Local History Archives - Bamberton Historical Society

Christmas Long Ago

Now days people like to go to Disneyland or Hawaii for Christmas but in the old days traveling any distance in winter was difficult, so Grandma or an aunt would usually invite all the family for a big turkey or goose dinner. It would be a lively bunch numbering over a dozen, with aunts, uncles, […]

Artifact Weighing 500lbs/227kg Arrives at Heritage Museum

It isn’t often that a museum is fortunate enough to receive a significant artifact tied directly to local history. But thanks to the Mill Bay Marina the Heritage Museum now has on display the original steel door from the vault that was believed to have held bootleg liquor in the 1920s. Mobsters in Mill Bay???? […]

The History of the Malahat Highway

The History of the Malahat Highway DVD (45 minutes) plus 4 mini movies ‘One Man’s Dream, the History of the Malahat Highway A hilarious story of Major James McFarlane who singlehandedly surveyed the route and whose persistence got the road built. What makes the story so fascinating is Major McFarlane was basically a drunken Irishman […]

Memories

An era has passed and Bamberton is no more, but although the buildings may be gone the memories will live on forever. Here are some additional memories from some past Bamberton residents: Does anyone remember the BAMBERTON BLAZERS hockey team? (Joe Chance) Rebricking the kilns was an experience. I can remember it was so hot […]

Village Life (1912-1982)

At the beginning of the plant’s construction workers lived in tents while the higher level personal were housed in small wooden buildings built further up on the hillside. When the plant reopened in the 1920s the company town began to grow. Because of its relative isolation it was a close-knit community. The nearest road was […]

Dust to Bust (1970-1982)

After the prosperity and optimism of the 60s the 70s brought a downward turn and Bamberton’s demise began. Beale’s Quarry on Texada Island had been for sale and the logical buyer was Ocean Cement. But the company’s managers felt the price was too high and decided to sit tight. However, the Lafarge Co. of Paris […]

Putting a Mountain Through a Sieve: The Cement Manufacturing Process

In the early days the limestone was quarried at the Bamberton site, but later when the Cobble Hill quarry was purchased the quarried limestone was transported to the plant by trucks, where it was dumped into the “Glory Hole”. It was fed into the primary crusher and withdrawn as required by remotely controlled feeders and […]

Prosperity

“Bamberton’s boom years were just beginning in the early 50s and the future looked rosy. The wages were increased and I remember I was making $1.45 hour.” (Andy Bigg) Bamberton’s expansion included new kilns, crushers and dry mills, all bigger and more efficient than ever before. In 1953 the Texada Island quarry operation was discontinued […]

War Times (1916-1946)

The plant had barely gotten underway when World War I began and with the crash of the real estate boom the demand for cement plummeted. Soon the Portland Cement Co. had to concede that there was not enough business for two companies and in 1916 Bamberton was shut down. “The winter of 1916 will be […]

Bamberton Beginnings (1904-1915)

The origins of the BC Cement Company can be traced back to 1904. In that year, Mr. Robert Pim Butchart founded a cement company at Tod Inlet, near Victoria. It was the only cement producing company west of the Great Lakes and proved to be a very lucrative venture. This early cement company was followed […]