I was one of many, many homes here in Tilt Cove. It was once a thriving town with all the amenities. Tilt Cove was first settled in 1813 and experienced two mining booms, from 1864 to 1917 and again in 1957 to 1967. At one time the population rose to approximately 2000. We even had a large facility that had two bowling lanes, two curling lanes and a separate area for a lounge and bar. We had work, music, laughter, parties, children, churches, great hunting, fishing, beautiful scenery, stunning ocean views and an overall prosperous community.

As with other early Newfoundland mines, the first Tilt Cove miners came from Cornwall, Wales and the mining techniques closely resembled those of the Cornish mines. Cable or ”Swansea” cars carried the ore down from the mine site along a tramway to a two storied pier where vessels waited to take the ore to the copper smelters in Swansea, Wales.

Community Stories. Baie Verte Peninsula Miners Museum VirtualMuseum.Ca

Now our claim to fame is this…………………..

Yes, four.

The lady who lived in the house below died a couple of years ago at the age of 92. She was the only one living on this side of ‘town’.

” She was a tiny little woman who loved to play the accordion and lived alone in this house for a number of years. She came home one day and the road on this side of the town wasn’t plowed. She climbed over snowbanks, used the ladder on the back of her house to get in through an upstairs window and called the mayor the next morning to come and shovel her out!” said a summer resident who used to live here.

We came here to visit this tiny town on the Baie Verte Peninsula because I wanted to see the monument that had been erected to the passengers and crew of the Queen of Swansea. A shipwreck and incomprehensible horror story that played out on Gull Island, not too far from Tilt Cove on December 12,1867.

https://archive.macleans.ca THE HORROR ON GULL ISLAND/Maclean’s/October 1969-The Maclean’s Archive

https://www.goodreads.com Desperation: The Queen of Swansea by Gary Collins

A summer resident pointed us in the right direction and we climbed the 65 stairs to the overgrown cemetery.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After some careful foot manoeuvres, my husband eventually found the monument. The cemetery is very overgrown and tricky to explore.

Come to Tilt Cove and hear the voices, feel the past in your walk-about, let your imagination wander and learn from the earth and wind.