HomeMy WebLinkAbout383"Article taken from The News Advertiser, Sunday, March 20, 1994, page 5.
Submitted by Pickering LACAC - Special to the News Advertiser.
""You take the high road, and I'll take the low road""
The British Arms Inn stands at the corner of Greenwood Rd., which is the low road, and Paddock
Rd., which is the high road. The first follows the contours of the valley south and the other was
once part of the main highway. The Inn was the second coach stop between Toronto and
Peterborough. When coaches departed the Inn to travel east, they indeed took the high road.
The horses had to climb a hill that is steep now and was steeper then.
In the spring of 1866, the Greenwood militia marched past the Inn, and down the low road.
They were off to Fort Erie to fight Fenian invaders. About 800 Fenians from the United States
had crossed the Niagara River with the intention of conquering Canada.
They were an Irish-American brotherhood - a secret society. They were defeated near Fort Erie,
and stopped at other places along the border. Among the notable Pickering men who faced
them were three members of the Green family.
What's in a name?
The name Frederick Green meant quality. He was so admired and respected that the village
name was changed from Norwood to Greenwood. In 1869, a man named Owen Doyle was the
proprietor of the British Arms. A series of owners followed, until Norah Stoner,
former Ajax and Pickering MPP bought the house.
Men only, please
The old bar-room door is still part of the facade of the north wall. Behind the door is solid wall.
Inside is a low spot in the original pine floor, where the boots of the male guests were stomped
upon entering. No ladies were allowed in there, or in any other bar of the day.
Money was scarce, but whiskey was plenty
Whiskey was 25 cents a gallon. How much that translated into per glass is uncertain.
The amount might seem trivial today, but sufficient revenue was generated from taxes on
alcohol to fund Canada's growth as a nation. Little did the patrons of the bar realize just how
indispensable their vice was.
""The face on the bar-room floor""
There is no face on the barroom floor. The original floor has been brought to a fine lustre.
No tormented soul is reflected there, as in the old poem. The walls too have been laboriously
cleaned of other coverings. Much has been done to make the Inn as it was.
Even the coat-of-arms, which once hung over the bar, and inscribed with Latin text,
is the centre piece of the living room.
I'll blow your house down
The Inn has withstood the test of time, because it was built to last. It may look fragile,
but the centre core of the exterior walls is rubble-stone. Fastened to the stone are wide,
pine planks from the original forest trees. And then the clapboard was put on. Inside is lath and
plaster and wainscotting. No big wind will ever move this building.
Decline and fall
At the height of its prosperity, Greenwood had at least 16 businesses, each depending on the
other. There were three hotels. Greenwood declined in importance because of its location,
because the great trees were gone, and because improved transportation made other centres
more convenient to conduct business. The village never fell, it simply got quieter and quieter.
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