Twin Hills, Tors Cove, Newfoundland - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

If you’re driving along provincial route 10 near the small village of Tors Cove, you’ll encounter a familiar scene (if you’re acquainted with the postage stamps of Newfoundland, that is). The scene on the stamp is looking to the east near a small bridge just south of the center of the town. According to the inscription on the stamp, the two hills pictured are called the “Twin Hills.” Now, is there anything else noteworthy about this small community besides being mentioned on a stamp? How about having been visited by Edmond Halley of Halley’s Comet fame?

At the very end of the seventeenth century, Edmond Halley led a three year scientific sea voyage to various ports of call in the South Atlantic. The purpose of this voyage was to determine the correct latitudes and longitudes of these ports and to make magnetic compass measurements. He also visited Brazil and Trinidad, winding up on the island of Bermuda before returning home.

Halley had intended to visit Boston in North America before his return trip to England but an ill-favored wind prevented him from doing so. Instead they sailed for the coast of Newfoundland where they made one last stop for wood and fresh water. According to Halley’s journal, the place where they anchored was a harbor “call’d Toads Cove.”

Mistaking Halley and his crew for pirates, some local fishermen, led by a man named Humphrey Bryant, fired their cannon at them as a warning. (That’s hardly a way to greet a distinguished guest!). Halley fetched Bryant on board his vessel and after the misunderstanding was rectified, Halley “forgave the affront.” Three days later the expedition departed for England thus making Toads Cove the only place on the mainland of North America ever visited by Edmond Halley.

A proclamation dated 18-January, 1910 officially changed the name of Toads Cove to Tors Cove.

Stamp Issuing Country: Newfoundland Date of Issue: 09-Jul-1923 Denomination: 1 cent Color: grey green Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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