More local sketches

Pouch Cove - First to see the sun

8 x 5 moleskine sketchbook, Pen & ink
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Today was another lovely day so I took a little time off from my kitchen renovations to do some sketching and soak up some sun. I headed northeast to Pouch Cove, where I once had a house overlooking the ocean. I sat on a bench at the edge of the cliff and watched the waves crash against the rocks and felt the sun warm me while I sketched this scene.

Pouch Cove (pronounced "Pooch" Cove), is one of the oldest settlements in Newfoundland. The exact date of its settlement is unknown but it is documented early as 1611, only 28 years after Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed the island for England. Pouch Cove's dangerous harbour was the primary reason for its early settlement. Although this sounds paradoxical, keep in mind permanent dwellings were forbidden by law in the 17th and 18th centuries. A dangerous harbour kept away Royal Navy ships seeking the illegal settlers, as well as the pirates who preyed on them.

I then drove through the backroads and ended up in St. John's, where I headed towards Bannerman Park. This park was opened in 1891 by Sir Alexander Bannerman who donated the land for a park.

The Bandstand, Bannerman Park
pen & ink, moleskine sketchbook
copyright Jeanette Jobson

The park was busy with people today, as many inner city people come there to sit in the sun or take their children to the park to play. The ink was running out on my pen and I did a hurried sketch of the bandstand in the middle of the park. I hadn't had many people comment today but in the park a less than savory person, who probably was fairly harmless, kept hanging around striking up a conversation and picking up old cigarette butts so he 'could have a puff later'. "What can you do when you don't have no money?" he said, perhaps hoping that I would find something in my bag for him. I decided it might be a good time to move on.