Photos by Bill and Carole Flint= The Sky Pilots
In May of 2016 I wrote this:
Years ago when we bought the house Springside Hall on Lake Ave East the basement floor was bedrock that was painted over with orange paint. Several wooden tree logs held up the first floor in the basement. Every Spring 2 feet of water would flood the basement when the water table rose.
It has been said in the old days people used to open both sides of their basement windows on Rochester Street to let the Spring waters go through the neighbourhood. Fascinating tale is it not?
Photos by Bill and Carole Flint= The Sky Pilots
Seeing that a fridge was down there when we bought our home– it wasn’t really handy at all in the Spring–unless you had hip waders on. So the basement was finished- except for the cistern we dug out and a small tool room where the oil furnace used to be. That same small room still has the original bedrock floor as well as the cistern.
There is a brook at the bottom of the hill on Lisgar and Argyle Street which I have talked about before and it runs behind Jennifer Fenwick Irwin’s home on Argyle. It used to/still does flow down the back of my property. There was also a bridge at Beckwith Street and Lake Ave East– but my question is- where does this water originate from?
Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum says: “The stream crossing under 12 Con. (now Lake Avenue East) had A BRIDGE! (at the corner of Beckwith Street). This stream still runs, mostly underground, but is visible in backyards along Argyle Street, and then again along Sussex Avenue”.
I was told the water came down from the Gatineau’s by the late *Harold Kettles-– but you have to read about Harold to see if I should have believed him or not. It actually begins where the new Tim Horton’s is on Franktown Road and goes down Rochester Street and then under my house to the stream on Lisgar where the raccoons from my yard bathe each day. If you see those critters tell them there is a new subdivision opening up at the end of Lake Ave West– as they have worn out their welcome at my home.
The underground stream ends up flowing out at the river on the side of arena called %^&* Creek. Now I have been told this story by many local citizens; I have seen the water so–the fact that they all have the same story means the chances of it being a fish tale might be slim. I said: might… A sump pump was put in so we could control the Spring run off and no longer would our basement be Seaworld in April. Right……
If anyone saw me run out of the BIA meeting on Wednesday night it’s because the waterworks were flowing at my home due to a defective sump pump.
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
That Wednesday night I stayed up until 4:30 am and every hour I went down and plugged in the defective sump pump so the basement wouldn’t flood. If anyone saw me posting the next day’s stories on Facebook at 2 am that would be the reason why- I had to stay awake. At 4:30 am I called it a night and then got up at 6 and began again.
When I woke up this morning
You were on my mind
You were on my mind
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got wounds to bind
The family “go to guy” Super Phil came with his silent but very courteous helper to try and save the day. His helper seldom speaks but Phil makes up for it– so it’s all good in the end. My late husband Angelo had put the thing in and no one knows where the water from the sump pump goes too, and– maybe we don’t want to know. So if anyone is seeing a strange stream of water around the area– it would be coming from my house.
Something was wrong somewhere and they put in a new top of the line submersible pump and changed everything around. They had to hook up a long hose to the shower drain (where I think the water is really going to if you ask me) that is in the sauna that no one has ever used. (insert your comment here) It worked for an hour and then stopped. It seems like there is some pipe that is blocked down in that hole or frozen, and we will look at this whole picture later in the Spring and fix it. Did I tell you I usually have a rubber rat with a top hat in that hole when it’s dry? (insert your comment here) — also read-Feeling Groovy by the Lake Ave East Bridge
“Rat in Sump Pump Hole”
So my son Perry who can fix pretty well anything ( does not take after his Mother) came by and said, “it’s because the pump is not anchored” and he put some ties on it. That worked for one hour and then you guessed it–it stopped. Apparently we have a “floater” for a sump pump and a bulb that has a mind of its own and hides in the bedrock of that hole. I am now calling the bulb Dory and my mind keeps shouting Law & Order quotes like : “Heh Lennie Briscoe-we’ve got a floater here”!
I got troubles, whoa-oh
I got worries, whoa-oh
I got wounds to bind
So today the water table has stopped rising because it’s darn right cold and last night I went down every two hours and knocked it lightly with a broom handle and then it would suck up the water. And– maybe I should mention to some of you smart alecs out there that no–I do not own a special broom. Steve came home from work and found me crashed in a chair, dead to the world missing the last episode of Top Chef.
You know I am laughing about this now as some days you just got to put on your hip waders and dance. Check back with me when the temperatures rise– I can assure you I won’t be dancing LOL.
Yeah, I got to ramble, whoa-oh
I got to move on, whoa-oh
I got to walk away my blues
Phil and friend– ‘Please caption this photo” and already I have some captions
Shane Wm Edwards –“I told you that the flux capacitor had to be installed in a car not a house.”
Sherry Crummy — “Shine the light over there, I think I see another body”.
Vicki Racey— “Is that the way to Fraggle Rock”?
The Harold Kettles Series – Blowing up Beaver Dams in Beckwith
Related Reading
Feeling Groovy by the Lake Ave East Bridge
Did You Know we had a %^&* Creek in Carleton Place?
Where Was One of the Open Air Rinks in Carleton Place?
The Morphy Cram House — Springside Hall
Winter —Rochester Street Looking North– Before and After
When history comes back to haunt you. Once upon a time this stream was a river and then a creek and there was a bridge on Lake Ave East— it flows under my house and through the stream and then once through Jamie Cramptons property and then down to Albert and off to shitz creek at the arena. This morning I can see the water speed through my sump pump hole. What once was in Carleton Place. October 2021 –Feeling Groovy by the Lake Ave East Bridge
lindaseccaspina 