At the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority‘s Black Creek Pioneer Village, staff are working to keep centuries-old traditions alive.
In addition to educating visitors at their museum, a series of personalized workshops promises to keep the heritage trades thriving as we head into the next decade.
“This is a way to basically be hands-on. This is at a time where we’re not having machines or deliveries or anything like that,” Nathan Smith, a historical educator at Black Creek Pioneer Village, told Global News.
“All these trades were important because they all worked together to create all the goods for a community.”
Black Creek Pioneer Village, a notable Toronto destination for school tours, is settled on old farm grounds southeast of Jane Street and Steeles Avenue West.
Several buildings were added to simulate a historical town. Each building has a different function and is home to a different specialty, such as blacksmithing, tinsmithing and paper printing.
Smith said the mission of the museum is to educate residents on what life was like in rural Ontario about 150 years ago.
“We use all the same techniques that they would use in the 1860s. We use all the same tools that you would use from the 1860s,” he said.
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“You will be using machines from the 1800s to create your craft.”
One of the major learning initiatives at Black Creek Pioneer Village is a series of one-day apprenticeships that run between May and December.
“A chance to do some artisanal work and to take a craft item home with you afterwards,” Smith explained.
“It’s something that you can put your own mark on and say that you crafted it.”
“And it’s an experience you can take home with you and perhaps get you into a trade later on as well.”
There are six types of workshops available: Printing (visitors can typeset and create posters); weaving (using a loom to make a rag rug); historic baking (making bread and other items in a brick oven); spinning (using wool from sheep on the grounds that’s dyed and spun); tinsmithing (crafting a candle sleeve); and blacksmithing (using a forge to create s-hooks and fire pokers).
The workshops, which are $80 a person, are four hours each and are for people 15 and older. While most of the placements are one-on-one, some of the trades can accommodate pairs. Smith said the price includes admission to the grounds.
To book one of the apprenticeships or give one as a gift, go to the TRCA website or call 416-736-1733.