Birchall Family

During the war years, Wes’s other brother Clair stayed home and helped run the family farm in the Lochend district. After the war, Clair married Marjorie Shand from the Bottrel area and they moved to Edmonton and subsequently to Dawson Creek and Fort St John, B.C. where they raised two children, Norma and Ron.

Wes’ s savings from a combination of a generous army salary of $1.00 per day, together with his sideline business of cutting his fellow soldiers’ hair, and a loan from the Veteran’s Land Act, provided Wes with enough money to buy the farm from his parents, Heywood and Maude Birchall. Heywood and Maude then moved back into Calgary where they owned a home.

I had lived in various areas of the Cochrane district before, when my parents, Frank and Gladys Hanes, moved our family from the Medicine Hat area to Cochrane in 1924. At that time, my sister, Gertie (Hawkwood), was 15 months old and my twin sister, Lois (Hainsworth), and I were just nine weeks old. Having rented various farms in the Cochrane area, our family moved into Calgary in 1941. Wes and I were married in August 194 7. It was exciting to be moving back to the Cochrane district with my new husband.

The early years on the farm were tough as we had little money but we were young and had dreams and plenty of enthusiasm. We raised a small herd of beef cows, a milk cow and some chickens. Often times the only money we would have for buying groceries would be the proceeds of selling a few dozen eggs. We had a lot of hail in the fifties. On one occasion after a heavy hailstorm, we were sick to see many hens lying lifeless in the yard. In due time however, many of these hens were once again scratching around the yard. They had only been knocked unconscious by the hail. The crop, however, had been pounded flat.

I have good memories of helping Wes put up the hay. I would drive one team hooked to one end of a sweep and Wes would drive a team hooked to the other end. When the sweep was full, we would drive the sweep up onto a sHde where the hay would fall off the top. Wes would fork the hay into place and make a stack.

Wes put up a 9-volt wind generator on top of the porch. The electricity was stored in batteries in the cellar. It was great when the wind blew as we would have enough electricity for some lights and a radio to hear the news.

There was a flowing spring down the hill from the house which we used for our household needs and for the livestock. The bath water would be heated in pans on the wood stove. I remember one cold and windy winter’s night, Wes was having a bath in a round tub in the kitchen. I went outside to get more firewood. The door did not fully latch behind me and the wind blew the door wide open while I was at the woodpile. I returned with an armful of wood to see snow blowing into the kitchen and swirling around the tub. Wes made it “abundantly clear” to make sure the door was latched the next time I went out! I remember some very cold winters with lots of snow. The roads were not very good and sometimes they were impassable. During the winter of 1947 and 1948 we were snowed in for seven weeks. We had enough groceries and good neighbors. Mr. Jon Hutchinson brought our mail from Cochrane and we were grateful for that. We didn’t have a telephone at that time and we would ride on our horses to visit our friends in the district. I have wonderful memories of visiting and playing cards with Duncan and Margaret Hutchison who lived a short horseback ride away.

The closest road to our farm in the early years was located at what is now the intersection of the Lochend Road and the Big Hill Springs Road. This would mean driving about four miles across country through neighbor’s fields to get on to the road. One nice winters’ day we drove into Calgary, sold a few dozen eggs at Naglers, got our groceries and some farm supplies and headed for home. As we headed out across country, we encountered a whiteout blizzard. As we crossed one of the neighbor’s quarter sections we became disoriented and lost our sense of direction in the whiteout. As we drove aimlessly about looking for a landmark, we encountered a fairly fresh set of tire tracks in the snow. We felt very relieved and followed the tracks which soon joined with another set of tracks. It was then that our relief evaporated as we realized that we were following our own tracks in a circle. It was about this time that our car became stuck in a snowdrift. A short while later, the storm passed and we were able to walk home.

Often times if the roads were snowy or muddy and we wanted to travel to town, Wes would take the tractor and I would drive the car. That way we could pull the car through the snow banks or mud holes. Wes would leave the tractor at the start of the road and we would carry on to town. We would pick up the tractor on the way home and once again use it to get through the nasty spots.

In 1958, we built a dairy barn and purchased a dairy herd and fluid milk quota. The milk was shipped in 8-gallon cans, which were cooled in a water filled concrete tank. Mr. Bob Gathercole hauled the milk to the Union Dairy in Calgary. Bob would come into the milk house with a big cigar and a hearty laugh.

Over the years our small farm house became crowded as four boys joined our family. Brian was born in 1951, Larry in 1953, Grant in 1957 and Kent in 1960. All of the boys started school at Westbrook School. Westbrook wa a great rural community school with plenty of spirit. We have warm memories of the Westbrook School Fair, the year-end picnics at Big Hill Springs Park and the elaborate decorations for the Westbrook Spring Prom

Although life on the farm was busy, we enjoyed beino involved in the community. All of the boys were 0 members of the Bearspaw 4-H Dairy Club and Wes was a leader of the Pee Wees for a time. Wes and I were both involved in the Westbrook PTA and Wes also served on the local school board for a while. Ruth Kline and Janet Jones started the Lochend Ladies Club in 1953. I was one of the Charter Members. It was a wonderful way to visit with the other women in the district and to help out with community service.

Modernization and mechanization improved the quality of life on the farm. Electricity meant running water and li ohts that worked without waiting for the 0 wind to charge the batteries. Electricity could power milking machines and household appliances such as a refrigerator, and that great fifties invention, the television set. The arrival of the telephone lines meant an instant connection to the outside world, whether we were snowed in or not. A new home, with central heating and a flush toilet, was added to the farm in 1960. Tractors replaced the teams of horses, and hay was put up, at first with a sweep on the farmhand loader, and then a square baler, although our first experience with a used, and very temperamental, hay baler left Wes wondering if this invention was a blessing or a curse. Eventually, the 8 gallon milk cans made way for a stainless steel refrigerated bulk tank and then an overhead pipeline to carry milk right from the cow to the tank.

Wes and I sold the Dairy herd and Quota in 197 5 and went back to raising beef cattle. Wes sold real estate for a while. We also had the opportunity to travel and enjoyed trips to England and Continental Europe, Singapore and Southeast Asia, Australia, Central America and Hawaii. Wes had bypass heart surgery m I 993 and later suffered from numerous strokes. We moved from our country home to the Edgemont Retirement Residence in June 1997. We had lived in the Lochend district for fifty years. Wes passed away November 3, 2005. We had been happily married for 58 years. I am still at the Edgemont and I am very comfortable here.

The boys are all married and have children. Brian married Pat (Jansen) from the Dog Pound area. They have two daughters, Alexa and Stephanie. Brian works in the oil and gas business and he and Pat raise beef cattle. They currently reside near Pat’s childhood home at Dog Pound. Larry married Ruth (Michor) from Calgary. They have four children: Scott, Curtis, Tyson (Gail) and Lauren. Larry and Ruth are in the financial business and live just east of Cochrane. Grant married Twila (Clark) from Boyle, Alberta. They have three children: Trevor, Justin and Chantelle. Both Grant and Twila are involved in the oil and gas business. They also raise beef cattle and live near Bottrel. Kent married Anthea (Nield) from Adelaide, Australia. They have two children, Hamish and Rebecca. Kent is a finishing carpenter and they live in Calgary.

St Andrew’s United Church in Cochrane has been a special part of our lives for many years. Wes and I used to help with the fall Turkey Dinners and enjoyed meeting so many friends there. I still go to the Sunday Services.

We have wonderful memories of raising a family on a farm in the Cochrane area. All of our family members have been enriched by the experience of loving family ties, wonderful neighbours and friends, a sense of community and a strong connection to the land.