| Home |
| Menu |
| Contact Us |
| Guestbook |
| History |
| Photos |
| Bell Island |
|
|
|
Ask about our |
| The following was written by 12 year old Amy Noseworthy,(in 1999) granddaughter of current owner Reg Durdle, as a school assignment. | |
| I feel very strongly about one of the oldest businesses on Bell Island. My family has been Involved with It for about 45 years. This is Dicks'. | |
 Walter
Dicks (sitting) Back left to right. |
It all started with a hard working man and his wife, Walter
and Avis Dicks. Mr. Dicks had a vision, a dream to become a fisherman, but he needed the
money to buy a boat. So as a young man, one of his very first Jobs was a bellhop in the
Newfoundland Hotel in St. John’s. He saved as much as he could and after a while, he
began working on Bell Island. Some of the jobs he had were growing and selling his own
vegetables and working as a pipe fitter in the local mines.
|
| While his dream of becoming a fisherman continued to grow, he started a small pub in a downstairs room of his house. He lived on the beach near the ferry, so It was an excellent place for people traveling to and from Bell Island. When Mr. Dicks’ began fishing he enjoyed it like nothing he had ever done before. | |
| Back then, we had no mighty Flanders, Katherine, Kipowa, Maneco or the John Guy, but we did have two small vessels, The Golden Dawn, and Garland. There is a sad and tragic story of a collision of these two vessels. From this disaster there were only a few survivors, which Walter Dicks rescued. | |
| You can see now why I feel so strongly about Mr. Dicks and his history. So this little business which could only hold a handful of people continued to grow. What started as a room the size of an average living room, grew to the size it is today. After the small pub, a lounge and a snack bar was built. Needless to say fish was the number one seller and people from word of mouth traveled from all parts of the country to buy fish and chips at Dicks’ Snack Bar. | |
| Walter Dicks died, May of 1979. He was to be 67 that October. The business was sold to my Grandfather, Reg Durdle who was one of Mr. Dicks’ best friends. Avis who was a great friend and supporter of Walter, died8 years ago in 1991. In 1993, one third of the lounge, was turned into a restaurant which my mother currently manages. My grandfather who is now 70 years old is still involved in the business. | |