunities were all but zilch.

But rewinding back to Holyrood and where we got lucky, real lucky.

If you’re familiar with the Holyrood area at all you’ll know of the gigantic decaying concrete mess of a building that was once a factory producing rubber boots and clothing by Ludwig Grube. During Joey Smallwood’s term as Newfoundland Premiere and as part of the Economic Development Plan the plant was built in 1954. It was part of a drive to develop new industries on the island and was a program created after Joey had visited Germany and encouraged (persuaded) German businessmen to bring their companies to Newfoundland.

The plant was closed in 1956… two years, well done!

The building itself is amazing. It’s unlike anything else you’ll see on the island, large 45degree angular windows line the ceiling and an open space large enough to house a small hockey rink (which was tried but not possible due to supporting beams). You could really understand how the design would allow a production facility such as this to run most days with only natural light.

After the stop in Holyrood we continued on and visited a far more successful industry, textiles. More specifically: sheep shearing. We found ourselves face to face with two llamas and soon we were speaking to Linda Lewis who runs Baynoddy Knitwear. The farm has been there for over 200 years, handed down through the families. The majority of what Linda produces is via hand pulled wool from the sheep that she manages on site. The mittens, sweaters, hat and scarves are all hand made to perfection.

Our last stop on this impromptu industrial tour of the Conception Bay area was none other than E&E Drive-In, arguably the most popular industry in Newfoundland, perhaps too much so if give any merit to what one wanker Norwegian writer has to say.