Following in the Footsteps of "the Anne Girl," Part Two: Diana Barry's House and The Lake of Shining Waters/Bridge

Hello, again!!  Well, I wish I could say I spent the weekend relaxing poolside in the sun, but, unfortunately, the weather was rainy in Northern Ontario, where we visited family.  Still, we ate some great food (including homemade apple pie! YUM!), went for some lovely walks, and had some good conversations and laughs.  My mother in law, Sadie, is a great knitter, too, so I'm warming her up to the idea of her knitting me one of the 30s jacket-skirt-waistcoat/vest suits I've been drooling over in my vintage pattern books.  If all goes well, I know what I'm getting for Christmas. Hehe!!!  Sadie also gave me a couple of knitting booklets (one from WWII, one from the later 50s or 60s) to add to my collection.  On our way back home, we were able to stop at two key places on my list of "must see" spots where the Anne of Green Gables movies were filmed.  The first place was the house used as the home of Diana Barry and her family.  Unfortunately, it is private property, so we could only take an external snap from the road.

The second destination was more fun to see, as it figured more prominently in the movies. I'm talkin' about the Lake of Shining Waters and the bridge under which Anne seeks refuge after her plans to float down the pond as Elaine, the Lily Maid, goes awry due to leaks in the boat.  It was a very special spot to visit!

Although this is not the original Lake of Shining Waters that inspired L.M. Montgomery for the novel, this area was used as the Lake in the films. For some reason, though, a scene from the book came to my mind as I walked over the bridge:  "I took the amethyst brooch," said Anne, as if repeating a lesson she had learned. "I took it just as you said. I didn't mean to take it when I went in. But it did look so beautiful, Marilla, when I pinned it on my breast that I was overcome by an irresistible temptation. I imagined how perfectly thrilling it would be to take it to Idlewild and play I was the Lady Cordelia Fitzgerald. . . .  When I was going over the bridge across the Lake of Shining Waters I took the brooch off to have another look at it. Oh, how it did shine in the sunlight! And then, when I was leaning over the bridge, it just slipped through my fingers--so--and went down--down--down, all purplysparkling, and sank forevermore beneath the Lake of Shining Waters. And that's the best I can do at confessing, Marilla."




"They were standing on the bank of the pond, below Orchard Slope, where a little headland fringed with birches ran out from the bank; at its tip was a small wooden platform built out into the water for the convenience of fishermen and duck hunters. . . ."

"Anne and Diana had spent most of their playtime that summer on and about the pond. It was splendid to fish for trout over the bridge and the two girls learned to row themselves about in the little flat-bottomed dory Mr. Barry kept for duck shooting."

"The flat drifted under the bridge and then promptly sank in midstream. Ruby, Jane, and Diana, already awaiting it on the lower headland, saw it disappear before their very eyes and had not a doubt but that Anne had gone down with it. . . . 


 

"The minutes passed by, each seeming an hour to the unfortunate lily maid. Anne looked at the wicked green depths below her, wavering with long, oily shadows, and shivered. Her imagination began to suggest all manner of gruesome possibilities to her."

 Then, just as she thought she really could not endure the ache in her arms and wrists another moment, Gilbert Blythe came rowing under the bridge in Harmon Andrews's dory!" 

Stay tuned for more Anne-pilgrimage posts this summer!