The Winter Newsletter is hot off the presses. Read the latest issue HERE. If you're a member who receives a paper copy of the newsletter but would prefer an emailed version, please tell us at [email protected]. It helps save on printing and mailing costs, and is more eco-friendly. Thanks!
Next time you visit the CN Station in Fort Langley, have a look at our new interpretive signs. The one above describes the mission of the Langley Heritage Society and the sign below details some of the station's 100 year long history.
The Morrison family lived at The Grove, Fort Langley. This photo came to us from Lianne Pryce whose grandfather once lived in this house. She asked if we knew where the home was actually located. It didn't take local historian Warren Sommer long to identify it as the Morrison home, AKA The Grove which once stood near the base of Armstrong Road where it meets River Road, below Barvis Hill. Warren interviewed Toody (Morrison) Wilson for the Langley Centennial Museum archives; she was part of a Fort Langley pioneer family and grew up in the house. Toody's voice can be heard on the March edition of Valley Voices. Warren also located another image with the Morrison family in front of the house (all but the uniformed man in the photo), probably sometime after the Great War. We enjoy receiving images that help tell the story of the Langleys. Please send [...]
Paul Brodie in the shop with one of his 1919 era Excelsiors. He has raced the bike, and plans to do so again during the 100th anniversary year. It can hit speeds of 135 mph (217 kilometres per hour). Not many people have a vintage Aermacchi racing motorcycle parked in their dining room. Fort Langley's Paul Brodie does. His life has revolved around building two-wheeled vehicles ever since grade 7 when he first fashioned a mini-bike powered by a 2 ½ horsepower lawnmower engine. Later came bicycle frames and his own brand, the Brodie Mountain Bike, which eventually earned him a place in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. He moved on to motorcycle restoration work and more recently, hand-built vintage motorcycles. Says Paul, “My shop is larger than my house.” His current project marks the 100th anniversary of the Excelsior racing motorcycle. A century ago, Excelsior was one [...]
From the Fort Langley Legacy Foundation: The Fort Langley Legacy Foundation is very pleased to announce that on December 4th, 2018 Bob Blackhall was invited by the Provincial Government to accept the B.C. Medal of Good Citizenship on behalf of his late wife Bays. The award was presented by Lisa Beare, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture. Bob Blackhall receives the Medal of Good Citizenship on behalf of his late wife, Bays Blackhall. The Medal of Good Citizenship is an award “which recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the well-being of their communities.” Here is a letter was written on the Legacy Foundation’s behalf by Warren Sommer for the application. "Joan “Bays” Blackhall The historic village of Fort Langley is regarded as a charming reminder of a gentler age and a slower pace of life, evoking a time when neighbours supported one another and worked for the common [...]
Bob Armstrong came from a farm family and remembers fishing on the Fraser River in the 1950s to supplement income. Bob has lived most of his life near Fort Langley. Armstrong Road above the Fraser River is named after his great-grandfather William Armstrong, one of the 49ers who came to North America from England for the California gold rush. Eventually he wound up farming on the top of what’s known today as Armstrong Hill. Bob writes about gillnetting on the Fraser River in the 1950s and early 60s: "Gillnetting on the Fraser River was an opportunity for people living along the river to supplement their income, including farmers, loggers and mill workers. This was very important to the local economy on both sides of the Fraser River. The Farmers Drift was so named because most of the fishermen in the 1920s and 30s were local farmers. I'm from a fishing, logging [...]
Fort Langley Community Hall. Please send your photos of Langley area heritage buildings dressed for Christmas. Email to: [email protected]
These evocative images came to Langley Heritage Society from Patricia Young. Her grandparents, Nell and Jim Wright, moved to Langley from England just after the turn of the last century. They settled where Walnut Grove subdivision exists today; as you can see, it took lots of sweat and effort to clear the land in order to build their home. "I hope this might encourage others to contribute their own photos and stories. The attached photos are of my Paternal Grandparents, Jim and Nell Wright who lived at 9207 Holmstead Road (now 213th St.). The Wright brothers settled in Langley about 1907...they cleared the land and built their own home. My Grandfather lived on the property until his death in 1969." Jim Wright prepares for some hard work. Nell Wright and her husband emigrated from England to Canada around 1907. They landed in rural Langley where they cleared the land [...]
On the December edition of Valley Voices: Curator Kris Foulds tours the award winning Voices of the Valley permanent exhibition at The Reach Gallery Museum in Abbotsford (3:15 into sound file). Also, meet Paul Brodie, a Fort Langley man who builds and races replicas of the classic Excelsior motorcycle (17:30 into sound file). And it was 160 years ago that Colonel Richard Moody arrived in the Fraser Valley and promptly quelled an uprising in the Fraser Canyon. Valley Voices is hosted by former CBC Radio broadcaster Mark Forsythe and is a production of the Langley Heritage Society, through the studios of CIVL Radio at the University of the Fraser Valley. Listen Wednesdays at 11 am at 101.7 FM, or anytime via link HERE. Paul Brodie builds Excelsior motorcycles from scratch in his home shop. He also teaches a bike frame building course at the University of the Fraser Valley. See more of [...]
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