Day Eighty Two
Our first full day in St. John’s, we made plans for some touring in the morning and a few chores for the afternoon. Our first stop for the day was….. A lighthouse… surprise! We headed to the Cape Spear Lighthouse National Historic Site twenty minutes east of St. John’s. This lighthouse was built in 1836, making it the second oldest lighthouse in Newfoundland, but the oldest surviving lighthouse as the oldest lighthouse has been rebuilt due to a fire.
As we climbed the hills to the lighthouse, we were told the Cape is a great place to see whales. Lori and I kept our eyes on the horizon hoping for a glimpse; sure enough, we spotted two whales in the distance, slowly making their way north. I was able to record it on the video, but you will have to expand it to see the whales.
At the top of the hill, there are actually two lighthouses now constructed, the taller one in the photos is the modern replacement built in 1955, compared to the older square lighthouse. The original lighthouse has been turned into a museum with all the original furniture and household apparel you would expect to find.
Much to the disappointment of the St. John’s community, the first lighthouse keeper was Emanuel Warre hired from Scotland. In 1846 Emanuel passed away and the position went to James Cantwell, a local of St. John’s. The position was promised to James by Prince Henry of the Netherlands after James found, and piloted the princes ship the Rhine, safely into St. John’s harbour one foggy morning. As a reward the Prince promised him the lighthouse position with the added stipulation that it would belong to the Cantwell heirs as long as they desired. The Cantwell family managed the lighthouse until 1997.
During WWII, a German attack on the harbour was a real threat. In response, the military installed two gun placements to protect the harbour and all shipping within range of the Cape. I was expecting to see two cement pads with grass growing around them, when we walked over. Much to my surprise, the entire section of the Cape had massive cement bunkers with tunnels, and store rooms running from each gun placement, I was blown away to see this. The last time I saw bunkers like these was the German bunkers along the coast of France and the Netherlands, this made me realize how close the war really was to eastern Canada. After we explored the bunkers, we headed back to town for some chores.
