How a piece of the Berlin Wall ended up in a backyard in Keswick Ridge

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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.

Here is just a small section of Gilbey’s wall in his garden. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

Gilbey placed each of the historic rocks with both hands.

“It’s really a beautiful thing, really,” he said from his home, about 27 kilometers northwest of Fredericton.

Gilbey keeps a piece of the Berlin Wall in his garden. It was given to him by his uncle, Bill Love. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

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.

This man spent over 50 years building a historic wall outside his New Brunswick home

Earl Gilbey used rocks from around the world, including the Parthenon in Greece and the Mount Everest base camp, to build a wall outside his home in Keswick Ridge. 2:16

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.

A rock in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

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.

This rock in Barnettville, a neighborhood in New Brunswick, has a giant hole in it. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

Part of the wall even contains a hidden treasure, which is mostly spare currency that Gilbey uses when he runs out.

A piece of lava rock from Mount St. Helens, Washington, which erupted in 1980. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

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.

A stone from the Fredericton Curling Club after it burned down in the late 1960s. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

Over the years, many have heard of the project and have stopped to marvel at it. Many have also contributed.

“People 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”

A rock in the Matterhorn, a mountain in the Swiss Alps. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

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.

A small rock that came from Venezuela. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

“Most of the rocks come from an area that is not protected,” he said. “Any of these rocks, for the most part, are just loose rocks lying around.”

In his collection, Gilbey also has a small brick from Russia. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

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.

This rock was collected from Mount Everest in Nepal. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

Urquhart provided Gilbey with a stone found near Urquhart Castle in Scotland.

A rock found near Urquhart Castle in Scotland. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

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”.

David Urquhart donated a piece of an old pumping station that was demolished in Fredericton. (Shane Fowler)

“There’s quite a bit of history here and it’s preserved… it’s all in one place,” Urquhart said.

Gilbey points to a long gray patch in his wall at the old cotton mill in Marysville. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

The Gilbey Wall is approximately 55 meters long and just over a meter high.

“I’ll finish it someday,” Gilbey said. “I’m always full of crazy ideas.”

Leave a legacy

The wall begins with an old Nova Scotia well pump cover. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

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.

A stone that was collected in the Yukon. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

When the crews dug the grounds for the Fredericton convention site, they also picked up a few stones.

An old gravestone from an unknown grave with the word “mother” written on it. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

“I got a decorative piece of sandstone from there,” he said.

Various rocks of the Mediterranean islands. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

Gilbey hopes to finish his wall at some point. But as long as people keep giving him stones, he will keep building his wall.

The original plaque from the Grand Falls Bridge that was discarded because it did not have the town’s name in French, which is Grand Falls. (Elizabeth Fraser / CBC)

“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.”


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