How a piece of the Berlin Wall ended up in a backyard in Keswick Ridge
CBC
Earl Gilbey has never been to Germany, but he keeps a piece of the Berlin Wall right behind his house in Keswick Ridge.
It's just one of thousands of pieces of brick, marble and loose stones from around the world that he has added to a large retaining wall on his property.
Gilbey has placed each of the historic rocks with his own two hands.
"It's just kind of a beautiful thing, really," he said from his home, about 27 kilometres northwest of Fredericton.
Gilbey started the project 50 years ago, steadily adding to a collection that features rocks from prominent places like the base camp of Mount Everest in Nepal, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and a small chip of marble from the Parthenon in Greece.
He also has rocks from the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C., the Matterhorn in the Alps, the Alaska Highway, Cape Spear in Newfoundland and a rock found near the Great Wall of China.
He has rocks from Mongolia, the North Pole, Russia, Ukraine.
He has cobblestones from Toronto and old Quebec. And many more rocks from across New Brunswick, including Grand Manan, Zealand and Barnettville, a neighbourhood south of Miramichi.
One part of the wall even contains hidden treasure, which is mostly spare change Gilbey uses when he runs out.
Gilbey has a journal that documents all the rocks and where they're from. But he can point out any rock along the wall without having to consult it.
Over the years, many have heard about the project and stopped by to marvel at it. Many have contributed to it, too.
"People on holidays stumbling around, looking things over, 'Oh there's a little piece of stuff, I must take that home to Earl,' " Gilbey said.
Gilbey said the collection hasn't caused any harm to heritage sites, as the tiny stones are mostly picked up off the ground.
For instance, the stone that came from the Great Wall of China was actually lying near the wall, not plucked from the wall itself. The keepsake is about the size of his thumbnail.
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