Reclaimed MemoriesOver a century and a half ago, axes, many pairs of hands, and immense will power arrived in Perth County, Ontario. The early settlers tackled the virgin forests and soon the fruits of their back-breaking toil could be seen. Clearings with crude and simple log shantys and primitive stables began to spring up amid the thick stands of sugar maple, elm, beech, ash and oak trees native to this area. The atmosphere was one where the smells of sweat and smoke stained the air and the chopping and crashing of falling timber echoed throughout the land as trees were felled for use and their branches were stacked and burned for weeks on end.

The mid to latter part of the 1800’s saw a new style of home being constructed in Perth County. The settlers were longing to design homes and barns reflecting what they had left behind in Europe. Sawmills now cut much of the native virgin timber into fine lumber. Bricks became available by way of local brick yards and kilns. Buff or white coloured brick came first, followed by a deep red later on. With more abundant crops and increased livestock, larger more elaborate barns started to take shape. The immense old growth trees lent themselves well to the hand hewn timbers held together with wooden pegs that were the skeleton of these barns. The woods were harvested from the same farm properties where the structures were erected and would stand for another hundred years or more. It was the spirit of the pioneers, the courageous and industrious settlers, who carved a homeland out of wilderness with a few simple hand tools and a formidable strength.

The “Ontario Cottages” sometimes with walls of five buff bricks in thickness were some of the first built. Gables with gingerbread and high wooden finials standing guard above their rooflines were prominent. Then came the large and ma-jestic “Victorian” homes built of deep red bricks. Fish scale shingles decorated “A” shaped pediments. Slate roofs and large open verandahs with columns adorned these late 1800 and early 1900’s farm houses.

Over one hundred years has now passed. Many of these homes that were created with such pride have now stood empty for long periods of time. Relinquished to the harsh elements, they have deteriorated beyond repair. Passed into different hands as decades came and went, the names of their original inhabitants are often lost but their work and the memories of them are left. These homesteads, like the few pioneers who remain are feeble, stooped and the wrinkles of time are deeply etched. Old weathered barns, roofs caved in, shrubs growing up through floors and long grass all around them stand forlorn against a landscape of modern agriculture. Although the structures are left in ruin, the woods remain for salvage. The hardwoods which once rendered the granaries mouseproof are still solid; polished smooth by the years of flowing grains. The thrashing floors long made obsolete by the invention of the combine are covered in thick virgin lumber with tight grain and colours not seen in today’s woods. Beams, barn boards, ladders, all stand and wait for a use in modern times. The virgin woods still hold life in the houses which today’s lives have aban-doned. Ornate carved staircases, tongue and groove ceilings of fir, decorative trim, mantles and hardwood floors of oak, maple and beech are treasures lost in time.

At Windbreak Farm Wood Works we like to keep memories alive by salvaging some of these precious old and unique woods, using them to create our special products.