The Eastern Route ( Lang Pioneer Village to the Ottawa Valley)

Summer is about travelling out of town or around town it is about enjoying the weather and seeing things, festivals and historic sites. Does that sound like travel writing? the reality is there is a wealth of textile related events and historic collections to be seen. I went to Lang Pioneer Village outside of Peterborough for their Fibre Festival last August to check out the Samuel Lowry Weaver's Shop construction site which will house the refurbished 19th century Jacquard  and the replica they have made of it.

natural dying the woman doing the demonstration sells her goods along with a booklet in the Villages General Store

the Northumberland Rug Hookers were sitting around "hooking" one a teddy bear from a kit it was her first rug. 

Update:  Funding for Samuel Lowry Weaver's Shop Construction Approved!

At a recent meeting of Peterborough County Council, funding for the construction of the S. W. Lowry Weaver's Shop and Jacquard Loom Interpretive Centre was approved. The project, which will create an environmentally protective environment for the Museum's rare 19th-century Jacquard Loom and demonstration model they have have fabricated, is currently under construction with completion of the structure slated for July 1st, 2010. Following the completion of the building, the Museum will undertake the development of the Jacquard Loom exhibit. This phase is expected to take approximately a year and a half due to the complexity of the looms. The official ribbon cutting ceremony for the building will take place at Lang Pioneer Village Museum's Heritage Celebration Weekend on August 14th, 2010. The opening of the exhibit is anticipated for the 2011 season. ( time to make plans for summer 2011)

During the month of June I travelled to the Ottawa area to visit the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum for the first time. It is located in Almonte Ontario which had a booming textile industry 19th century powered by the geography of the region, good both water and wool from locale sheep

The Missippi Valley Textile Museum is located in the former office space of the Rosamond Woollen Company in Almonte, Ontario. it was just one of the many Mills in and round the Mississippi River Valley outside of Ottawa Ontario. Constructed in 1867 it is now a National Historic Site of Canada.

This Dob- Cross Loom is part of the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum core collection of Textile Machinery. envisioned as a history Museum of the local, regional and national textile industry. This loom had been installed at Eaton's Toronto Store along with a weaver to show how Harris Tweed was woven.

The museum has just been through a renovation and other then the two temporary exhibitions the historic display has not been put in place. They are currently partnering with Algonquin College's Applied Museum Studies Program preparing for a new historic exhibition " Fabric of a Small Town" using the machinery in the permanent collection with additions of artifacts from the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology

 

 When Thirteen Moons Entwine August 15 to October is happening at the Moon Rain Centre in Val des Monts, Quebec, exhibition workshops. While you are in the area there are two "House Museums"  and a Historic Village to visit where you can see the life style of extremes: the founding families and the families who built the city.  

The 1829 Billings House is at 2100 Cabot Street. It is the oldest frame building in Ottawa and a designated National Historic Site. It is the third home of Braddish and Lamira Billings, pioneer settlers who opened up the area in 1813. Trained interpreters will guide you through the epic story, spanning four generations, of one of Ottawa's founding families and the evolution of the surrounding village. Key players in the development of an early Ottawa bridge, its fast-growing timber business, and the conversion of the area's forest into farmland, Braddish and Lamira Billings and their family stand as testament to the realization of a vision and the creation of a community.

Gamman House : Workers’ Heritage Centre Museum 306 Cyr Ave. in Vanier. this museum fills the gap in Ottawa’s museum network. As a museum and interpretation centre it will recognize, honour, preserve and interpret the experiences and contributions of working people – their work, home life, and their cultural and political contributions to our city. These are the stories of majority of the city’s population at any given time, and for the first time they will be heard in a museum of their own.

Cumberland Heritage Village Museum consists of 28 buildings on 25 hectares in the village of Cumberland. On site you will find seven houses and six buildings depicting residential and agricultural architecture and public buildings such as a one-room schoolhouse, fire hall, church and community hall. You can also visit a Canadian National railway station and caboose, a working sawmill and an Imperial garage.


this map shows the area between The Moonrain Tapestry Centre in the Gatineau Hills north of Ottawa/Gatineau, in the Outaouais region of Quebec and the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almont Ontario

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 Map showing directions from the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto to the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almont Ontario, then back to Lang Pioneer Village


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website

Lang Pioneer Village  http://www.langpioneervillage.ca/

Mississippi Valley Textile Museum http://www.textilemuseum.mississippimills.com/

Moonrain Tapestry Centre http://www.moonrain.ca

The 1829 Billings House

Gamman House : Workers’ Heritage Centre Museum

Cumberland Heritage Village Museum
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