How do you hide one of the more interesting landscapes on the Avalon Peninsula? Make it a 35 square kilometre island, put it in one of the most popular large bays near St. John’s (Conception Bay), and connect it to the mainland by a regular and fairly frequent ferry service.
You can’t miss it. It dominates the bay from Foxtrap north to Bauline, it is 9 km long and the long axis is parallel to the shore, and it is over a hundred feet high. A lot of the geology of the Avalon involves granite and shales along the coastline. Bell Island is mainly a sandstone geology, and in ways looks more like a mesa or butte than a typical island for the area.
It has been occupied at least since the 1700s by Europeans, and was probably occupied by Beothuks when Cabot discovered Newfoundland. In the late nineteenth century they started mining iron ore, which gave the local economy a great boost. When mining stopped in the late 1960’s due to uneconomical conditions for mining, the local economy collapsed and many people moved away. Recently, with the expansion of bedroom communities around St. John’s, some people are moving back. The 20 minute ferry ride is a little inconvenient, but much better than many of the commutes to town. Also, people get a boat ride every day, and the scenery can be beautiful.
What I love about this island includes exploring old and abandoned areas, exploring the strange sandstone and rock formations along the coast, and the general quietness when you get away from the main communities of Wabana and Lance Cove. They also have a tour of the old mine shafts, which extend out from the island under the bay.But the real wonder of the island are the views of the bay and the sky, especially the sunsets. The best sunset I remember in my life was from the field near the Bell on the south side of the island. Sunrises are probably wondrous as well, but I haven’t been there then for some reason!
Here are a few images of the island.
The Northern Bell, near the lighthouse. There is also a sea-tunnel right through the rock.
The old lighthouse at the north end.
The west side of the island. The island gradually slopes downward from East to West.
A stream trickling and spreading over the shelving rock. It was glowing gold.
When I was a kid there was a tree and a seagull nest on the top.
The Southern Bell, at the south side of a flat field.
The Southern Bell. It is a couple of hundred feet high.
Due to technological changes, etc, the mine was closed in 1966. This was the major industry on the island, and very few people remain. The island is beautiful, and almost abandoned
Heading out through the main slope.
They used to constantly pump to clear the lower galleries. People have done a bit of scuba diving, but a creepier experience would be hard to imagine. The galleries extends kilometres under the bay, where you would have over 100 metres of seawater, then the roof for the gallery, then you looking up at condensation dripping from the roof.
Wabana Mine, Bell Island, Newfoundland. Remnants of carts and tools. Mined closed 1966.
At these stables in the mine, ponies were harnessed to the carts, then moved to the mine head. Ore movement was never automated through the life of the mines.
The way back, near the entrance. You walk up into fog, due to the low temperatures in the tunnels compared to the warmer air outside..
The trick if you got lost was to head back up the slope and look for light. Much of the route we took was totally dark, except for the flashlights.
This island is near St. John’s, NL, in Conception Bay. It was the site of a huge Iron Mine from 1895 to the late 1960’s.
a quickr pickr post
Hey!
This are great pictures! I love every single pöiece of them. Good Job!
Greetz,
J
Beautiful photos!
I took Hubby to Bell island this summer. He’d never visited, and it was only my second visit. We had a wonderful day, wandering in the flower-filled fields, looking for the murals, and visiting a few local businesses. Saw tons of animals wandering around – including a horse and a bunch of chickens on the road, and went on the mine tour. It’s such a pretty, peaceful place. 🙂
This island looks so freakin beautiful. Your pictures make me wanna live there. Im just gonna leave Germany and migrate to Bell Island.
I was born on Bell Island and have been at most of the sites you photographed,but your photos have blown me away. Thank you. mac
I lived on Bell Island all life and i still do..When i leave my quiet home to go off the island it is twice as peaceful when i return home..and when i am home sick or want to show people where i live i just click to your pictures snd they are astounded..thank-you for showing people what a beautiful place bell island is.
Hi
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Smiles!
I was born and raised here and I can tell you this this,it is a great place to come from but it is one hell of a place to have to go back to . All there is to do there is sit around,drink beer and tell everyone how great it was in Toronto.
