Castlereagh - Kind of like Walton's Mountain - but Better!

Fonda, Clay, Debbie and me at Castlereagh

Trying to describe our trip up the mountain to Castlereagh today is a bit like trying to describe air.  The words are there but they just don't come that easily.  Let me say first, though, that since I started doing my family research some 25 years ago, two things have been consistent about the Gamble family.  First, that they were the most hospitable people ever and second, that they all had a great sense of  humour.  Today, with my new found 3rd cousin, Fonda Gamble Smyth and her brother, Clay and Sister Debbie I was on the receiving end of that hospitality and they certainly lived up to the family reputation.  It was a delightful day in all respects!

Fonda & Debbie cleaning Gravestones

We met at the bottom of the old Castlereagh road and drove, in Clay's truck the 15km (Ann and Fonda rode in the back) or so over rocks and gravel and the odd mud bog through the most beautiful mixture of green pastures, heavy forest and rust coloured wild blueberry fields.  On the way up, we stopped to visit the Bogles, (relatives by marriage) at their cabin and got directions from Lloyd Bogle on where to find the cemetery.

Esther Cooke Gamble Grave

I had pictured Castlereagh as a ghost town and while you can see where the old roads were, very few of the  buildings still exist.  The cemetery itself is set in a forest that would have been impossible to find on our own.  Over the hillside, among the trees we found a few legible headstones and many more that were moss covered and impossible to read.  I have a list of about 40 family members buried there but we did manage to find the grave of my great, great grandmother, Esther Cooke Gamble - which was in great shape considering its age.  It is a peaceful and beautiful final resting place and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to see it.

Gamble Lake

Bear Poop!

On the way down the mountain, we stopped at Gamble Lake, named for my 3rd great grandfather, Robert Gamble who came to this area in 1816 from Northern Ireland to settle.  And now I can confirm that, yes bears do go pooh in the woods.

We also spent time earlier in the day at the Bass River Heritage Museum where we found some incredible stories and photos from Castlereagh.  These include many pictures of my grandmother Julia Gamble, when she was cooking at the Silica mine there and where she met my grandfather who proposed to her one evening in a blueberry patch - probably one of the fields we passed today.

Masstown

On the way home we stopped for fish and chips at the light house restaurant at the Masstown Market and it is another "not to be missed" places to eat in this neck of the woods.

Tonight we're tired little teddy bears but it has been a very awesome day and we will sleep tight and happy!

To be continued.......