September 20, 2020. Western Head, Nova Scotia. The London Creek Lodge.

Today, David Nickerson drove me along the shore up towards Yarmouth. The Nickerson families move to Nova Scotia in the 17th Century so his roots go deep here. They settled in Cape Sable Island. There are still lots of Nickersons on that island and the cemetaries are full of Nickersons. David's grandfather and his brother moved to Liverpool in the early 20th Century when he obtained the fishing rights to Coffin Island. In 1935 he built his house in town, where David lives now. In 1937, David's gramndfather and his brother along with 4 other men from town bought 100 acres of land along the creek which included Robertson's Lake. And they built a lodge. Every Wednesday afternoon, the 6 men would close their businesses and offices and invite the men in town to join them for an afternoon at the lodge. Everyone was welcome. The purpose was pleasure only. No politics. No religion, no discussion of women. They played poker and drank whiskey. And they smoked cigars. Men joined them from other towns. And for 75 years the lodge survives as it was intended. The six men did not leave their part of the ownership to their own estate. If anyone died, the other five would own in. The feeling of the men was that the last man alive could decide what to do but they all wanted the property to be used for the men of the community. Everyone fished and hunted on the lake. When three of the owners were alive, the son of one of the three suggested that the property be sold to a deleloper with the proceeds shared with the three remaining owners. But this was turned down. So the son allowed the lodge to burn down. He was thinking dollar signs because by then the property was valuable. But the owners still would not sell. Then the son's father died which meant the son was out of the picture. Finally, David's grandfather was the only man still living so he donated the land to the county for the use of the people to hunt and fish. Ken and I often sat on a bench overlooking the lake but we did not know the history. On the same spot where the lodge used to be is a brass plaque giving the history and the names of the original and only owners. David showed me the spot today during our excursion. This is another bit of Liverpool history I gleaned to day from David.