Over three hundred years of history have resulted in a rich heritage of life on the sea and marvellous stories of danger, love, despair, faith, and deliverance. These stories have been collected by Garry Cranford and Ed Janes to create this fascinating history of Hant’s Harbour.
The gripping tale of the wreck of the Catherine B describes how Captain Ellis Janes and seven others were rescued in the gale of 1929. A trip that should have lasted hours took a month by schooner, steamer, train, and horse and carriage.
Included is a bonus story, "How The Fish Came To Hant's Harbour" by Reverend Moses Harvey. In the 1880s, Reverend Harvey wrote a religious tract describing how the faith of the community, led in prayer by Sister Lydia, resulted in the return of the fish to the barren waters. There were 40,000 copies of the original story distributed. Here for the first time Garry Cranford reveals the true identity of Sister Lydia.
Learn of the success of P. Janes and Sons Ltd. as pioneers in the Newfoundland snow crab industry. Also included are sections on the seal fishery, shipbuilding (78 vessels), picking the trap berths, the Labrador fishery, the loss of the Trixie H (twice), the wreck of the Carrie Evelyn, and dozens of other stories about this fascinating little town.

In 1905, Mi’kmaq prospector Matty Mitchell found a strange rock in Sandy River, running into Red Indian Lake, Newfoundland. This rusty brown and yellow outcrop was rich in sulphides of lead, zinc and copper, but it took twenty years of scientific advancement before the secrets of the complex minerals were unlocked. In 1926, the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company signed a pact, establishing one of Newfoundland’s richest mines at the sire they called Buchans.The Lucky Strike Glory Hole and the underground mines were not the only legacies that Buchans left to Newfoundland. As soon as the mine and mill had begun production, the pioneers turned to recreation, turning and iron ore shed into an ice arena, and the town became famous for its hockey team, climaxing in the “Glory Days” of senior amateur hockey in Newfoundland, when The Buchans Miners hockey team cross-crossed the province in pursuit of sports glory.Here is an account of the Buchans miners – the underground drillers and the hockey players – told by a Buchaneer who worked as a prospector and in the underground mines.Garry Cranford is the author of the bestselling book, Newfoundland Schooner: Norma & Gladys, and co-author of Potheads & Drum Hoops and From Cod to Crab. He lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

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