On its surface, Relics is a series of historical documentaries about BC and Alberta. But it aspires to be something more. It explores those histories in a unique way – by taking the viewer to remote and unexplored regions of Western Canada, to places few people ever visit. From the abandoned mining town of Anyox to the frozen badlands of the Alberta prairies, Relics takes the viewer on a journey into the past unlike any other. 

 

Episode One is about a part of BC’s interior called “Boundary”. A confluence of historical forces makes this region particularly interesting. Sitting very close to the American border, and being a crossroads for placer miners and cattle ranchers, this unique region has more stories to tell than its large empty areas would seem to suggest. The episode focuses on an abandoned farmhouse sitting conspicuously in an open field just off the Crowsnest Highway. This house, known only as “The Lawless Place”, is where the story of Boundary begins – and ends. 

 

Episode Two is about the notorious “Badlands” of the South Alberta prairies – a place known for two things: dinosaur bones, and coal. This story is about the meteoric rise of the coal industry in the early 20th century, and its eventual decline. We explore that last remaining wooden coal tipple in Canada, and one of the last standing grain elevators in Alberta. Ultimately this film is about the endurance of people who lived in one of the most unforgiving habitats in Western Canada. 

 

Episode Three is about a former mining town in BC called Greenwood. It was the home to a large smelter, but it was shut down after the First World War. After that, it was used as an internment camp for Japanese-Canadians during the xenophobia of the Second World War. There is still a community of Japanese-Canadians living there today. 

 

Episode Four is about an abandoned mining town in Northern BC called Anyox. Built in 1912, Anyox was once the largest copper mining operation in the British Empire. After the collapse of the global commodities market in the 30s, the mine was shut down, and the town was abandoned. Being so remote, it had no road or rail connection. So today it remains on the coast as an eerie post-industrial ruin overgrown by rainforest. The story of how we managed to travel and film there is worthy of its own separate documentary!

 

The series is currently streaming on TELUS Optik TV.​