here - Britannia Mine Museum

THE BEST OF
BRITANNIA
Life in a Company Town
Best of Britannia - Life in a Company Town
1st edition published, 2014
© Britannia Mine Museum
CONTENTS
Introduction .
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Britannia Beach, “The Beach” .
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Mount Sheer, “The Townsite” .
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Copper Queen & Annual Celebrations .
Community .
Camp Life .
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Transportation .
Working Life .
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Sports & Recreation .
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We have chosen a selection of photographs out of our extensive archival collection to best represent
the former Britannia Mine. These photos are arranged thematically rather than chronologically in an
effort to highlight the place and community of Britannia’s spirited history.
The Britannia Mine – few realize it was once one of the biggest copper mines
in the world. Today the town of Britannia Beach is a small community north of
Vancouver, but in its formative years, it was said that Vancouver would become a
bedroom community for the Mine. That accolade never came to fruition, but the
Mine, its two townsites and several mining camps were said to be home to over
sixty thousand people from fifty nationalities over the seventy years of its life.
Ore in the Britannia Mountains was discovered by prospector Dr. Alexander Forbes
in 1888. It was ten years later that investors began to take notice of its potential.
In 1900 the Britannia Copper Syndicate was formed and two years later, mining
engineer George Robinson had a controlling interest and had begun development
work. By 1904, with prospects looking promising, the Howe Sound Company was
formed in New York and the Mine finally went into production.
The townsite of Britannia Beach – later fondly known as ‘the Beach’ – was established
at the shore. It became the home of the milling, industrial and administrative
operations. The mining occurred high in the mountains above, where camps for
the miners were established over the next few years.
The early life of the Mine saw rocky patches and despite the ore deposit’s potential,
the Mine was not profitable. Among other things, Mill 1 had been too hastily
designed for the ore that was being extracted and in 1906 Robinson, the man who
had done so much to get the mine started, passed away.
The turnaround of the Mine’s prospects came with the arrival of John Wedderburn
Dunbar Moodie. A tough, unsmiling man, Moodie was far from a popular general
manager. But he got things done. He made the underground operations far
more effective, lowering staffing costs in the process. A more efficient Mill 2 was
constructed to account for the evolution of ore processing technologies and the
increase in ore extraction. By the time he resigned in 1920 he had turned the Mine
around into one with a great future.
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During these years there is one event that cannot be forgotten. On March 22, 1915
an avalanche of rock and snow barrelled down the mountain, engulfing the high
level Jane Camp. Fifty six men, women and children were killed. Being so high and
isolated, it was hours before proper help could reach them. With so many lost, this
became the darkest day in the Mine’s history.
After this, the lower level Tunnel Camp was developed into the main townsite for
the mining operations, the workers and their families. This became the Mount
Sheer Townsite – fondly known as ‘the Townsite’. It eventually became a fully
functioning town, with a school, hospital, store and homes, just like the Beach.
If the Jane Slide was the darkest event, 1921 was the darkest year. Mill 2 was
destroyed by an unexplained fire and two miners were trapped for eight days
underground. They were thankfully rescued alive. Yet these two events were
eclipsed by a tragic flood on the night of October 28 which claimed the lives of
thirty six residents including women and children. After days of heavy rain, a
blocked culvert on Britannia Creek burst, sending a torrent of water, boulders and
logs crashing towards the Beach. Buildings were crushed like matchsticks and
others were washed into Howe Sound. As daylight broke the devastation was
revealed to all. However the survivors rallied. Buildings, lives and the Mill were all
rebuilt. Of these, the new Mill 3, completed in 1923, was the most significant. It
helped make the Mine the world leader it became.
Not only was Mill 3 critical to the Mine’s success but so too was Carleton Perkins
Browning. He rose through the ranks to become General Manager in 1922.
Browning was a beloved manager – intelligent, caring and benevolent. He saw
the Mine through thick and thin until his retirement in 1948 when many tears
were shed at his leaving. During his time there, among other things, a union was
allowed to be formed and safety at the Mine increased dramatically.
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It was tough at times but the Mine survived the Great Depression. In fact during
the early 1930’s it had become the largest copper mine in the then British Empire.
