Ken Bowes was just a farmer and carpenter living in Middleville who still used his team of horses when he plowed the land and tended to the sap in the Spring. Ken never thought of making miniatures, but when he saw the tiny wagons and sleighs made by Bruce White in the 70s he decided to make them too.
Like all of us he thought if someone can make something he could too, but it soon set in how tedious the work was and how many hours it took. After spending every extra hour on his new hobby Ken thought that he would record exactly how much time he was really devoting. In reality he spent 56 hours to make a tiny double work harness and 63 hours to build the wagon.
But devoting time to something you love was already in the family. His father James Bowes once spent half a day behind a yoke of a team of oxen plowing in Manitoba. It took time and patience to get used to plowing the fields like that and he said he felt like he was back in biblical times.
Ken like doing things the ‘old-fashioned’ way and born in nearby Gailbraith where he grew up working in lumber camps using the horses he loved to create hauling logs out of the woods. It was in his early occupations that he found out how much enjoyed working with wood, and he could square lumber with a broad axe with the best of them. This experience went a long way when he began to build log cabins and Ken personally built the family home for his wife Grace and his four daughters.
Those first miniature pieces that Ken made after all those hours ended up once being displayed in the windows of Duncan’s Barbershop in Almonte, Ontario and in the Spring you too can see some of his displays at the Middleville Museum. May Ken rest in peace.
Middleville Museum
Perth Courier
James Bowes was awarded the contract for the erection of a frame building and after a severe misfortune, having a great deal of the material prepared for the erection of the edifice destroyed by fire, the building was completed.
BOWES, Kenneth Peacefully at Almonte Country Haven on Saturday, August 27th, 2005, J. Kenneth Bowes in his 87th year. Beloved husband of Grace (Caldwell) Bowes. He will be sadly missed by his four daughters, Shirley Botham (Joe), Joyce Farrell (Max), Nora Shorkey (Richard) and Marilyn Bowes-Henry (Rod); cherished grandfather of Monty, Jeff, Stacy (Gary), Sarah (Jeremy), Joey, Whitney, Samantha and Nicholas. Brother of the late Alex, Charlie and Arthur Bowes and Luella Foster. Fondly remembered by his nieces, nephews, family and friends. Friends may pay their respects at the Young Funeral Home, Lanark on Monday, August 29th, 2005 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. Funeral service will be held in First Baptist Church, Lanark on Tuesday at 11:00 A.M. Interment, Greenwood Cemetery, Middleville.
Photo–No information is known about this photo other than these men were on Dalhousie Lake, Lanark County.–Can you provide names, corrections or other information? Please email Charlie Dobie.
Logging was difficult and often dangerous work during the first half of the 20th century, yet workers received some of the lowest wages in our area. From sunrise until sunset, loggers felled trees, hauled logs, and helped bring the wood to the mill site. In the evenings, they returned to dirty, drafty, and overcrowded bunkhouses. Many men spent between five and nine months in these camps, separated from their families. Although the food was plentiful, it was monotonous and many loggers became malnourished.
Work-related injuries were also not uncommon because of the physical nature of logging work. Chainsaws, trucks, and other mechanized equipment did not become widespread in the backwoods until the 1950s. Until then, loggers manually harvested lumber with axes and bucksaws, and hauled heavy logs out of the woods with horse-drawn sleds. Although logging was much more physically demanding than most other jobs, woods workers did not earn wages for any time off due to injury or exhaustion.
There would be a couple of men who would cut the trees down with a cross cut saw; no gasoline powered chain saws then. They would also cut the logs to length so they could be skidded to the mill using a team of mules handled by another worker.There was also an axe man that trimmed the limbs off before the skidding took place.
Arboriculture is now the practice of trimming trees and shrubs to protect roadways, power lines, and sidewalks. It involves the use of specialized climbing and rigging techniques, as well as power equipment.
Arborists use and maintain a variety of equipment on a daily basis, including trucks, tractors, chippers, power saws, sprayers, and other tools. They hoist the equipment up to where it’s needed, then cut away low-hanging, dead, or obstructive tree limbs. They then dispose of the cuttings by lowering them down with ropes or block and tackle, feeding them into chippers and hauling them away. They often need to climb trees with ladders or other equipment to reach work areas. Arborists also fertilize and spray trees.
Arborists help keep things running smoothly in our cities and towns. Without them, our roads, sidewalks, and power lines would become dangerous. They also help improve tree health. Planting and caring for trees can help absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, from the atmosphere. Trees stabilize slopes, prevent erosion, and help absorb stormwater runoff. They can even help counteract the “heat island effect” of urban areas, and help keep things a bit cooler in the summer.
I was amazed watching Justin Hanet at work taking down some of my trees last week- I realized–being at arborist is a science now- no doubt about it.
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I am so thrilled I was able to watch science in motion last week, and I would also like to mention that if you want to listen to storytelling about wood- please come to the Carleton Place Farmers market and talk to Spalted Bob. He is one of a kind and we are glad to have him at the market.
lindaseccaspina 