Grace and Danny at Britannia Mine Museum at Britannia Beach
The weather was sunny in Vancouver when Grace, Jandy and I accepted the offer of my Don Bosco Makati high school classmate and now Vancouver resident Danilo “Danny” Macaventa who volunteered to tour us, via his car, around Squamish and Whistler.
L-R: Grace, Danny and museum guide
A 61.3-km. (1-hr.) drive, along the Sea-to-Sky Highway on Howe Sound, took us to our first stop, the former copper mining town of Britannia Beach, a small (population about 300) but charming unincorporated community in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District rich with art and history approximately 10 mins. south of Squamish.
In 1888, a copper discovery on Britannia Mountain by Dr. A. A. Forbes led to the development of the Britannia Mine and, between 1900 and 1904, the community first developed as the residential area for the staff of the Britannia Mining and Smelting Company.
Sea-to-Sky Highway and Howe Sound
At the center of the town, now an award-winning 10-acre National Historic Site of Canada that has recently undergone a $14.7 million facelift, is the Britannia Mine Museum (formerly the British Columbia Mining Museum) which is visible from the highway itself. The museum now oversees 23 historic industrial, administrative and domestic buildings, over 7,000 artifacts, 9500 archive photos and 3,000 archival documents and maps.
As we arrived just before 10 AM, we decided not to join the 11 AM Mining Tour. There, visitors can experience what life was really like in a busy copper mining town by getting an up-close look at machinery, ore carts, a working Lime Tank and the famous Mill 3, also called the Concentrator where the ore was once processed.
Guest Services Building
Visitors can also climb aboard the museum’s mine train to ride through an historic haulage tunnel (over 210 kms. were dug), driven in 1914 to transport ore from the original mill buildings to the shore. Historic mining and lighting equipment is demonstrated to the visitor. You can also pan for gold and sit in the original throne used in the Copper Queen pageant.
The Engineering Building
We did get to meet museum director Ms. Kristine Clausen who briefed us on the history of the town and its copper mine. According to Kristine, for almost 70 years, Britannia Beach was an important source of copper ore. During the 1920s and 1930s, it constituted one of the largest mining operations in Canada. On November 1, 1974, high operating costs and taxes eventually forced the mine to close.
Old mining equipment
Old 1971 WABCO 3200B Haulpak mining truck
Nearby is a Squamish First Nation Info Legend Display Kiosk while a little bit further off is the old 800,000-lb., yellow 1971 WABCO 3200B Haulpak mining truck. Further into the distance is the 20-storey Mill 3 building carved into the mountainside. A highly innovative (using bulk froth flotation), gravity fed concentrator for ore processing, it was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1987 (with a ceremony in 1988).
Britannia Mine Concentrator
Though we didn’t join the Mines Tour, we did drop by the Company Store (Museum Gift Shop), historically the only shopping place in Britannia Beach. Here, they sell rare ammolite jewelry comprised of the fossilized shells of ammonites, copper mugs, souvenirs, locally produced wares, books, mining memorabilia, apparel and rare minerals specimens from Canada and all over the world.
Company Store
Also offered for sale are works by leading Northwest Coast native artisans and artists from Britannia Beach, Squamish, and beyond such as Angela Muellers (beautiful paintings), Frances Solar, Niel Bennett (amazing postcards of the Mill building), Jim Unger (copper artworks), Byron Anderson (copper tree sculptures) and Sarah Groves (unique copper jewelry).
Before leaving, we also dropped by the Chatterbox Café (open 8 AM to 5 PM), located next to the admissions and the gift shop at Britannia Mine Museum, which is also home to the museum’s collection of autographed photos, chronicling the history of feature films and TV production filmed at the museum and in and around Britannia Beach.
First Aid and Chatterbox Cafe
They include Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Okja, The Man in the High Castle (TV series), MacGyver, The Flash, Supernatural, many scenes for The Crossing (TV series) in 2017, the 2010 episode of the US TV show Psych, Dual Spires, the episode “Paper Clip” of The X-Files, scenes for Travelers (TV series) in 2017, and 21 Jump Street.
Britannia Mine Museum: 150 Copper Drive, Britannia Beach, British Columbia V8B 1J1. Tel: +1 800-896-4044. Website: www.britanniaminemuseum.ca. Open, 9 AM to 7 PM, with 16 tours daily. First tour starts at 9:30 AM and the last tour at 5 PM (check in at 4:30 PM). Admission: $36.95 (adults. 18+), $33.95 (seniors, 65+, and students), $28.95 (youth, 13-17), $19.95 (child, 5-12), $130 (daily family rate) and free (pre-school, 4 and under).