Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 51 THE CRASH OF THE VALENCIA by Lyrika Lyrika’s Pages (continued) On Wednesday April 6 2023, me and my class went to the lighthouse in Shirley. I live kinda close to there, it is a 15 minute drive. The people who work at the lighthouse were helping my class and showing us around. They were telling us about the story of the lighthouse. The Sheringham Lighthouse was started being developed in 1906. It was made because the SS Valencia boat crashed. There were 173 people on deck and only 37 survived. This was a huge incident. It was in 1906. I read: “Screams of women and mothers with children mingled in an awful chorus with the shrieking of the wind, the dash of rain, and the roar of the breakers. As the passengers rushed on deck they were carried away by the huge waves that seemed as high as the ship’s mastheads. The ship began to break up almost at once and the women and children were lashed to the rigging above the reach of the sea. It was a pitiful sight to see frail women, wearing only night dresses, with bare feet on the freezing ratlines, trying to shield children in their arms from the icy wind and rain.” This was a really bad time for the loved ones and mother, fathers etc. May all who died be remembered and rest in peace. In the 1920s, girls were expected to learn a music instrument, cook, clean, etc. They were treated like slaves and weren’t able to vote, or havee a say in anything. But in Canada they got the right to vote earlier. Back to my life: I am 10 years old and my name is Lyrika. I am in Mr. Parson’s class as well.
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 52 Maddox’s Pages Maddox wan’t able to join us when we visited the lighthouse, but if he’d been there we think he would have taken photos like this. We think it fits with his story. Maddox’s Photo Selection:
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 53 Maddox’s Pages (continued) AFTER THE DANCING DINOSAUR by Maddox One day in Sooke Sheringham Lighthouse, there was a dinosaur hitting the gritty. And he was hitting the gritty so hard that there were people who were complaining. And then after. they told the dinosaur to go away from the lighthouse. He loved dancing at the Lighthouse, but then one of them got hurt and then they moved out of the lighthouse. And then it was abandoned for years and years and years, until somebody found it. After they found it, they saw the dinosaur inside the lighthouse. So they collected the dinosaur and put him in a chamber. Then they explored even more. They have found very old stuff in there, like very old TVs from 1988, a very old bed that was probably 100 years old. And there’s this weird creepy figure, so they stopped exploring for a very, very long time. Until today. This is what they found this day. We found a TV that was pretty modern, a newer bed, a newer couch and everything looks so much newer. Even a newer chair, and there was this TV remote lying on the floor. He looks down and they saw a weird guy in there. Then after that, they take them out. And then they made it an exploring place, where people can take pictures and do what they want to do. And they can look inside of it. They can turn on the light to the lighthouse. They can do anything. They can do literally anything they wanted to do, so they made a playground beside it. Then they started playing there and it was so fun. And then one day people stopped going there, sadly. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 54 Marcelo’s Pages RIVER “It is like a big river, even though it is small.” Marcelo’s Photo Selection:
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 55 Marcelo’s Pages (continued) LIGHTHOUSE PICTURES by Marcelo I liked my picture because it shows that size doesn’t matter. Because my pitcher is a puddle, but it also looks like a river, and it was the best picture I took. And It was fun. I hope we go back. And I am going back, with my family, because my cousin and my aunt are coming and they want to go. And I will go back to take pictures. It has been a week so my cousin has left. They went to it but they didn’t go in. But they said it was fun. And I had fun. I thought it would be bad but it was fun. And it was fun to just walk around and take pictures.
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 56 Marley’s Pages TIME AT THE LIGHTHOUSE! “I chose this one because I always wanted to get a picture like this, because I love this type of pic.” Marley’s Photo Selection:
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 57 Marley’s Pages (continued) THE SHERINGHAM LIGHTHOUSE STORY by Marley When I went to the lighthouse, I had an awesome time there. It was so fun to take photos of the ocean and edit them. I got some really cool photos of the ocean. I would love to go again. I wished the day would never end. It was so fun. My favorite thing was taking pics of the ocean. Big thank you to the owners for showing us around. I loved the smell of the salty ocean and the flowers and the fresh air. I liked the pocky sticks. I thought they were interesting for some weird reason, because I am weird. I hope I go again.
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 58 Mica’s Pages STAIRWAY TO SHIRLEY “I love it! The inside of the lighthouse made me feel safe. I really wanted to go up the stairs – maybe one day. Mica’s Photo Selection:
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 59 Mica’s Pages (continued) THE NIGHT AT THE SHERINGHAM LIGHTHOUSE by Mica It all started on a stormy night, the wind was howling like a wolf and the lighthouse was all that could be seen on land. In the distance, out in the ocean, a large shadow could be seen in the lighthouse’s beam. On land, defenses were being prepared. I planted 35 Commando Pea Shooters to keep us safe. The mysterious shadow neared the shore, and its head began to rise from the water. As it rose from the ocean, it became clear this was the Shirley King Crab, the destroyer of boats. The Commando Pea Shooters worked as designed, stopping the King Crab from reaching the shore. We had done it! Our town would be safe! To celebrate, we boiled the crab and barbequed steak while rocking out to the danger zone.
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 60 Mohammad’s Pages Mohammad’s Photo Selection: NATURE BOY “I like nature and the bush that I picked looked really good.
