Woody's Place :

Built about a hundred years ago by Woodman Trim. Note the small rocks on the right of the dirt road. The dike is made of nothing but small rock and dirt, leaving the road a mudpie during the rainy season. The dike hasn't enough rocky grade on the opposite side of the road and the shallow band would turn to mud and easily be destroyed by any moving water. The Trim's Shack is slowly falling into decay and ruin, each year the roof and floorboards move closer to the ground.

Inside the shack, an old McLary 'Escort' gas stove sits rusting, along with small cupboards, cabinets and small desk. Still in the second room, an old steel frame bed sits rusting, it's mattress fabric has long since decayed and fallen away. The shack was rented up until the mid 1980s when the building became too unsafe for habitation. Folks in the area expect that one day the old cabin will just wash away into the river and disappear.

This small, two room shack made of locally milled cedar and pine is firmly attached to 8 inch diameter logs laid level on the Fraser river bank. Between the floor boards and the foundation is a layer or two of sand bags to give the foundation stability and add extra weight so that the high rising tide and river flow won't sweep it away. In the old days, when Woodman Trim built the dike (about 1853) the river was a bit lower and the dangers of flooding were not as critical.

The second generation of the Trim family lives not to far away from this old building (a few hundred meters away at the corner Westham Island Road) and are extremely concerned about the real danger of flooding. The dike it's self has packed earth and small rocks on the river side, but doesn't have a secure foundation on the land side of the dike. Presently, if the water were to break through, there would be nothing on the land side to stop it from swooshing back toward the river, taking mud and stone with it. Already several folks that live near the dike have complained about extremely high water levels in the fields on the land side, covering the crop furrows and causing ground floors to be been flooded, making a terrible mess.

High enough to cause telephone calls to be made so that the flood control valves could be put into use to help drain the land. Ladner City officials and Delta Dike management engineers have also been out to assess the problem. They say that the whole road needs to be removed at low tide and a 66 foot wide levee of rocks, sand and gravel to make the river bank stable. Of course, this would present a major undertaking with the local residents and the City of Ladner to foot a huge construction bill. Nothing is being done, and folks here are saying that it will be too late to do anything about the high water after the flood happens. Westham Island stands to loose valuable alluvial deposit farm land.

Westham Island is an island located near Ladner, British Columbia, Canada. The island is accessible via the Westham Island Bridge. The George C. Riefel Refuge for migratory birds is located at the northern end of the island. The Alaksen National Wildlife Area is also located on the island.