Donald Wadleitgh
Under the guidance of Kim Martin, students of the University of Guelph in The Uses of History course developed their oral history capabilities by interviewing participants living in the Norfolk Manor retirement home. The end result portrayed a rare phenomenon that has inevitably expressed unique historical-values for the community of Guelph.
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I was fortunate enough to be paired with a very enthusiastic participant, Donald Wadleitgh. Donald was educated in Montréal and obtained skills in engineering and media design. He told fascinating stories involving his career as a media student when he was living in Montréal, in October 1970. He wandered the politically-fueled streets of Montéal with a 9mm-lens camera – capturing a period of chaos and confusion.
Particularly, Donald recalls this photography adventure occurring soon after news had broken out that Québec politician, Pierre Laporte, was accidentally assassinated by the FLQ radical separatist organization. Donald experienced a rare media-based past by photographing Montéal during this unique era of Canadian history. Sometime after that, Donald pursued a career focusing on his engineering degree. He later became a skilled millwright and worked inside incredible institutions.
After realizing the importance of Donald Wadleigh's career, the goal for this CWRC webpage is to portray Donald's historical essence as accurately and engaging as possible. He is an individual that ultimately expresses' a strong Canadian identity through his significant millwright contributions. I will be discussing Donald's career as a Canadian millwright during his experience working for Canada Steamship Lines in the Collingwood shipyard and at the Darlington nuclear power plant. |
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During the interview process between myself and Donald, he suggested that I research the question, “what does a construction millwright do?” Thus, I fulfilled his wish and provided the current Ontario College of Trade's job description on this CWRC page. A construction millwright:
Throughout Donald's millwright career, he obtained work at important Canadian sites including the Collingwood Shipyard and the Darlington nuclear power plant. The interview between Donald and I provided valuable and historical insight towards these institutions and are relevant to our local history. Donald has showcased an impressive portfolio of trades-skill and nationality through his experience of being a millwright. His time at Collingwood specifically, is an area that remains important to Canadian culture considering it’s increasing popularity in tourism. However, before Collingwood became a popular tourist-town and resort ski hill, it was known for the construction of Canadian ships in the Collingwood Shipyard. |
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As a millwright, Donald helped construct the ships of Collingwood by processing large iron beams for installation; as well as positioning specific mechanical equipment onto the ships. Donald had explained an array of interesting stories and information about his time working in the shipyard. He went into detail about the amount of skilled-labour required for the construction of these ships, as well as some of the tragedies and dangerous encounters that occurred in his workplace. Donald placed into perspective the amount of work required to create these large boats by comparing the construction of a boat to the construction of a building or small town.
To view a section of my transcribed interview on Youtube, click here.[2]
After interviewing Donald about his experiences in the Collingwood shipyard, I realized the true dangers of the work. Donald’s first-ever viewing of a ship launch turned into a horrific scene on May 29th, 1969. Hull number 192, Tadoussac was a 730-foot long vessel that had unfortunately launched fifteen minutes early. As maintenance workers were still preparing the ways, the premature launch killed two workers and approximately forty people were injured. To place into perspective the sheer size of the Tadoussac, the ship is capable of handling payloads within the 25,000-ton range.[3]
To listen to Donald read the article of this event, click here. |
 Figure 4: display of the aftermath of Cartiercliffe Hall, the "bad luck ship". |
Donald explained to me very unique instances of superstition that occurred in the shipyards of Collingwood. Considering the vast amounts of danger existing in the shipyard such as fires, premature launches, and overall dangerous working conditions; many sailors became superstitious after tragic events occurred. Donald explained to me that a ship, the Cartiercliffe Hall, is known as the “bad luck ship". It is a 730-foot laker that went up in a blaze on June 5th, 1979 and claimed the lives of 7 men. After the ship was rebuilt for $9 million dollars, superstitions began to ensue when sailors heard the ship constantly make eerie noises. Furthermore, Donald explained to me that he recalls the instances of sailors’ jumping off their boat and swimming back to shore because of their fears. The sailors believed in what Donald called, “ghost ships”, because of the terrifying noises they would hear within a ship that experienced a tragic event.
To listen to Donald and his Ghost Ship story, click here. |
On September 12th, 1986, the government ended the 103-year-old Collingwood tradition by closing down the shipyard. At that time, it was Ontario’s largest manufacturing plant. The shipyard was a business that was struggling to succeed in the shipping industry. In its busiest times, the shipyard employed approximately 1,200 people, who were talented steelworkers and well-paid tradesmen.[4] To the workers and people who devoted much of their lives in Collingwood, the shipyard held special sentimental value. It caused an upset in the community when the shipyard was closed; but on a positive note, many of the ships still sail along the Great Lakes today and the legacy of the shipyard is being converted into historical sites. There is currently an extravagant 16-hectare housing development being constructed, called, "the shipyards"; which was bought for development from Canada's Steamship Lines in 2004. The area features many activities, including 70 kilometers of the Georgian Bay Beach.[5] When asking Donald if he was upset about the closing of the shipyard, this was his response.
