I was had a bit of time on my hands while waiting for the ferry to Denman Island, so I walked around the Buckley Bay ferry terminal and shot a few images – including one of this old concrete ramp that is just to the side of the waiting area.
Interesting, especially when I saw a very similar structure at next to the ferry terminal at Gravelly Bay – on the far side of Denman where you can catch the ferry across Lambert Channel to Hornby Island.
As it turns out, the ramps were used for loading ferries.
The first government ferry between Denman Island and Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island was the Department of Highways Ferry Catherine Graham. Essentially a self-propelled landing craft, the ferry sailed up to the loading ramp, dropped a loading ramp that doubled as the bow of the ferry, and cars drove off. Loading was a bit more tricky as cars and trucks had to be backed down the loading ramp and onto the ferry. The Catherine Graham operated from 1954 until it was retired as a ferry in February 1973.
And now you know…