Calgary Street Names: Barlow Trail

Ever wonder where some of our street names have come from?  Fortunately, intrepid me has done some of your homework for you and come up with a few gems that are close to my heart.  Today that street of choice is Barlow Trail.


Born in Denbeigh, Wales, Noel Barlow immigrated to Canada in 1924.  As a child Barlow would watch biplanes flying over his family’s farm and it created within him a great desire to fly. The family moved to Carseland in 1932.

Two years later, Barlow took the first step towards realizing his dream of becoming a pilot. To save money, he worked at the Great Bear Lake and Giant Yellowknife Mines up North, becoming the 16th non-native person to arrive in Yellowknife. 

Barlow joined the Calgary Flying Club in 1936 where he obtained a commercial pilot's license. The following year, he sailed to England to join the Royal Air Force. However, at 24, he was too old for pilot training by three months. Instead, he signed up for ground crew for the 242 squadron and later became the personal mechanic for legendary double amputee squadron commander, Douglas Bader.  As an experienced pilot he was the best choice as a mechanic as he was able to test fly the aircraft he worked on and made sure that they were in tip-top condition.

But Barlow still dreamed of flying in the RAF. Eventually, with the support of the famous Douglas Bader, he was permitted to remuster as a pilot once the age restrictions were eased up near the end of the war. He started flying Liberators for the RAF, dropping supplies in India and Burma.

After the war was over he and his wife returned to the family farm at Carseland to raise their two daughters. 

Barlow started managing the Strangmuir elevators, a job he kept for 25 years.
However, he didn't lose interest in the sky above. Barlow and Jeanne welcomed the Calgary Parachute Club to use the airstrip on the farm.

Noel Barlow (centre) with Jock Palmer (left) and an unidentified friend

Shortly after his death, his former commander Douglas Bader came to Calgary and petitioned that former 242 flying Ace Willie McKnight (an other story for another time) and his mechanic Noel Barlow have streets named in their honour.

Addendum to the Airport Tunnel Debate

Just a quick shout out today to the Calgary Mayoral Candidates.

The race is finally on to see who will become Calgary's next mayor and so far there is one front runner, Ric McIvor, with Barb Higgins running (for now) a distant second.

If I might be so bold to lend some advice to the also-rans that are still in the picture and still think there is a ghost of a chance (like I am an expert in Municipal politics). Get invested in the airport debate. There are hundreds of thousands of Calgarians that are directly affected by the final outcome of the issue and those votes can go a long way in pushing you up the municipal ladder. I know that, by and large, the decision at the City of Calgary level has been decided but if your voters feel there is someone in their corner it can make an enormous difference in how you fare.

Whoever ultimately wins the mantle of Mayor of Calgary, the only thing I ask is this: Please, PLEASE don't spend my money frivolously on things like $25 million dollar eyesore bridges and then pander to the populace by calling it the Peace Bridge...but I digress.


Regardless people, whether or not you think the airplane tunnel is your concern, vote with your head. Read up on all the candidates, identify their platforms and vote accordingly. Get informed. get involved.

We now return you to the much more enjoyable Airplane related programming that is already in progress.

The Calgary Airport Tunnel

Many of you might be aware of the issues surrounding the Calgary Airport Expansion and the inflammatory discussions/concerns about building a tunnel for access to Calgary's northeast. If you aren't, check out this article to get informed. TUNNEL FUNDING


Suffice it to say that the city of Calgary (who had the gall to spend $25 million on a footbridge) has finally ponied up to $90 million they had for the project but the Alberta Provincial Government still won't supply their portion.


I understand that, largely, this is a municipal issue and the Alberta Provincial Government is hurting for funds (insert sarcasm here) but aren't the citizens of Northeast Calgary ultimately a subset of Alberta citizens and deserve provincial funding to be used to enrich their quality of life? 


Do you have an opinion on the subject?

Great Canadian Flyers: Fred McCall Pt. 2 Dynamite and Nitroglycerine

In the 1920s, McCall formed Great Western Airways, the first airline to offer service over the mountains to Banff, Fernie, and Golden. Fred was the first pilot to successfully land an aircraft in Banff.

With GWA, Fred also had one of his most heralded experiences. Calmont Oil Ltd. planned on doing some exploration in Turner Valley and required some specialized supplies shipped in.  The hired GWA to do that for them. In February 22 and 23, 1928, in a fabric covered Stinson Detroiter biplane, Fred made yet another amazing journey.  Flying 250 miles in sub-zero weather. Upon lnading in Montana, Fred loaded his cargo and turned around for the flight home with 100 quarts of nitro-glycerine stuffed in the cargo hole and twelve sticks of Dynamite wedged under his seat.

Fighting headwinds the entire trip back, McCall touched his craft down on the gravel runway on Old Banff Coach Road and almost immediately ran out of gas before he was able to taxi back to the hangar.

As hair raising as that trip was, it was all in a day's work for Fred who returned to Shelby the next day for another load.  This time, he stopped in Lethbridge, Alberta to top up his fuel before heading home.

That will be it for Fred for now, but with so many great stories left to tell we will return to him soon.  Stay tuned for further great stories about aviation past and present.