Bretwood Tow
at Barrett's Farm
Keene, NH
1953
to about 1960
Thanks to Laurie P., we now know about this
area. Here are the details from her:
Bretwood Tow was
located across the street from the current Bretwood Golf Course
on East Surry Road in Keene, NH. When driving from Keene toward
Surry on Route 12A East Surry Rd is on the right. Take this road
following the sign for Bretwood Gold Course. You will pass the
golf course on your left. Just after the club house there is a
red farm house and barn, as you drive toward the barn you will
notice the bottom of the rope tow.
The other day
while driving past with a friend I saw the bottom of the rope tow
and pulled over to take pictures of it for further exploration.
As I was taking pictures from the road a gentleman on a farm
tractor pulled up into the yard. He looked down toward the road
at me and I asked him if he knew anything about the rope tow that
used to be there. He said, "Know something about it, I built
it." I introduced myself and asked him if he had a minute
and would like to tell me more.
| He
introduced himself as
Ellis Barrett
and told me that he
had built the tow around 1953. Apparently, when he first
built the tow, a State Tramway Inspector drove up one day
and said he had come because the rope tow was not
registered. Ellis offered to let him inspect it and
showed him the safety gates he had put on it at both the
bottom and the top, but the inspector said he didn't want
to look at it. He told Ellis he would have to register
it. Ellis told him it was on his personal property for
personal use and he didn't feel he needed to register it.
About
a week later, Ellis got a subpoena to appear in court
because the rope tow wasn't registered. He told me he
wrote a letter inviting them to inspect his tow and sent
a check, but they never came out to do it, so before his
court appearance he cancelled the check. Ellis' argument
in court was that he never charged anyone to use the tow
and the area was on private property so the people there
were his private guests. He told me that he told the
court if he had to register his rope tow then everyone
who had a tennis court, basketball court or other
recreational area in their yard should have to register
them too. Ellis won his case.
|
Bretwood Tow at Barrett's Farm
Terraserver picture. Tow went up the hill near the barn.
The hill has grown in guite a bit now, but part of it is
still clear.
|
Ellis allowed
anyone who wanted to use the tow to do so and never accepted
payment for use of it. He said that people still come up to him
today and tell him they learned to ski on his hill. He continued
on to tell me that after working the farm all day, he would come
over and shovel snow from the sides to cover bare and thin spots.
He also told me about the many small children he used to help up
the rope tow.
During the life
of the small area he used two ropes. He used Columbian Hemp Ski
Rope. When the first rope wore out from use, he purchased a new,
longer rope and extended the tow further up his hill. The rope
was about 1800 feet long from end to end which meant that it
towed people about 800 feet up the hill. His slope was between
150 and 250 feet wide as it came down the hill. He told me that
the hill had about a 30 degree grade. It appeared to have about
100-150 vert. to me.
The lift was
constructed using telephone poles and tire rims. It was powered
by a John Deere Tractor and a Studebaker transmission. Ellis
constructed the drive wheel by hand using small pieces of wood to
shape sections of it.
Picture of the area:
First rope tower I spotted |
Bottom of the tow from road. |
Close up of drive wheel. |
The transmission. |
Pulley wheels at the bottom. |
Blurred view of a tower uphill |
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