Aerial and shipyard photographs are courtesy of the Colling Wood Museum and George Czerny-Holownia.
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Thankfully, Donald was able to obtain work at the Darlington Nuclear Plant soon after the shipyard closed. In our first meeting together, Donald was enthusiastic in explaining to me, in simple form -- how a nuclear reactor works. I was very satisfied with the way he explained it to me and I became more interested in his work at the plant. To enhance the quality of my interview, I shared with Donald a Darlington nuclear power plant report from the period he was employed there. The report reflects on the public opinions of producing nuclear power and obtains many Darlington plant advisories, photographs, statistics, charts, and more. The book is called the Report on Darlington Nuclear Generating Station - Ontario Select Committee on Energy, 1985. It was a useful primary source to share because the document enabled an insightful conversation between us about the controversy that arises when a city builds a nuclear plant. One of the reasons the construction of a nuclear generator is controversial amongst Ontario citizens is because the estimated cost of the Darlington station is $10.895 billion dollars.[6] |
When I asked Donald about his opinion, he stated that nuclear power is a good option. He stated, "it still produces the cheapest electricity with the least amount of pollution... You don’t see anything coming out of a nuclear plant. You see little puffs of steam - you don’t see black smoke. The emissions are very, very low -- once it’s up and running. And it keeps a lot of people working."
Through Donald's experience working at the plant, he told me that the Darlington Nuclear Facility is one of the safest in the world because it utilizes a CANDU reactor. He said, "CANDU reactors are some of the safest in the world because they have so many fail-safes or safety aspects to them. Put it this way, the chances of a core -- of it going out of control are very low." Donald explained that there is an immense amount of maintenance to keep the Darlington plant running.
In November of 1990, a major fuel inspection occurred because of evident damage in the fuel bay. To inspect this issue, researches and Darlington workers used "high resolution, close focus, underwater, radiation resistant television camera, and high-intensity underwater lights. The working depth at Darlington is about 15 feet. Television images are viewed on a high resolution black and white monitor."[7]The amount of scheduled maintenance is severely monitored so that they can fix things long before they break. Donald used the analogy of hinges on a door; "you’d think hinges, are good for 20 years. Well, Darlington would say, 'they are good for 20 years… but we're gonna replace them every ten years'”. There are important precautions to take with nuclear energy and many inspections that must constantly ensue. The technologically advanced nature of working at a nuclear plant had made me appreciate Donald and his career as a millwright.
I am very thankful to have been given the opportunity to work with Donald and listen to his incredible story. His career as a millwright had undeniably represented notions of Canadian identity through cultural values his workplaces obtained. The Collingwood shipyard remains a historical place in Ontario due to its cultural importance and the Darlington Nuclear Plant is a fundamental aspect of our daily lives considering large percentages of Ontario's energy comes from Darlington.
Click here for Luke Gelata's full reflection on this interview.
Click here for the full interview.
Endnotes
[1] "426A Construction Millwright." Ontario College of Trades. February 2016. Accessed April 8, 2019.
[2] Launching a Ship At Collingwood Shipyards. Directed by Ben Andrews, Al Ainsworth, and Brian Kelly. Youtube. 1977. Accessed April 8, 2019.
[3] Gillham, Skip. The Ships of Collingwood. St. Catharines, Ont.: Riverbank Traders, 1992.
[4] Bourrie, Mark. "103-Year Tradition Ends Today as Collingwood Shipyard Closes." The Globe and Mail (1936-Current), Sep 12, 1986, p.1. ProQuest. Web. Apr. 2019.
[5] Beeby, Gale. "Building on History; Former Collingwood Shipyard Will Become European-Style Community that Will Reconnect the Town with its Waterfront." Toronto Star, Sep 19, 2009, ProQuest. Web. 9 Apr. 2019.
[6] Ontario. Legislative Assembly. Select Committee on Energy, and Andrewes, Philip W. Report on Darlington Nuclear Generating Station - Ontario Select Committee on Energy. 1985.
[7] Judah, J. Overview of fuel inspections at the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. In Boczar, P.G. (Ed.). Third international conference on CANDU fuel. 597. Canada: Canadian Nuclear Society. 2019.