I took my wife (Peg Bowdring)to Bell Island to spend the last years of her life and was there for 3 1/2 years. I cannot imagine a worse place to live. The roads haven’t been repaved (just patched) since they were originally put down. (Except for two main roads) Food costs about 30% more than on the mainland. Same with all other merchadise. The only entertainment is a beer joint. No restrauants, no theater, no decent shopping areas. If you work it will have to be on the mainland if you can get a job. Many business don’t want to hire ppl from Bell Island because they have such trouble getting to work, via ferry, in bad weather. The town will not plow all the streets in a timely manner. Mine would not get plowed for up to two weeks and I had to hire a local man to plow it so I could get out to work. Houses are dirt cheap because you can’t hardly sell any property on Bell Island. I bought my house for $7,000.00 and I heard of others going much cheaper. It was a pretty island during the week and a half of Summer, but the rest of the time it was a bleak, dreary place that has been dying a long, slow death since the closing of the mines in the 1960s. You would see more garbage and food bags blowing about than birds. It was heart breaking to see the young have to leave for Toronto because of lack of work in Newfoundland. Oh yes, the guy you saw fishing in the picture?? If you got caught fishing your vehicle, and fishing equipment would be confisficated and you would either go to jail or pay a hefty fine. The people seem to have a defeated air and most of the town of Wabana would qualify as a slum area in most places. For my part Bell Island died years ago and all you see today is a very well waxed corpse laying in a casket.
My mom was from Bell Island (Greta Babb) and my dad (Wes Moult) put in the conveyors at the mines where he met mom. I think Bell Island is one of the most unique places in Canada. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Although I have no desire to return to Bell Island to live, I cannot think of a place that I would have rather spent my childhood. Growing up on Bell Island gave me values that I am sure would be absent in a larger community. I learned to respect my elders because living on a small Island; you had no place to run if you didn’t.
As I look at these pictures I see beauty where once I saw a play ground. That is what the whole Island was to me. We had few material things back then, but quickly learned to accept simplicity.
Today the natural beauty still exists, but the weather that I cherished as a child, does also. This is something that I do not wish to willingly endure.
Thank you for allowing me to reminisce about the geography of my youth at the comfort of my computer desk.
my mother and father were both bourne in the west mines on the island. my father and my pop both worked in the mines. my father started there after he returned from koria where he was a medic in the war. he worked in the mines untill they closed and then mom and dad moved to ontario. newfoundland is a very beautyfull provience. we use to go there for summer vacation when i was a kid. dad always wanted too go back but he was too ill for the trip, dad passed 2008 a very proud man, he was proud of his background. you take the boy away from home but you cant take his home from him.
your pictures were mind blowing, i showed them to my b/f and he was amazed,,now he wants to visit,,want to say hi to everyone on the island,,
What a beautiful place. I’d love to visit sometime.
I am the grand-daughter of Winnie Ford and Len Quinlan, both of which lived on the island with their families. My Aunt Christine still resides there in her retirement from being a teacher in the school on Bell Island.
I have not been to the rock since 1999, but these images make me feel like I’m there now… still stunningly beautiful
Fantastic job. An excellent idea for Tourism Pictures. A lot more people will hear of your photos now. Thank-you for this piece of history. Your pics certainly say a thousand words but yet hold so many memories. All the best. and once again Thank-you kindly. Lloyd Hussey.
Great pictures! Thank you for sharing them my name is Billy Love I am the grandson of William Love & Madeline Normore they lived on the island in the 1950-60s they had given birth to my aunt Jean and my dad Bill. But in the late sixties the moved to Cambridge ON, we still have family in Mount pearl and St. Johns. Now I reside in Kitchener ON. I cant wait to come visit Bell Island to get a real look at my heritage.
The Mines, A lovely piece of history where my Father and his Father worked.
I moved to Bell Island 8 years ago. I bought the house without my wife, preteen and a mid teenager knowing. It sure did not go over well let me tell you. All they saw was the downside to island life with a town that has long outlived it’s peak. I worked in airborne geophysics so I was used old mining towns that dreamt of hitting it big again but all knew it never would. I found that each time I would return home to the city I would stare over at the island wishing for that solitude. The city lights and loud cars all hours of the day and night just got to be more stressful with every tour. Bell Island is not meant for everyone by no means. My wife now loves it but unfortunately with cutbacks to ferries steadily increasing each year, my kids will not be able to invest in a home and commute for work while maintaining a residence on Bell Island. Currently and in the foreseeable future we do not have malls or movie theaters. If you want all that, you get a 15 minute ferry and then drive 15 minutes to the city. If you are an outdoors enthusiast who enjoys spending the day in a boat on the ocean and doing a little fishing, enjoy sitting out in the yard by a fire, like the concept of if you need a hand it doesn’t matter if they know you or not they are willing to help or just going through the trails along the ocean cliffs and enjoying nature at it’s finest than it is a great place to live. We commute daily for work and the ferry provides us a chance to sit and talk over a cup of tea before the racket of the city takes over. As long as we have the option of commuting we will stay on the island but like I said, it is not for everyone.
I never get tired of looking at my home. Thanks for the amazing pictures 🙂
Like a hug from an old friend. Thanks
Grew on the island left in 1968