For generations of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians whose lives depended on the water, a boat was a veritable vessel - to security, to safety, and to survival. Being resourceful, resilient people, our forebearers fashioned their floating survival kits from the materials their unique environments provided. In the process, they became architects of not only the magnificent structures they built, but of an entire legacy - one whose existence was all but extinguished before 1997. 

That was the year The Winterton Boat Building and Community Museum was started under the direction of the Town of Winterton’s Heritage Advisory Board. Recognizing the immense importance of wooden boat building in the construction of our cultural landscape, the organization sought to preserve the precious skills, knowledge and tools that today provide a pristine portrait of our collective past.  

Expanding to become the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador (WBMNL) in 2008, the organization made its headquarters in Winterton, one of the many communities with a rich history of wooden boat building. It is here, through ongoing exhibits and workshops with descendants of wooden boat building masters, that a unique local legacy lives on - one that, like its authors, has persevered, despite the odds.

Geoffrey Lynch, owner of Woodville Cooperage, will be demonstrating one of the oldest trades in the world coopering, dating back to the Egyptian period. Inspired by his Great-Grandfather David Lynch who was a cooper by trade. Woodville cooperage's typical works is focused on spoon carving and wooden bucket crafting. Unique to the modern era, the focus is to refrain from using power tools and use strictly traditional hand tool methods, to create such items that would be considered essential to villages and colonies before the time of plastic buckets and the accessibility of metal utensils. Thru research of traditional cooper methods and attending training thru Tiller's International (Scott's, Michigan). Geoffrey continues his learning to achieve his goal of becoming a master cooper. He invites you to come and observe his craft and inquire into the traditional methods of coopering. 

Will be holding demonstrations on how to forge items such as hooks, leaves, bottle openers, pendants, and more.

They will also have hand forged work with them such as Damascus, daggers, swords, axes, a variety of hooks, Viking/celtic hairpins and cloak pins and fantasy wands.

Be sure to check them out in our Working village.