Mill 3 was processing an impressive seven thousand tons of ore per day.
Being a Company Town, all buildings and facilities were owned by the Mine. No one
could live there unless at least one member of the family worked for the Company.
This included all jobs associated with the running of the town such as doctors,
nurses, teachers, secretaries and cooks. The residents enjoyed many recreational
facilities. Both the Beach and the Townsite had a heated swimming pool. There
were also movie theatres, tennis courts, games rooms and billiards. The locality
offered hiking, mountaineering, fishing, skiing and bathing at the local lakes. A
favourite lake became known as Browning Lake after the Browning family who
owned a cabin there. That lake, now part of Murrin Provincial Park was a draw for
diving and swimming in summer, and skating and hockey in winter.
Community events and celebrations happened regularly – it was any excuse for
a party. The highlight of the year was the Copper Queen Ceremony. One lucky
girl was elected by the students each year and crowned on Victoria Day. A day
long event brought the community together for races, maypole dancing and
competitions. The fun lasted into the night when residents would dance the night
away. Miner’s Days were another annual highlight which saw the men compete in
drilling, mucking, safety and other competitions.
Until the railway from Vancouver came through in 1956 and the road in 1958, the
only real way to reach or leave the Mine was by boat. This isolation forged a very
strong community spirit and meant that the residents and workers became very
self-sufficient. In fact it was said by many that once the road and rail arrived, it
signalled the beginning of the end for the community.
By the late 1950s, times were hard on the Mine. A temporary shut down in 1958 led
to the end of the Townsite. It was abandoned and even after the Mine restarted, the
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town was never lived in again. It was eventually demolished and nature regained
control. Apart from a few places, it is now hard to tell there was ever a town there.
In 1963 the mining giant Anaconda took control of the Mine, breathing new life
into it. Things began to look up again as they put a big focus into new explorations.
New workers and their families came in to the area and investment was put back
into the town. But nothing lasts forever. In 1974, with economic conditions too
taxing, the final order came to shut it down. The last shift went underground on
November 1.
By the time the Mine closed, there were 210 km of tunnels over a vertical height of
1750 metres, with the lowest point being 650 metres below sea level. It extracted
50 million tons of the ores of copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver and cadmium. The
metal produced would weigh the equivalent of over 4000 jumbo jets.
Many of those who lived there remember their time fondly. Whether they were
working men, working women, stay at home wives and mothers or the kids growing
up, they look back on those years and remember the countless good times – the
freedom, the sense of community spirit, the friends they made and the adventures
they had.
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After the Mine
For the next forty years, the Britannia Beach community struggled on. Still a
Company Town, there was little investment and all the residents remained
tenants, not home owners. Meanwhile decades of acidic heavy metal pollution
had killed off local aquatic life, turning the local waters into a dead zone. The
community was very definitely in the doldrums. Some residents left to seek new
lives elsewhere. Others stayed and fought for a better community, knowing it was
a community worth fighting for.
Today, the community and the aquatic life have bounced back. A new developer
sold land to the residents and for the first time in many years, new homes began
to spring up. Historic buildings were given a new lease of life and the Britannia
Mine Museum (formerly the BC Museum of Mining which opened in 1975) also
went through a regeneration phase. Most notable of this was the exterior of Mill 3
which had become greatly dilapidated since the Mine closed.
It is the environmental impacts though that have seen the greatest improvement.
Much remediation work was done to the contaminated land and a water capture
system was installed. The mine now acts as a reservoir for the polluted water,
where it is directed to a water treatment plant which is run by EPCOR. Since the
facility opened in 2005, there has been a continual and vast improvement to the
quality of the water. Marine life has returned to the intertidal zone and salmon
can now be seen swimming in the Britannia Creek. The tide has definitely turned
for this remarkable little community.
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MOUNT SHEER, “THE TOWNSITE”
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The community of Mount Sheer – fondly known as “the Townsite” – is nestled in
the valley above Britannia Beach at a height of 600 metres and 4.5 km inland.
Before a road was built in 1952, everyone had to walk up 347 stairs, load onto
an incline skip car and then ride a train. This was a fully functioning town with
everything from a hospital to a high school.
In 1958 the highway came through joining Vancouver to Britannia and Squamish.
