The Narrows Bridge, Fitch Bay, Lake Memphremagog

(Photo and Text by Louise Abbott)

More than a decade ago, Niels and I joined a subculture of "bridgers"—people who scout for covered bridges wherever they go in North America or anywhere else that has these remnants of the past.

I had conceived the idea of a feature on covered bridges in eastern Canada for Heritage magazine, and Niels and I had decided to take photographs together for the assignment. We travelled far and wide in Quebec and New Brunswick—the two provinces where covered bridges were once so prominent and where a considerable but diminishing number remain. We went to West Montrose, Ontario, too. There we happened upon Old Order Mennonites in horse-drawn buggies clattering through the only surviving historical covered bridge in the province as they drove to church on Easter Sunday. But for reasons that now elude me, we overlooked a covered bridge that we have since come to pass by regularly. It spans Lake Memphremagog at the Narrows—a channel that divides Fitch Bay into two distinct stretches of water.

In recent years, I have been collecting footage for a documentary on covered bridges in Quebec titled Driving into the Past. At last I shall have the chance to right the wrong. The Narrows Bridge will be included in the film. And so it should be: it is one of only two covered bridges in the province to cross the waters of a lake, rather than a river, although, as the appellation Narrows suggests, the span is not all that long—ninety-two feet (twenty-eight metres). The other such bridge runs from Nepawa Island to the shore of Lake Abitibi.

Driving into the Past will be screened by the Brome County Historical Society in Knowlton in the late summer of 2017.

In the meantime, I have written a feature about the Narrows Bridge  for the 2017 edition of the Stanstead Historical Society Journal, which was published in June. I had to rewrite the original ending to my story because of some  wonderful news: In  March of 2017, the municipality of Stanstead Township learned that the Quebec government intended to classify the bridge as a heritage property, calling it an “architectural jewel” and citing its age, its location over lake waters, its drystone abutments, and its Town lattice truss as distinctive features. The Conseil du patrimoine culturel du Québec—the provincial cultural heritage council—will study the matter and make a recommendation to the government on whether or not to finalize the classification. It may take up to one year before the decision is made public. 

What readers are saying about Memphrémagog : An Illustrated History / Une histoire illustrée (volume 1) :

Des commentaires des lecteurs :

"A wonderful blend of narrative, history, and artistry." D.

"It is both a good and a good-looking book! Wow." S.

"Un chef-d'oeuvre bilingue remarquable tant par sa beauté que par les informations que l'on y retrouve." F.

"Un travail de recherche sérieux et exhaustif." J.-F.

This hard-cover coffee-table book runs 308 pages and has a bilingual text illustrated with 175 archival images and 90 contemporary photos by Louise Abbott and Niels Jensen. A revised edition of the original 2014 publication is now available. The retail price is $79.95 CAD, $60 US.  Memphremagog Conservation Inc. (MCI) receives a portion of the proceeds from book sales. 

If you're interested in obtaining the revised edition of volume one , please contact Georgeville Press representative Hélène Hamel: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

To watch a video trailer about the book, please see The Birth of a Book on YouTube. 

An article in the Sherbrooke Record, July 21, 2o14: Memphrémagog: An Illustrated History / Une histoire illustrée 

CBC Radio's Rachelle Solomon in interview with Louise Abbott on July 29, 2014

Ce beau livre d'art bilingue de 308 pages richement illustrées renferme 175 reproductions de photos, peintures et cartes historiques ainsi que 90 photos contemporaines prises par Louise Abbott et Niels Jensen. Il se vend 79,95 $ CAD, 60,00 US, et une portion du produit de la vente sera remise à Memphremagog Conservation Inc. (MCI).

 YouTube avec sous-titres français : La naissance d'un livre

 Un article dans La Tribune le 25 juillet, 2014 : Le Memphrémagog sous la loupe de Louise Abbott

Price List (Taxes included)

Books and Films produced by Rural Route Communications

To purchase, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

$52.50 The Heart of the Farm: A History of Barns and Fences in the Eastern Townships of Quebec

40 $ Le coeur de la ferme

$52.50 Eeyou Istchee: Land of the Cree / Terre des Cris

$20 DVD Giving Shelter: Historic Barns of the Eastern Townships (52 minutes)

$20 DVD Crisscrossing Space and Time: A History of Farm Fencing (55 minutes)

$20 DVD Historic Georgeville: Walks and Talks with John Boynton (35 minutes) (Available in both NTSC and PAL formats)

$15 DVD Nunaaluk: A Forgotten Story (29 minutes)

$20 Blu-ray Nunaaluk: A Forgotten Story (29 minutes)

$20 DVD Saving the Founder's Home (31 minutes)

$25 Blu-ray Saving the Founder's Home (31 minutes)

$20 DVD The Islands of Lake Memphremagog: A Natural and Human History (35 minutes)

$25 Blu-ray The Islands of Lake Memphremagog: A Natural and Human History (35 minutes)

 

Montreal journalist Amy German wrote a cover story about the film, which was directed by Louise Abbott and produced by COTA (Cree Outfitting and Tourism Association), in the July 25, 2014 edition of the Nation: http://www.nationnews.ca/behind-the-making-of-nunaaluk-a-forgotten-story/

Nunaaluk was selected for the Wakefield International Film Festival (WIFF). It was screened in Wakefield, Quebec, on Sunday, March 9, 2014.

It was also screened on March 8, 2014, at the Wilderness Paddlers' Gathering, Hulbert Outdoor Center, Fairlee, Vermont; on April 1, 2014, at the Ciné-Club (CIDI Radio Station) in Knowlton; and on April 12, 2014, at the Colby-Curtis Museum in Stanstead.

Listen to a CBC Radio interview with Louise Abbott about the film.

Nunaaluk was selected for the Global Visions Festival in Edmonton, Alberta. It was screened on Sunday, May 11, 2014, at 6 p.m. at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

It was also shown on May 14, 2014, at the Osher Lecture Series (University of Vermont) in Newport.

It was selected for the First Peoples' Festival Présence Autochtone, 24th edition. It was screened on Saturday, August 2, 2014, at 6:30 p.m. (18h30), at the Cinémathèque Québécoise in Montreal.

It was selected for the Jasper Short Film Festival, where it was screened on September 27, 2014. Louise Abbott won the "Best Film by an Established Filmmaker" award.

It was selected for the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, where it was screened on November 3, 2014, at noon at the AMC Metreon 16 Theatre, 135 4th St. It was shortlisted for Best Documentary Short.

It was also selected for the Polar Film Festival in New York City, where it was screened at the Explorers Club on Saturday, November 22, 2014.

Nunaaluk: A Forgotten Story was screened on Thursday, January 15, at 7:30 p.m. at the Salle Alec et Gérard Pelletier in Sutton, Quebec. It was shown in Toronto at the Wilderness Canoe Symposium on February 20, 2015.

The documentary runs 29 minutes and is in English and Inuktitut with English and French subtitles.

Nunaaluk: A Forgotten Story resurrects the story of a group of resourceful, independent Inuit who lived on Cape Hope Island (Nunaaluk, they called it--the big island) and got along well with their Cree neighbours in southeastern James Bay. They were forced to abandon their beloved island home when the government relocated them north to Kuujjuarapik (Great Whale River) in 1960. The film features Mini Aodla Freeman; George Kudlu; the late Arctic photographer Fred Bruemmer; and Elizabeth Mark Maiczan.