How a piece of the Berlin Wall ended up in a backyard in Keswick Ridge
Earl Gilbey has never been to Germany, but he keeps a piece of the Berlin Wall right behind his home in Keswick Ridge.
This is just one of the thousands of loose pieces of brick, marble and stone from around the world that he added to a large retaining wall on his property.
Gilbey placed each of the historic rocks with both hands.
âIt’s really a beautiful thing, really,â he said from his home, about 27 kilometers northwest of Fredericton.
Gilbey started the project 50 years ago, gradually adding to a collection that features rocks from important places like Mount Everest Base Camp in Nepal, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and a small shard of Parthenon marble in Greece.
It also has rocks from the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC, the Matterhorn in the Alps, the Alaska Highway, Cape Spear in Newfoundland, and a stone found near the great Wall of China.
It has rocks from Mongolia, North Pole, Russia, Ukraine.
It has cobblestones from Toronto and old Quebec. And many other rocks from across New Brunswick including Grand Manan, Zealand and Barnettville, a neighborhood south of Miramichi.
Part of the wall even contains a hidden treasure, which is mostly spare currency that Gilbey uses when he runs out.
Gilbey has a journal that documents all the rocks and where they came from. But he can point out any rock along the wall without having to consult it.
Over the years, many have heard of the project and have stopped to marvel at it. Many have also contributed.
âPeople on vacation stumble, look at things, ‘Oh, there’s a little thing, I’ve got to take it back to Earl’s,’ Gilbey said.
“Loose rocks hang around”
Gilbey said the collection did not cause any damage to heritage sites, as the tiny stones are mostly picked up from the ground.
For example, the stone from the Great Wall of China was actually found near the wall, not the wall itself. The memory is about the size of his thumbnail.
âMost of the rocks come from an area that is not protected,â he said. “Any of these rocks, for the most part, are just loose rocks lying around.”
The memories came from over 100 friends, relatives and clients of his art gallery and framing business.
One of them was David Urquhart from Fredericton.
Urquhart provided Gilbey with a stone found near Urquhart Castle in Scotland.
Urquhart, who worked for the town, also gifted Gilbey with a piece of chimney from an old water pumping station at the end of Smythe Street after it was demolished.
The fireplace included a room on which was engraved the year “1883”.
âThere’s quite a bit of history here and it’s preserved⦠it’s all in one place,â Urquhart said.
The Gilbey Wall is approximately 55 meters long and just over a meter high.
âI’ll finish it someday,â Gilbey said. “I’m always full of crazy ideas.”
Leave a legacy
Gilbey also picked up rocks from buildings in the Fredericton area that were demolished, including the old cotton mill in Marysville and the historic Risteen building, which was demolished two years ago on the corner of Smythe and Queen streets. .
He also collects old gravestones that are about to be thrown in graves across the province.
When the crews dug the grounds for the Fredericton convention site, they also picked up a few stones.
âI got a decorative piece of sandstone from there,â he said.
Gilbey hopes to finish his wall at some point. But as long as people keep giving him stones, he will keep building his wall.
“It’s just something that I hope will last a good number of years,” he said. “I’m leaving something behind that says I was here.”