With the building of the road and a Mine closure that same year, the town was
abandoned and the buildings were destroyed in the 1960s.
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MOUNT SHEER, “THE TOWNSITE”
1. Swimming pool, circa 1951. BMM # 3626
2. Swimming pool, circa 1951. BMM # 11657
3. Tennis on the wooden court. BMM # 13207
4. Running race at Sports Day. BMM # 11123
5. Gymnastics display at the Mount Sheer Townsite gym. BMM # 11570
6. Mount Sheer Townsite bandstand. BMM # 13208
7. Mount Sheer Townsite houses, 1939. BMM # 14068
8. Inside the Mount Sheer Townsite Company Store. BMM # 11551
9. Snow in 2200 Yard with Electric Shop in centre. BMM # 11546
10. Mount Sheer Townsite and Clubhouse with residents aboard the Mount Sheer Townsite railway.
BMM # 12859
11. Ceremony for No. 8 Mine celebrating 100 days without compensable injuries. BMM # 20475
12. Bunkhouse at Mount Sheer Townsite. BMM # 11945
13. Britannia Beach High School group photo, 1930s. BMM # 11823
14. Britannia Beach High School group photo. BMM # 13089
15. Mount Sheer Townsite at night. BMM # 11768
16. Train tracks cleared of snow. BMM # 13056
17. Loading the train for the ride to the Incline Skip. BMM # 10940
18. Riding the Incline Skip. BMM # 12007
19. Riding the Incline Skip. BMM # 18143
20. Domestic childhood at the Mount Sheer Townsite. BMM # 20492
21. Railway through Mount Sheer Townsite. BMM # 18078
22. Wedge plow introduced in 1927 to clear the tracks at the Mount Sheer Townsite. BMM # 11544
23. Tunnel Dam and houses beyond. BMM # 11964
24. East end of the Mount Sheer Townsite. BMM # 16991
25. Aerial view of the Mount Sheer Townsite. BMM # 11258
26. The removal of a Mount Sheer Townsite home to Minaty Bay, 1960. BMM # 10948
27. The removal of a Mount Sheer Townsite home to Minaty Bay, 1960. BMM # 10947
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COMMUNITY
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Many of those who grew up at the Mine remember their childhood with great
fondness. There were a lot of children as many miners brought their wives and
children with them to Britannia. It was a safe community – being an isolated
Company Town, there were no strangers. There were dances, a car club and an
equestrian club for the teens. The younger kids had organized clubs such as Cubs
and Brownies but they also had the freedom to play. Adults enjoyed a chock-ablock social calendar that included parties, dances, plays and concerts. Hardly a
commemorative day went by without some kind of celebration!
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COMMUNITY
1. “Elmer and the Lovebug” play. BMM # 18098
2. Scouts form honour party in front of school on Miner’s Day for flag-raising ceremony. BMM # 13213
3. Mount Sheer Townsite Canadian Girls in Training, 1942. BMM # 18089
4. Boy Scouts. BMM # 12626
5. Boy Scouts, 1944. BMM # 10897
6. Sunday School outside Beach Clubhouse, 1936. BMM # 11465
7. Beach Community Church Choir. BMM # 12327
8. Children perform a play. BMM # 11783
9. Group on stage performing a play, 1970. BMM # 6042
10. Group on stage performing a play. BMM # 11999
11. “Snow White & the Seven Dwarves” play. BMM # 17066
12. Parent-teacher conference. BMM # 5619
13. Elementary school group photo. BMM # 2695
14. Britannia Beach Elementary School teachers, 1968-1969. BMM # 11707
15. Britannia Beach Elementary School. BMM # 11041
16. Saxophone player. BMM # 3336
17. Brass band group photo. BMM # 11309
18. Orchestra and Britannia Beach Choir, 1938. BMM # 12480
19. Group picnic. BMM # 18021
20. Reception in “Kitchenette” after drama festival. BMM # 18087
21. Group meal. BMM # 10453
22. High School group photo, 1944-1945. BMM # 11145
23. Elementary school children. BMM # 12287
24. Evening dance. BMM # 13649
25. Halloween, 1970s. BMM # 10424
26. 4th Birthday Party, 1933. BMM # 11029
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