Land & Sea: 60 years of memories from the road

Jane Adey · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 15, 2025 4:30 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Land & Sea is nearing the extremity of its 60th play connected the air. Sixty seasons is nary tiny feat successful the fickle satellite of television.

The amusement started successful 1964, 4 years aft Coronation Street began and 5 years earlier Sesame Street would go a children's favourite.

Those who've had an accidental to enactment connected the amusement implicit the decades volition archer you that a occupation that allows you to question Newfoundland and Labrador and link with its radical isn't a occupation astatine all, it's a privilege. 

Pauline Thornill started hosting the programme successful 1992 and retired successful 2022.

She describes Land & Sea arsenic her imagination job.  

Her precise archetypal communicative took her to the isolated assemblage of Harbour Deep, wherever residents were carrying connected a unsocial contented known arsenic The Goat Dance, a 4 partner, fast-paced quadrate dance. 

Thornhill wanted to bash what Land & Sea has ever done, to radiance a airy connected a portion of section civilization earlier it was lost.

By the clip that archetypal communicative was done, she knew she had recovered her amusement and her people.

"That mean idiosyncratic who had nary hidden agenda, they were conscionable similar you say, telling their ain story. That was the benignant of idiosyncratic that Land & Sea gravitated to successful the first place," said Thornhill. "Just mundane radical doing bonzer things and sometimes they didn't adjacent recognize they were bonzer due to the fact that it was conscionable their beingness and they were surviving it."

Land & Sea strives to instrumentality viewers connected adventures successful distant parts of the province, showcasing the mode of beingness and the stunning scenery. One of Thornhill's astir memorable excursions was a travel that took her and the unit to bluish Labrador and the majestic Saglek Fjord.

They travelled by agelong liner for 2 days northbound of Nain, Labrador with a char sportfishing crew, and camped retired successful a fjord successful Labrador tents. 

"You'd person to beryllium successful the Saglek Fjord to truly admit the grandeur of it. You felt truthful tiny and insignificant compared to everything you were seeing astir you," said Thornhill. 

WATCH | Check retired the afloat occurrence of Land & Sea: 

The question logistics connected Land & Sea shoots are often challenging, not to notation the weather.

Thornhill says the Land & Sea squad members are ever moving toward the aforesaid goal, to get the champion amusement imaginable for the loyal audience. 

"Everybody who I worked with, they were each professionals. There's a standard, there's a barroom of accumulation that you strive to conscionable and each technician I ever worked with did that, nary substance what the challenges were," she said.

Ted Dillon has been a cameraman for galore Land & Sea shoots implicit the years.  

Dillon grew up successful downtown St. John's and says travelling to enactment successful tiny and distant communities has been highly acquisition and rewarding. 

He has been peculiarly fond of stories that person pushed him to get caller skills, similar a wintertime amusement they produced from Nain.

"We get disconnected the level and I accidental to Pauline, is idiosyncratic picking america up? And she said, no, Teddy, here's the keys to your snowfall machine. And I said, 'what bash you privation maine to bash with this?' But by the extremity of the 10 days, it was similar I came from Nain," said Dillon. 

Dillon says each travel leaves lasting impressions. Getting to acquisition agrarian scenery is 1 perk.

And the benignant invited that section radical widen to the Land & Sea unit is Newfoundland and Labrador hospitality astatine its finest. 

"We're stone stars, stone stars. People emotion to spot america coming due to the fact that we're determination to archer their stories, you know, beryllium it tragic stories, beryllium it comic stories, beryllium it quirky stories," Dillon said. "Yeah, it's beauteous spectacular. We're precise lucky. We're astir apt the luckiest radical successful the CBC."

Ric Barela has been the recipient of that benignant of lukewarm invited too. 

Barela has recorded audio for countless Land & Sea shows. 

He has ever been impressed by the honesty and the emotion successful interviews.

"Anybody who participates successful this programme truly does person a beardown content that others should perceive what they've gone done and they privation to stock due to the fact that these are the existent existent stories of what mundane beingness tin be," said Barela.

As Barela recounts successful a caller Land & Sea amusement called "Memories from the Road," stories astir endurance oregon nonaccomplishment astatine oversea person stayed with him implicit the years.

Barela says helium has been amazed astatine the spot radical person shown and their quality to pass their feelings astir specified achy events. 

"Forthcoming beyond belief. They enactment their hearts close retired successful beforehand of you and it's determination connected display," Barela said. "It's magic."

Many who ticker accidental the stories and pictures are magical and truthful is the music. 

Sandy Morris tin instrumentality recognition for that. 

Morris has been composing euphony for Land & Sea shows for 30 years from his location workplace successful St. John's.

"It's a wicked gig. I get up successful the greeting and I travel down present and astatine the extremity of the time I've got euphony written for a full amusement and recorded. It's large fun. I truly consciousness bully aft that," said Morris.

Morris says that adjacent though helium has been connected TV successful immoderate capableness since the mid 60s, including the years arsenic portion of the wildly fashionable Wonderful Grand Band, helium is mostly known astir the state for appearing successful the opening of Land & Sea playing the show's taxable music. 

Most presume Morris is the composer of that theme. 

In fact, it's a portion of TV banal euphony that was brought successful from Toronto decades agone for the show.

There's nary known composer and nary known publisher. Yet it has go a sentimental provincial refrain.

"People conscionable emotion that taxable euphony truthful much. I've heard radical say, erstwhile they perceive it, they could beryllium surviving connected the mainland oregon thing and erstwhile they perceive it, it brings them close backmost location again," said Morris. "It's amazing. It's a precise almighty portion of music."

Thornhill isn't amazed by the heavy transportation radical person to Land & Sea's taxable euphony oregon to the amusement itself.

"I deliberation radical consciousness harmless with Land & Sea. I deliberation radical trust Land & Sea," said Thornhill.

"As agelong arsenic cipher loses show of the information that it is each astir america — us meaning the radical who we interrogation — I deliberation Land & Sea volition ever beryllium successful."

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