Cloverdale's Mound Farm

Mound Farm is located a few blocks south of Highway 10, halfway between 176th and 168th Streets. It is a mound seemingly growing out of the ground covered in trees. A bit of a curiosity in an area of mostly flat farm land, it was formed by a retreating glacier a long, long time ago. Back in school I remember one of my class mates writing a paper about it. However, I'm sure everything I've ever known about the farm has long since been forgotten.

William and Anne Smith settled on Mound Farm in 1884. Probably a good decision to build a house higher up than the low level farm lands which were susceptible to flooding. This was before dykes were built on the nearby Serpentine and Nikomekl Rivers.

To the best of my knowledge the farm can only be accessed from 168th Street, a little south of the railroad crossing. At least I see a driveway there heading in the general direction of the mound.

Sometimes at night we look at the lights up there and try to figure out how many houses are up there hidden amongst the fir and cedar trees on Mound Farm, but we're not really sure. Neither of us has actually ever been up there. Could be one or two houses and some outbuildings. City of Surrey owns the land and says there are two houses of some heritage value up there, but I swear I see more lights than what could belong to two houses. Maybe there are outbuildings or newer houses on the land.

Check it out the next time you drive by at night and see if you can guess how many houses call Mound Farm home.

Playing at the Clova from February 26 - March 4 2010

Playing at the Clova Theatre in downtown Cloverdale this coming week, beginning Friday February 26 is:

7pm - Valentine's Day

9:40pm - Dear John

Last show lets out at 11:25pm. Times are approximate. If the concession is busy, the Clova doesn't start the show until the lobby has mostly cleared out. Admission is $7, stay for one movie or watch both. Tuesday nights is $4.

Clayton

When I was growing up the farmland northeast of Cloverdale was called Clayton. this would be an approximate area between 184th and 192nd Streets, north of the Fraser Highway, down to about 80th Avenue.

I used to ride my horse down 184th, up 72nd Avenue to 192 Street and down to 76th Avenue to visit my friend Ivy whose family had a small cow farm. This was back in the days when traffic was lighter and people respected horses, cyclists, and pedestrians on the road.

These days the area is now known as Clayton Heights. The hobby farms have been replaced by condos and houses built on small lots. These impossibly small houses are generally the same footprint. They are 3 stories high with the owner and family living on the main floor and upper floor. The basement is a one or two bedroom suite that is rented out. In the back is the garage and above it is a one bedroom suite, commonly known as a carriage house. The streets are bumper to bumper parking because these houses are now 3 family dwellings. There is usually one parking spot beside the garage for the carriage house tenant. Nobody parks in the garage because they use it for storage. So the owners and the renters all park on the street. Total nightmare trying to drive down some of these streets as both sides of the road are clogged with parked cars and there is only one lane available for traffic moving in both directions.

We saw a house in the area approximately 68th Avenue and 192nd Street. The owner is living upstairs and has a 2 bedroom suite downstairs. However he'd like one of those downstairs bedrooms for his part of the house and needs to have a door installed in the downstairs hallway to separate the 2 living quarters. Due to time contraints, we're not able to do this and recommended someone else.

But I took a look at the suite while we were there. We've worked on several houses in this area and this is the first one I've seen with a full laundry room in the basement. A very nice laundry room, huge, lots of space to set up clothes lines and a laundry tub, and cupboards. Most of these houses have a closet sized laundry room on the upper floor for the owner's family to use and the basement tenant also has a closet where the washer/dryer is located. Similar situation with the carriage houses. Those suites also have a washer/dryer, generally stackables in a closet. I asked about that and the idea is to give the renters one day a week to use the laundry room and they'll unlock the door that they plan to put in to separate the basement renters from the upstairs.

I checked out the one remaining bedroom. It is dark. Its below ground to start with and the window is high up. One of those egress things that they're required by law to put in so the person can escape in the event of a fire. But the front porch is right on top of it blocking out any sunlight. Its dark and anyone needing to exit this window would have to crawl under the porch. Come to think of it I never checked the porch to see if its open or has trellis or anything blocking the space.

The basement suite has a nice kitchen. New appliances, nice counter and lots of cupboards. But from where the kitchen counter ends to where the sliding glass doors entry way to the suite, is only about five feet. That makes it a very small living room.

I mean, really, who would rent this. Badly designed. Really only appropriate if the same family was living in the entire house and had the run of the whole house. But the owners plan to rent it. Granted, everything is brand new, but people can't be expected to live in small, dark holes.

As these houses get finished there is now a glut in the market for rentals in the Clayton Heights area. Just check the ads on Craigslist. And people want an arm and a leg for them. Mortgage helpers. These houses cost just over half a million on average. They have small living areas, no storage, no parking, no yard. This is what people want, believe it or not.

