Sometimes just going out for a walk will reward the dedicated and vigilant Boler Spotter with some new discoveries. Case in point here, two little trailers, one a thirteen foot Boler and the other a plain old Trillium seen while the Team, on foot, headed to a Calgary Street Festival...
Welcome to day two of things seen and places visited from the 2018 edition Alberta Ghost Town Convention (called the Mini-GTC, itâs anything but). Itâs been going on a half dozen years now and has been attended by Team BIGDoer from the beginning, along with a wonderful group of friends,...
If you find yourself in the historic ghost town of Sandon BC, in the âSilvery Slocanâ, and are looking to stretch the legs a bit, weâve got an excellent adventure to recommend. Starting right in town, the Payne Bluff Hike takes in the old âKaslo & Slocan Railwayâ roadbed, an...
Out near Wetaskiwin Alberta thereâs a wonderful attraction you and the family can visit, home to a collection of vintage train equipmentâŠand who doesnât like that stuff? Drop in, say hi, explore the grounds, go for a ride around the loop and make it part of a grand day. On...
Here itâs a most interesting take on whatâs a most remarkable place. Weâre in Fort Steele Heritage Town, out in the East Kootenays of British Columbia, a popular âliving history*â museum operating since the 1960s. Weâve been given an assignment to document the park for a photo-tour type article, but...
Smithbilt Hats has been doing it since the late 1910s. Most of what they make are cowboy hats, fitting given this is cattle, farming and ranching country. If youâve seen a âwhite hatterâ during stampede and or at the airport greeting new arrivals to the city, that topper came from...
The entire Kootenays of British Columbia are home to disproportionately high number of Bolers. You canât swing a dead cat, to quote that overused adage, without hitting one of these trailers. Just driving about and youâre sure to spot an example or twoâŠor sometimes even more (six in about an...
by Chris Doering · Published May 10, 2019 · Last modified February 11, 2020
Itâs our final day on the legendary El Camino Trail in Spain, and weâre both elated and more than a touch blue. These crazy conflicting emotions when you realize something epic is soon to end. Thereâs just some ten thousand more steps to go and itâll all be behind us....
Deep in the precipitous mountains of the West Kootenays of British Columbia, thereâs a most historic place. Built on mining riches it was a boom town like no other, once home to some ten thousand folks that today has a population which can be counted on a hand or two....
Itâs located in the quiet Sibbald section of Kananaskis, a loop trail in the foothills, moderate in length with zero challenges and a real pleasure to hike. It keeps to trees mostly, but thereâs still lots of scenery and occasional far reaching views of mountains beckoning to the south and...
We do them out of fun and for that alone these âthen and nowâ posts are sadly the first ones to be put on hold should other projects come up. It frustrates us, but we have little choice. The last was published in 2018 (yikes!) but here we (cautiously) announce...
To some itâs known, variously, as the Castle, Tower or Turret House, account its distinctive style of architecture. To others itâs the Robertson or Koopman House, after some folks who once called it home. But most famously itâs known far and wide as the Superman House due to its appearance...
Not like we need another obsession here at BIGDoer.com, but itâs happened. GreatâŠjust great. And itâs well known history buff Johnnie Bachusky we blame. If not for him bringing up the subject of water towers recently while chatting, the seed would have never been planted. Sure, we noticed these structures...
One weekend every July for the last few years, a group of close friends gets together and explores the countryside in search of historic and abandoned places. Itâs always an epic adventure, taking in abandoned farms, charming villages, near ghost towns and vintage vehicles long put out to pasture. But...
Itâs of the era and has a style and vibe that would make a Brady (famously from that quirky â70s TV show) proud. Thereâs thick shag carpeting, mirrors and pillars, pastel shades and rich wood panelling. Thereâs avocado coloured appliances, rock and brick work, marble, brass and all things satin,...
As we often do when weâre on the road weâll stop and explore small towns along the way. One never knows what theyâll find, some disused building to photograph perhaps, a cool old car sitting out on some empty lot, or maybe something else worthy of attention. Heck, weâre easily...
Itâs the Doublemint Twins, a 1979 Boler (13 foot model) and the rig towing it, and all painted up the same minty green, a 1962 Chevrolet Pickup. These two roam the land appearing at campgrounds and car shows. Here we found them at an event in their homebase town of...
Almost a year ago the Team got to be part of a most amazing event, the Edmonton Pinball & Arcade Show, aka YEGPIN. An entire day was spent roaming the venue and recording all the action for an article published recently. In that piece (link below), it was about the...
