Sunday means a drive, a coffee and a muffin and a little exploration. An added feature to today's jaunt was the presence of wild fire smoke that's finally reached the lower mainland.
We headed out to Richmond this weekend. We swung by Finn Slough for a quick look at what's going on there these days before going to check out the Britannia Shipyards. (between Gary Point and London Farm)
The original Britannia building was built in 1889. The shipyards was a waterfront community built on pilings connected by boardwalks. It was a 3km stretch of shoreline known as Cannery Channel.
In 1942 any Japanese businesses, homes or possessions of worth like vehicles 'changed ownership' due to the Japanese Interment during the Second World War. ('for reasons of security' 27,000 Japanese Canadians were eventually either detained or deported.)
[Yet another less-than-stellar moment in Canadian history. Don't even get me started on the treatment of our Indigenous peoples.]
In 1980 Britannia eventually closed for good and sat empty for many years until it was donated to the City of Richmond and finally designated a National Historic Site in 1992. In it's heyday Cannery Channel was a complex of over 90 structures.
Today there is still a number of well maintained original buildings open to visit for free.
Photos.