From farm land to congested land. Goodbye Clayton. Hello Clayton Heights.

Dump truck dumped

Late this morning we were driving north on 176th heading into Cloverdale. At the intersection of 32nd Avenue a tandem trailer gravel truck is pulled over on the shoulder. His second trailer is tipped over and nice soil has spilled out. He was travelling west on 32nd and making a right hand turn on to 176th. Obviously taking the turn a little too fast or he wouldn't have gone overboard. The front part of the truck was upright and the driver was standing on the shoulder and no other vehicles were involved in the accident.

The problem was other vehicles on 32nd Avenue who also wanted to turn right on 176th were having to turn wide and were cutting off traffic on 176th who had the right of way with a green light. Could be dangerous so we called the non-emergency police number to report it but they were already aware of the situation.

Oddly enough we saw a small tractor heading up 176th Street so he may have been heading for the dump truck to scoop up the soil that was on the road. This one would take a tow truck or two to get the second trailer righted again.

I'm not sure how long it would take to get the truck going again, but a couple of hours ago I heard on the radio that a pedestrian had been struck in this intersection. Its not a high pedestrian area for people out taking a walk so perhaps someone dealing with the gravel truck has been struck.

Or perhaps the radio has it wrong.

Swans in Cloverdale

We were driving down 184th Street yesterday and saw about 60 swans in the field next to Nikomekl Farm and stopped to take pictures. It was dusk and I had my flash on but for some reason the zoom photos came out dark.

Playing at the Clova from February 19 - February 25 2010

Playing at the Clova Theatre in Cloverdale this week from February 19 - 25 is:

7pm - Invictus

9:30pm - Nine: the musical

Last show lets out at 11:30pm. Times are approximate. The Clova delays starting the movie until there's no line up at the concession. Admission is $7, stay for one or both movies. Tuesdays night's admission is $4. Bring your own reusable popcorn and drink containers and fill up for $2.

Roses anyone?

We stopped in at Cloverdale Country Farms market on 168th Street at the corner of Highway 10 because they have a sale on 10 lb bag of potatoes at $1.99. Plus I needed a few other vegetables for something I'm cooking.

When we pulled in I noticed the sign that rose bushes are on sale for $7.99, regularly priced $9.99 - $19.99. I'd been planning to buy 2 rose plants for the front garden patch that I cleaned up last year and specifically one yellow rose and one white rose so I went to check them out. And yes, luck was with me I found a bright yellow rose and a soft white. I noticed lots of reds and pinks and a lighter shade of yellow. And they're good sized stems on these plants, nicely cut back ready to grow and bloom. We're not talking the tiny stalks that you can buy for $6 at Home Depot.

So if anyone is planning to add a rose bush to the garden this year, you might want to go check out their selection before the price goes up.

Isn't this great weather?

I've been enjoying the warm weather. We were driving around with our car windows open and then the air conditioning on while we were out searching for caches on Valentine's Day.

I've been eyeing my lawn and wondering how soon before I'll need to cut it if this great weather keeps up.

And late this afternoon the winner of the first person in our Cloverdale neighborhood to cut their lawn goes to my next door neighbor.

The question is how far behind will the rest of us be. Mowing the lawn in February? Obscene!

I'll never forget visiting a friend of mine in Los Angeles many years ago. I'd driven down and arrived at her house early December. While we were sitting in the living room chatting I asked her what that noise was, saying it sounded like a lawn mower. She said the neighbor is probably mowing the lawn and looked out the window and confirmed that he was. "Mowing the lawn in December?" I asked. They all laughed at me and told me the grass grows year round in sunny Southern California.

Surrey Leader still not being delivered

Its been over a month (January 6) since I last received a Surrey Leader.

Not that I particularly care all that much other than the fact the paper is probably publishing current events about what is happening at Holland Park, the free events we can attend while the Olympics is on. I wouldn't mind reading about that.

I miss getting the Cloverdale Reporter which is slipped inside the Friday edition of the Surrey Leader.

For people in Cloverdale who are also inbetween carriers in their neighborhood, the Cloverdale Reporter's building is on 56A Avenue, just a little west of 176th Street. They have a stand outside their office during business hours and a newspaper can be picked up there.

Oh well, I have dogs to walk in that general direction anyway.

Another crazy driver in Cloverdale

Late this afternoon we had to drive over to the London Drugs in the Cloverdale Crossing Mall. On 64th Avenue there is a left hand turn lane that enters the mall inbetween Tim Hortons and a building that houses Telus, Great Clips, and a sushi restaurant. There is a median separating the entrance and exit traffic in and out of the mall.

I'm waiting in the left hand turn lane. There is a lot of oncoming traffic travelling west on 64th so I have to wait a bit. I get a couple of cars in line behind me also wanting to turn into the mall.

