Antigonish Heritage Museum

In 1967 the Queen Mother visits Antigonish. The Britannia docks at the Strait of Canso and the Queen Mother takes a motorcade to Town. There, she is greeted by dignitaries and has lunch at St F X. Next she participates in the Official Opening of the Antigonish Highland Games and views some of the activity on the field. From there the motorcade proceeds through town and out to Arisaig, where the Britannia is docked. A large crowd gathers and the Queen Mother is presented with a salmon from Warden Angus MacQuarrie. A couple of months later, the Warden received an official thank you from the Queen Mother who indicated that she enjoyed her visit and the salmon. She also mentioned that she had purchased a racehorse which she named Arisaig.

In 1963 the wharf at Arisaig was badly damaged in a storm and was rebuilt. It was felt by Fisheries representatives that it would be a nice ‘opportunity’ for Dept of Fisheries to ‘show off the new wharf during the Royal visit.

Date: 1967

Reference:  Antigonish Heritage Museum 2003.046.002

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