The colder months usually means itâs urban hikes for us, especially with Connie on the mend. We donât want to push it and so doing our thing âin townâ makes itâs easy to bail and catch a ride back to the car should there be a problem. Even so we...
And weâre back! Hereâs the much anticipated second instalment where we take in a most amazing collection of old machinery. Thereâs cars, trucks, tractorsâŠyou name itâŠstretching off as far as the eye can see, all of them old and with tons of character, a showcase of that moody decrepit vibe...
by Chris Doering · Published April 3, 2019 · Last modified February 11, 2020
Itâs strange how time on the El Camino de Santiago can both stand still and rush by. One moment, everythingâs in slow motion, a step or movement taking an eternity and with others itâs as though living in a hyper-lapse and the world a blur. Such is our experience, walking...
Sometimes things move at a glacial pace here (damn, itâs complicated) but finally hereâs the second instalment in the âFrostbite Hotrodsâ series. Itâs been a long time coming and for this we offer our apologies all around. Better late than never, they say! Right? In this series, we spend a...
We cover a lot of subjects on this here website. It might be an outdoor adventure one day, something with a history connection the next and on yet another we might show you one of our strange obsessions (Boler!), but every once in while we dabble in the lifestyle/human interest...
Before we beginâŠthis article was scheduled to be published some two or three months ago, but Connieâs health issues forced a delay. Life has this way of throwing one a curve ball it seems. Sheâs mending now and doing darn good and so weâre back in full force but hopelessly...
Time has run out for these homes. Forgotten and empty the land on which they sit is slated for redevelopment and soon theyâll be reduced to a pile of splinters. The âgentrification monsterâ (thanks Micheal), insatiable in appetite, rears its head here in the Calgary community of Bowness. Nothing stands...
Weâre always wandering about, be it here in our own city or anywhere we happen to be. Itâs just what we do. And one little perk of doing this is that inevitably, and I mean itâs almost guaranteed, weâll stumble across a Boler. Or maybe two. Theyâre out there, and...
Just south of Downtown Calgary, across the tracks, are a grouping of neighbourhoods collectively titled the âBeltline Districtâ. Itâs mixed use residential and commercial, things old and things new, many stately homes, modern condo towers, heritage buildings, schools, churches and countless places to shop and eat. And itâs here weâve...
To beginâŠthis here article was shot waaaay back in late 2017 and was supposed to be published that following spring. So a year ago. As it happens the poop sometimes flies and a battle with a publisher, never full resolved but behind us now, and some life getting in the...
The southwest region of Calgary Team BIGDoer calls home dates from the late 1950s/early 1960s, but interspersed among all the ranch style dwellings, along with a few slightly newer Brady-esque multi-level-splits, are some dwellings that predate these neighbourhoods by many decades. When new these houses were out in the country,...
Old Jack is a friend. In 2017 he made an appearance in the documentary âForgotten Prairieâ (Rueben Tschetter/Cache Productions â links below), where he took Team BIGDoer and some pals on a tour of his local area. Included, was a (now) ghost town just up the road from where he...
Kenopsia: "the eerie atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but now vacant or abandoned."
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Jack Rutherford:
Anastasia Lords of Anastasia Village
Johanna (Connie) Biggart:
Nier Albertaâs Psychedelic Grain Elevator
Byron Robb:
A Downtown West End Alley (Calgary)
Helen Besterling:
Stampede Speedway Calgary (1982-1987)
Anonymous:
The Grist Mill / Blacksmith Shop (2015)
Byron Robb:
Ogden Road Calgary 1950 & 2016
Anonymous:
Sibbald Gentlemanâs Club (Closed)
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
Riverview Hospital Coquitlam BC
Johanna (Connie) Biggart
Empress Alberta at the 4th Meridian
Johanna (Connie) Biggart:
St Peter and Paul Church 1918
Anonymous:
Radio Shack Westbrook Mall (Calgary)
Anonymous:
Ghost Railways: Fort Macleod Alberta
Anonymous:
Berte Georgeâs Williamâs Grocery Lethbridge
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
Union Bay (Vancouver Island) Coal Wharf
Rob Pohl & Arturo Pianzola:
1 Day: Denman & Hornby Islands (BC)
- shot in & around the Crowsnest Pass of Alberta. A TV production, it follows her adventures as she works to save a herd of feral horses. 
: Scenes from the Limerick Hotel (Limerick SK), visited by the Beer Parlour Project in the summer of 2024. Learn more: https://www.beerparlourproject.com/limerick-hotel-limerick-saskatchewan/<p>Javascript is required for this site to function. Please enable it in your browser settings and refresh this page.</p>
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