The following article appeard in the North Bay, Ontario Canada newspaper "The Nugget" which may be of interest to Lancashire residents. Mr. Lomax lived about one mile from my home when I was growing up Near North Bay Ontario in the 1940 - 1950s.
HAMILTON-MCCHARLES, THE NUGGET
Updated 20 hours ago
Frank Lomax has a hard time hearing, his eye sight is deteriorating and he relies heavily on his walker.
But once the conversation about farming started, an instant smile appeared on the face of the man who will celebrate his 100th birthday today.
Lomax attributes his longevity to clearing and working a piece of land in Redbridge for 57 years.
I got a lot of exercise walking over the hills and it got to be quite a job maintaining the hay, especially with the bad weather," he said.
But I loved the independence that farming provides. I really believe that healthy lifestyle has kept me alive."
Lomax may suffer from the ailments that come with turning a century old, however his mind and memory are sharp.
We grew potatoes and turnips and we had cows that we milked and separated the cream to ship to North Bay," he said.
I remember having a big pile of potatoes in the cellar. We used to eat potatoes three times a day."
Another fond memory Lomax enjoys talking about is immigrating to Canada in 1920 from Barnoldswick, England.
Lomax's father returned from serving in the First World War when his wife suggested they go abroad.
My dad wasn't too particular about the idea. He just wanted to settle down."
At the age of 12, Lomax remembers boarding the ocean liner and after nine days of sailing they arrived on Canadian soil.
I was just a boy and I was curious. I wasn't sad to leave England. Actually I still remember the streets around where I lived, the lanes, fields and countryside."
But the welcome wasn't what they had envisioned.
My dad went directly to the employment office and the man wasn't nice. He didn't want to give my dad a position so we had no choice but to go west," he said. The family travelled to Saskatchewan where they lived for two-and-a-half years.
Dad worked on the railroad and then we moved to Hamilton for two years and then to Welland for two years before making our home in Redbridge in 1926."
Lomax and his family purchased a home that a family started to build before they got chased away by flies and moved to North Bay."
The following spring we bought it. The flies were bad and we had fly bites all over our arms and chest, but what was worse were the deer flies."
Lomax spent many hours playing a tin whistle while he worked on the farm.
I was never really good at the mouth organ. My dad played the flute in England. He was a little more skillful than I was," he said.
In his lifetime, the senior who looks forward to his three meals at the Barclay Retirement House, has seen a lot of changes.
He said the most prominent one was when hydro came in.
Instead of using coal oil laterns all we had to do was flick a switch," Lomax said.
"It was a huge change to our lifestyle