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 61 THE MONKEY AND THE DRAGON by Mohammad This is the story of how Quandavismonkeythebeast slayed a dragon at the lighthouse with his pet monkey. The pet monkey pulled out a sword and he jumped on the dragon and started killing it by stabbing. Then the dragon fell on the ground and he was dead. The pet monkey started talking to the dragon, but the dragon wouldn’t reply. And the monkey laughed and laughed and laughed until the dragon rose. And the monkey was so scared he couldn’t move. That’s how scared he was, then the monkey died. Then the dragon flew under the waters of the lighthouse and flew away in the water. Mohammad’s Pages (continued)
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 62 Sienna’s Pages LIGHTHOUSE “I chose it because the lighthouse lit up at night for ships.” Sienna’s Photo Selection:
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 63 Sienna’s Pages (continued) A VISIT TO SHERINGHAM POINT by Sienna This is the story about me going to the Sheringham Lighthouse with my class, because why not. We took a bunch of pictures of the lighthouse and the ciff side, and it was so cool. I saw some seagulls and then we learned about the history of the lighthouse. It was built in 1912 because a ship was lost at sea. They thought they weren’t that close to the rocks, and the ship sank basically to the bottom. Only 37 people survived because there was only one lifeboat. So that’s why they built the Sheringham Lighthouse. Before, there were only two lighthouses, so the ships knew to go in between the lighthouses. The ship that sank was traveling from San Fransisco to Victoria or Seattle. Oh, and we also learned how to be a better writer. We learned not to use the words “but” or “very.” Then the people who showed us around fixed the place up. There was a lens with a lamp, well, I think it was a lamp because I fogot the name for it. It was 150 years old and it was beautiful.
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 64 Taylor’s Pages THE HUMAN “Because it’s cool, and I love the landscape.” Taylor’s Photo Selection:
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 65 Taylor’s Pages (continued) APRIL 2023 by Taylor I went to Sheringham Lighthouse. I took some pictures on the phone. lalalala,*Music* Then we sat on some rocks and learned about how to be a better writer. A person told us to not use the words but or very in writing. Reason why for but is IDK. Then for the word very they said that instead of saying it was very pretty you could say it glistened like a star. Sheringham Lighthouse was beautiful. Did you know that some boats used to pass the lighthouse and would shoot the lighthouse just because it had no owner. Did you know they couldn’t just go to a normal place and get some glass, they had to get some custom-made ones since it was rounded. They had the original light in the lighthouse displayed. In the olden days, when they still needed lighthouses, the lighthouse workers never got any sleep because they had to do something. But I forget what it was lol. BYEEEEEEEEEEE.
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 66 Travis’ Pages MOTHER NATURE “I chose it because I really like the flower in the picture and it represents happiness to me.” Travis’ Photo Selection:
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 67 Travis’ Pages (continued) A VISIT TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Travis On April 5 2023 I went to Sheringham Lighthouse. We were given phones to take pictures at the lighthouse. My favorite picture was a picture of a flower that was called Alpine Betony. I made it kind of look like it was taken by a professional photographer. I had an awesome time at the lighthouse because I got to hear some whale sounds. It had some beautiful scenery at the lighthouse and I got to take some great pictures. Overall it was a great experience at the lighthouse and I would
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 68 “I’ll be visiting Sheringham Point Lighthouse this summer. How about you?” Check out the website for directions (that’s driving directions, not swimming): https://sheringhamlighthouse.ca/the-lighthouse-2/visit-thelighthouse-site/site-map/
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 69 Exploring the Lighthouse A Big Thank-You And finally, but most of all, we want to thank Principal Tess Vally and teachers Lisa Stuart and Jodie Carpenter, and in particular the students at Sooke Elementary School for making this project so enjoyable. We want to thank Tom Harris - Telus, for donating the cellphone cameras for the students to use. Without this support, the program would not have been possible. This project was carried out by the Society’s partners: Change Canada Consultants Ltd. Our thanks to them: Ian Fawcett (coordinator & photographer), Kathleen Arnason (author and story-teller) and Bill Turner (for helping develop and implement the program). This project was conducted in partnership with the National Trust for Land & Culture (BC), who provided technical assistance and equipment throughout the project. Our thanks also to SPLPS volunteers for helping at the site and with the setup of the program, and to the Society’s members and supporters who provided the financing for the program. Our thanks to the District of Sooke for providing a Community Grant to help finance the program.
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 70 Exploring the Lighthouse Raising Funds to Protect the Lighthouse And finally, something a little different... Just like our heritage...don’t discard it, look again! Projects such as the protection and restoration of Sheringham Point Lighthouse depend upon the generosity of people who care about what we are trying to accomplish, and who want to help. Much of the funding for this project so far has been provided by individuals who have stepped forward to make a donation. However, in order to ensure that the Lighthouse can be well cared for in the future, and to enable us to continue providing educational opportunities at the Lighthouse - such as this program - we need to raise additional funds. Can you help? We have set up a fundraising page on the Society’s website to make it easy to donate (all donations over $10.00 will receive a charitable tax receipt). You can find it at: https://sheringhamlighthouse.ca/get-involved-2/make-a-donation/ THANK YOU! Anyone who takes photographs knows that things don’t always turn out as planned. A click at the wrong time, a shake of the camera or a wrong setting can produce something entirely unintended. Often, the results of these situations are simply discarded. But sometimes, with a bit of luck, and with a willingness to look again with a fresh eye and an open mind, the results can be startling. We’ve collected a number of the images created by the children during their visit to the lighthouse that didn’t quite turn out as intended, but that struck us as beautiful abstract images nontheless. We’ve called this collection “UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES”, and we hope they will inspire you to look again at our heritage treasures like Sheringham Point Lighthouse, and make a donation to help us ensure its conservation. Take a look at these few samples on the next page, we think you’ll be amazed!
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 71 “Unintended Consequences”
Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society Page 72 www.sheringhamlighthouse.org “A Lighthouse is a beacon of hope; a symbol of human solidarity.” Gary Geddes BC poet & author