And then I notice a car trying to turn into the mall using the exit lane. That didn't go too good because there was already a car there, correctly attempting to exit out of the mall onto 64th Avenue. You'd think the driver would just straighten out the car and continue up a hundred feet to to the next entrance into the mall inbetween Tim Hortons and McDonald's. But I guess that would be too easy. Instead the female driver, an Asian woman about 40 years old, decides the appropriate thing is to back up onto 64th Avenue and make another try to get into the mall using that particular entrance. 3 times she backed up and went forward, effectively bringing to a stop all westbound traffic on 64th. By the time she finally got inside the mall I had 6 cars in line behind me trying to left turn.

And here's the funny thing. I get into the mall, park about halfway down the aisle from London Drugs and we spot her car. She is aimlessly driving around the mall.

Backing up onto a busy road is definitely a bad idea. Making several attempts is even worse. Its much better to continue on a few more feet and choose another entrance into the mall. But I guess she had her little heart set on driving in this particular driveway.

Pancake breakfast at the Cloverdale Legion on Saturday February 13 2010

Cloverdale Legion's pancake breakfast is on this Saturday February 13 from 8am - 11:30am. $4.50 for adults, $3 for children, gets you pancakes, eggs, sausages, coffee, and juice.

Playing at the Clova from February 12 - February 18 2010

Playing this coming week at the Clova Theatre from February 12 - 18 is:

7pm - Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

9:05pm - Leap Year

Last show lets out at 10:45pm. Times approximate. The Clova waits until there are no more patrons waiting in line at the concession before starting the movie. If its a busy night, could be 15 minute delays. Admission is $7, stay for one or both movies. Tuesday nights admission is $4.

The old horse barns at the Cloverdale fairgrounds

There used to be a couple of horse barns in the east end of the parking lot at the Cloverdale fairgrounds. Partway inbetween the casino/grandstand and Greenaway Park.

People boarded horses in the stalls in the 60's and early 70's. All breeds of horses. There were two barns and one of them had an indoor arena. In fact if you look closely at the east end of the fairgrounds parking lot at some of the mounds where bushes and flowers have been planted, these are the foundations of the old horse barns. I guess they couldn't do too much else with them other than build them up and turn them into garden medians.

There used to be horse playdays held here on the weekends. At least once a month while I was growing up. Being horse crazy, I often walked down here to watch the games, wishing I had a horse and could enter the games. I guess by the time I got my first horse playdays were a thing of the past.

Once the Standardbred racehorses came to Cloverdale in the mid-70's, they were allotted the barns for stabling their horses. This was kind of the overflow barn. The majority of horses were stabled in the big red barns that are still standing in the backstretch area of the racetrack.

In December 1982 I came down to meet a racehorse whose career was ending and the owners wanted him to go to a good home. He was stabled in the overflow barns and that is where I met Mark. He'd had people sit on his back but wasn't really broke to saddle. It didn't matter. I fell in love with the gentle giant. The owners had a riding bridle they put on him and we led him to the dirt arena that was attached to the barn. The seller gave me a leg up and I rode him bareback around the arena. He was perfect. And two days later Mark Missile belonged to me and I moved him to his new boarding stable.

I don't remember exactly when the old barns were dismantled. They were still up and stabling Standardbred racehorses in the late 80's. They were down by the time the racetrack made renovations in the early 90's. I guess there wasn't much else they could do. There was no security in those barns. Anyone walking in from 60th Avenue had access to the barns and the horses inside. There are sick people out there who could potentially harm or steal a horse.

There is the Agriplex at the back of the racetrack, from 62nd Avenue, that is an indoor arena where horse shows and other events are held today. But unfortunately there is no stabling for horses. With the population growth around Cloverdale and many potential horse owners in the vicinity, a horse boarding operation would probably prove to be very profitable for the city.

More about Cloverdale fairground's racetrack

When the grandstand at the Cloverdale fairgrounds transitioned into spectator seating for the Standardbred horse racing, changes came slowly. Most notably enclosing the structure, gating it in, so as to control paid admission into the grandstand. $2/person if memory serves correctly and back then racing was 5 times a week from mid-October to mid-April, during the off season for the Thoroughbred racing at Hastings Park in Vancouver.

By the mid-80's attendance was slacking off a bit. Other forms of entertainment were pulling racing aficionados away from the Cloverdale Raceway. I remember when traffic on racing nights was lined up down 176th Street to the Fraser Highway and sometimes even further north of the Fraser Highway. Bumper to bumper crawl into Cloverdale, trying to turn left onto 60th Avenue and the entrances to the fairgrounds. Back then there was no priority left hand turn lane signal.

Then in the mid-80's racing downsized to 4 times a week. I don't recall for sure, but I think it was Monday night racing that was bumped, leaving racing on Wednesday and Friday nights, and during the afternoons on Saturday and Sunday. Then the change was made from Wednesday night to Thursday night so that meant Standardbred racing was on 4 consecutive days.

