At 1:05 you can see that there are the houses at the top of the riverbank, but about halfway down the hill there is some other sort of dwelling. I lived in one of those houses at the top of the hill as a young child, and the house halfway down the hill belonged to a squatter and his family. I remember he was a wonderful person. He had chickens running around and between himself and his wife they had the most enormous garden. My dad used to go down the hill to see what he could buy and the guy would give him a bushel basket of fresh veggies. When my dad gave him $5.00 the fellow would start making change. You see, the squatter and his family were Chinese and their English was quite poor. One day in about 1960 the city police arrived and rounded up the squatter and his family. And while they stood there and watched the fire department showed up and burned everything to the ground. They weren’t allowed to retrieve any personal possessions. I remember the mother was absolutely hysterical. And then they were just sent on their way. The next time someone tells you how tolerant and kind Canadians are, please remember this story.
An actual theme what a concept! So remember the stores had their windows painted, raft races, bathtub races downtown, king of the klondike , panning for gold at the grounds and the grandstand shows at the race track.
In the 1990s, I drove through the Rat Hole several times with a City of Edmonton 1 ton truck that had a wide box, and I was on the edge of my seat, almost literally. Then once, and only once, I drove through it with a 3 ton moving truck. I'm happy to say that I didn't contribute to the marks on the Rat Hole side wall blocks. Driving through it with a small car was a breeze!
Hello! I'm interested in using some of this footage (it's so great!) in a film I'm making for my PhD research with seniors in downtown Edmonton. I would be happy to attribute the footage to you in the credits. Please let me know if this is possible. Thank you!
I was there on the SW ramp. My dad wanted a pic of his car there. You forgot to mention cars flying over the HUMP. LOL. I mostly avoided the stupid thing.
Did they use Pilot Lights on gas stoves back then ? When I was little our has stove had a pilot light. Thete ysed to be a burner that stayed messed up and my mother had to light a match to start it sometimes.
Ironic that with the new West LRT line going down 104 Ave and MacEwan growing ever larger by the year a new Rat Hole 2.0 will probably needed soon enough at one of the busiest corners in Alberta much less Edmonton...
Manning was out of office for over 50 years. Those who gited for him are all in their seventies. You want to attribute Alberta's current mindset and personality solely to Manning?
The only place this guy is liked is in Alberta. He was premier for 25 yrs. A british immigrant, with a dislike for french, catholics and anything deemed socialist, including universal health care. Alberta didn't get universal healthcare until he left office. He saw communist everywhere, in schools, the media, the CBC. He banned books and movies that "he" deemed socialist. He didn't mind censoring others opinions. He was Alberta first kinda guy. Not very canadian. His policy goals under the "Social Credit" policy infringed on the responsibilities of the federal government under the constitution. Him being premier of Alberta for 25yrs explains albertans today.
Yes Alberta loves him ❤️ and the rest of Canada is wrong. He and Aberheart gave us the best future and most prosperity of Canada's neglected provinces... without Aberheart and Manning we would be as much of a bunch of poor loser provinces like Newfoundland, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan before Brad Wall. And we got our Prosperity honestly with the free market and the protestant work ethic, not with government theft like Ontario and Quebec. My Grandfather Voted for him, my whole family voted for him, and I a Milennial would vote for him agian today.
I was a bike courier in downtown Edmonton back in the 80's. I used to ride through that nearly every day, and the stench was unbelievable. Fumes, stagnant water, urine, garbage, decaying animal corpses. It was a challenge to hold my breath all the way through. It deserved the name 'rat hole'
Was a newly-wed at this time. Always loved the parade. Was in it twice, once with "Pedal Pushers"💋(biking club) and with "Teen Time" (a charity to help teens). Loved to be involved in Klondike Days!
It had to be closed because as this video shows no one was any longer adhering to the rule that you had to put your left blinker on and honk wildly while in the hole. I’m surprised I never caused any damage to vehicles while trying to “get air” while driving on top.
Everyone dressed immaculately. Gorgeous. Though we’ve made great scientific and social progress, the way we dress has completely deteriorated. I think it’s important to hold ourselves as well as others to higher standards.
