Ghost town in the Badlands

Abandoned car in the ghost town of Wayne

I come from Newcastle upon Tyne which has a population of around a quarter of a million and 10 bridges across the river. Yesterday I went to Wayne in the Canadian Badlands which has 11 bridges and a population of .... wait for it...27. The ghost town used to have a population of 2,490 but the closure of the local coal mine has changed all that. It is however a great place to visit and drink beer out of a jam jar.

Jar of beer at the Last Chance Saloon

The wooden-based bridges are nestled in the Rosebud river valley and each one seems to be competing with the next for being the most picturesque. This means you get out of the car ALOT and I ended up with photo fatigue. So a jar of beer at the Last Chance Saloon in the Rosedeer Hotel is very welcome. Not to mention the game of horseshoes you can play in the beer garden. We competed with visitors from Croatia, Germany and Australia. It seems a town of 27 has international appeal.

Ghost town of Wayne

The town seems to BE the hotel these days - we didn't see any other life apart from a few houses beneath the hills, lots of mowed lawns and some very photogenic old cars. Twenty two bridges later (we had to get out of the valley) we headed for one of those classic Badlands views and at Horse-thief Canyon you can see lots of gophers as well as a heart-stopping vista.

Horse-thief Canyon

Not content with one small town we drove to Delia up in the hills and had a pot of tea at the Delia Cafe where the Chinese owner told us his grandfather moved to Alberta in 1905 and was a cook for cowboys on a ranch. Now you must excuse me, I'm off to climb into a dinosaur's mouth. More tomorrow.

Read My night in a tipi