62 A Bridge To The Past

Further downstream the obstacle of the river was overcome in several ways.

For many years Wally and Herbert Hogg used privately-owned boats for crossing the River. The boat was anchored in a certain spot and could be used by anyone who had a need for it, but a common courtesy was that the person return the boat to its original anchorage.

Shortly before the turn of the century, the people who lived near the

Taylor Road and their friends on the other side of the Wilmot River devised a rather unique crossing for winter use. At a spring hole on the boundary between Horace Huestis and George Hogg, they built the Brush Bridge. The approaches were on sturdy posts which remained in place from year to year, but the centre of the bridge was mainly poles and brush and this section would float away in the heavy spring tides. It was an annual event, with the coming of winter, for the neighbors to get together to re—build the Brush Bridge. It was used until early spring by travellers from Freetown and other areas, who would then cross the river marsh and enjoy a much shorter and smoother ride on their long drive to Summerside. The farmers who hauled many loads of mussel mud across this short cut were the ones who got the full benefit from this crude but sturdy crossing.

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