Food service in the grandstand on racing nights consisted of a couple of hot dog and hamburger stands. There were a lot of wagering windows open where tellers took racer's bets.

There were a lot of horses still racing in Cloverdale even though the purses weren't all that great. There were several large horse barns in the backstretch area plus a couple of smaller horse barns closer to the grandstand on the parking lot side.

That left 6 months of the year when there was no racing at Cloverdale. During the off season Standardbreds shipping over to Sandown Park on Vancouver Island or over to one of the tracks in Alberta. There was also a couple of weekends of racing in mid-September, the fair meet, which was in conjunction with the now defunct fall fair that used to be held at the Cloverdale fairgrounds.

The Cloverdale racetrack headed into the 90's with a waning popularity.

Olympic torch in Cloverdale

The Olympic torch relay stopped briefly in Cloverdale today - Monday February 8 - around 2:30. We decided to walk over to Highway 10 for a look. Us and a few thousand others!

Several vehicles that were part of the torch program came along first including some of the sponsors. Also buses that were transporting the runners to drop them off where they'd be running.

We walked up to a spot in front of Maynard's tack store, halfway between the musem and 177B Street. Oddly enough a lot of people were standing on the opposite side of the road alongside Clover Square Village. I thought it might be hard for them to see because traffic was moving east bound along Highway 10 thus blocking their view.

Traffic continued west bound for awhile and then became one lane only. Then it came to a complete halt somewhere up around 180th Street. I'm not sure if the police were redirecting traffic down there and up 58th Avenue or if they came to a standstill for ten minutes or so. But I know that eastbound traffic on Highway 10 came to a complete standstill. The police would not let them proceed past 177B Street and all the pedestrians on the mall side wound inbetween the stopped traffic to get a better view of the torch bearer.

I managed to get one of the coveted 2010 Olympics edition of Coke Zero. Several people from the Coke truck were passing them out, but they can only hold a couple at a time, and the crowds were so huge that very few people received one. I managed to get out on the street with my dogs and claim they were thirsty and I got one! Which Kerry promptly opened up and drank because he was thirsty! It might look like a bottle but its really an aluminum can.

Christmas Lights Still On

I wonder how much longer the Christmas lights will decorate downtown Cloverdale. They were pretty in December, but now that February is here, they're starting to look a little tired. At least they stopped lighting the Christmas tree on top of the Dale Building about the middle of January.

And yes, they're still on, lighting the night with the bright red banners and the stars. I enjoy them nightly if I'm walking my dogs downtown.

Its my guess that the same city crew who handle putting up and taking down Christmas decorations are busy setting up Holland Park for the 2010 Olympics celebrations that will be taking place there in February. Therefore taking down Christmas displays around Surrey are on the back burner.

Perhaps the Christmas lights will come down in April.

Playing at the Clova from February 5 - February 11 2010

Playing at the Clova in downtown Cloverdale from Friday February 5 - 11 is:

7pm - Up In The Air

9:05pm - Its Complicated

Last show should let our around 11pm. Times are approximate. On busy nights at the concession stand the staff doesn't start the movie until most of the patrons have cleared the lobby. Admission is $7 - stay for one movie or watch both for that price. Tuesday nights admission is $4. Bring your own resusable popcorn or drink container and fill it up for $2 at the Clova's concession.

What's happening in Cloverdale in February 2010

So what's happening in and around Cloverdale for the month of February 2010? For being known as the month of romance with Valentine's Day, there's slim pickings for February 14 celebrations.

February 8 - Monday - the Olympic torch is passing through Cloverdale on Highway 10 between 180th Street and 176th Street, approximately at 2:30pm, stopping briefly at the Cloverdale Museum. If you're interested in a bigger celebration of the torch, then come to Holland Park in Whalley, corner of King George Highway and Old Yale Road at 5:30pm for a larger event.

February 12 -28 - keeping with the Olympic theme, Holland Park in Whalley is home to many free events during the Olympics, including several performances by the RCMP Musical Ride. To find out more, go to this website www.surrey2010.com

February 14 - Sunday at 3pm at the Cloverdale Legion the Lord Tweesdmuir jazz band is putting on a free concert for Valentine's Day.

Just to toss out a couple of dinner suggestions for Valentine's Day, Sunday February 14 - at Boston Pizza, located in the Clover Crossings Mall, they will be serving heart shaped pizzas with $1 from each sale donated to the Heart & Stroke Foundation. My favorite choice for a romantic meal is at La Masia, located on 64th Avenue and Fraser Highway. Best to phone ahead for reservations 604-574-7633.

That's it for now. I'll have to keep looking at posters put up on shopkeeper's windows for anything else.