Walk on a Sunny cold day

Tags

Beaconsfield house, Charlottetown, Fanningbank, light house, PEI, sun, Victoria Park, winter

This Winter we have so far many cold but brightly sunny days, cold around -6C or +8C it alternates depending on the wind South East or North East.

There are many places to walk in Charlottetown, the downtown area is quite small, 6 blocks by 9 blocks. with green squares and parks here and there. Then we also have the 50 acre Victoria Park facing the entrance to the Straits with 3 rivers coming together.

I took a walk and some photos of the area yesterday, lots of people walking their dogs.

The opening into the Straits of Northumberland with on the right side of the photo Rocky Point where Port La-Joye or Fort Amherst is located, the first establishment before Charlottetown was built. Even today a beautiful spot if a bit isolated.

One of the lighthouses in the area to guide ships, this one at the entrance to the North River. They are automated.

Beaconsfield, a folly built by in 1877 by James and Edith Peakes, a very prominent family of immense wealth. They did not enjoy their house long, James went bankrupt and left town moving to Vancouver some 6000 Km away, I suppose he took the new train across Canada, to work in a bar, am not sure what happened to Edith but I believe she stayed in town. The house was re-possessed by Henry Cundall, who had other homes in town, who moved into it in 1883 with his sisters Penelope and Millicent. It is a beautiful museum today and gives a good idea of how the affluent lived then.

Fanningbank, the Official Residence of the Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Prince Edward Island since 1834. I do volunteer work here, I just completed the updating of the notes for the guides who give tours in the Summer months. It had to be completely redone, covering each room, the furniture, the paintings and portraits, the oriental rugs, etc plus the history in a short format in both Official Languages, 20 pages in French and 20 in English. It took me 3 months and I am quite happy with my work.

As you walk the boardwalk you will pass in front of the Residence, the thick hedge is higher than it looks, Fanningbank is next door to Beaconsfield house.

The Prince Edward Battery (1799) just to the West of Fanningbank in a defensive position facing the entrance to the Harbour of Charlottetown, British regulars and Colonial Militia until 1864 manned the site. The stone powder house (1866) was just restored completely.

It is a nice walk, fresh air, bright Sun, just fun all around thing to do. I have taken our Nora for a walk here, she liked it, lots of smells and wants to jump into the river, roll in the grass and chase the crows. I know crazy Wire Hair Dachshund.

 

 

 

The boardwalk

Tags

Charlottetown, dachshunds, Fox, Hillsborough river, Nora, PEI, Victoria Park, walk

Today was another nice sunny day in Charlottetown, so I took Nora for a walk on the boardwalk around Victoria Point. A very nice park area all along the North and Hillsborough rivers looking out towards the strait of Northumberland. Sail boats and luxury yachts.

Nora likes to walk and her attitude is, the boardwalk belongs to me so get out of my way.

I made her sit for a little while but she is sniffing the air and there was a good breeze so I am sure she picked up a lot of scents. Victoria Park is known for its numerous aggressive crows, Nora does not care, crow pie she says. There are also Foxes and skunks though not usually seen in the day time.

A very nice area to walk but with Nora it is always quickly as if she is on a mission.

Yes you have to look where you are going because a Fox can appear out of nowhere. Nora of course would given the alarm with her hound howling before I would see anything.  The other night coming home, walking down Great George Street there was a Fox sitting on the grass just a few feet away from me. He startled me but he did not move, they are very bold.

and once a week Holland American cruise ships enter the Charlottetown harbour.

This map shows the park, it was once the entire estate of the Residence of the Lieutenant Governor of PEI who is the personal representative of the Sovereign. In the 1960’s the park was open to the public and the Crown kept one third for the Official Residence. So I walk with Nora along the brown line and back which is a fair distance for her about 3 km but she does not mind.

At least today she did not try to jump into the river. It is salt water and I would not want to have to go after her. As for our Nicky, he does not like to walk any distance so there is no point is taking him. I would end up carrying him.

 

 

The neighbourhood

Tags

Canada., Charlottetown, Confederation, Parks, PEI, Prince Street, Railway, St-Peter's Cathedral, Victoria Park, Water Street

There are two bloggers on the Island who write about the history of PEI. It is very informative and a lot of it has to do with railroads and ferries to the mainland. The trains are gone now, the network was dismantled in the 1960’s the main reason was the astronomical cost of maintaining the tracks on the very soft soil of the Island.  The ferries have also cut back service with new bridges connecting communities on the Island and the Sea Bridge (Confederation) built in 1997. The ferries still provide service but to specific points like New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the fabled Iles de la Madeleine.

In one blog entry was a map of Charlottetown in 1880. Looking at it closely I could see that much has changed in the last 50 years when the Government of PEI and the City decided to clean up the waterfront of the City from industrial to park land.

Our street Prince from the corner of Water Street was a wharf and not a street as it is today, the wharf was used for passengers and merchandise for the ferry service to Stratford just across the Hillsborough river. Today at the end of the street stands a Seafood restaurant. The great water basins have been filled in and turned into parks called Confederation Landing and a gift of the City of Quebec, the Old Capital as it is known, because it was once the Royal Capital of New France and remains to this day the Summer Capital of the Governor General of Canada who resides at the Citadel on Cap Diamant.

In front of my window as I look out into a park and a small building once part of the Train Station, this building is now a  Tourist information centre, next to it stood a round house for locomotives, next to it in what is called Founders Hall was a repair shop for train cars. The round house is gone and a nice park took its place. A bit further is the Causeway taking traffic to Stratford nowadays. The great Cruise ships now dock next to Prince Street. Looking at all these parks it is difficult to imagine that once this was the river and the streets were wharfs and ship building dominated the area coupled with train traffic and freight.

Just behind our house you could count 2 bassins for ships and 4 wharfs one being owned by the Duncan family whose home built in 1840 we now live in. The tall ship building industry disappeared around 1890 to be replaced by steel and steam engines. This is when Charlottetown went into a steep decline economically after being the tall ship building capital of North America. The Duncan house became a residence for seniors until a few years ago when it was gutted and renovated.

The greening of our neighbourhood has made a big difference in Charlottetown and I can appreciate the improvement.

These buildings prior to 1964 would have been on the water’s edge and all the trees in the background and other buildings would have been in the ship basins. Today it is a park along the river, thanks to landfill.

In this park stood the Round House for Locomotives. The stone building was part of the freight yard, now a tourist information centre.

Another view of the park where once stood the round house for locomotives.

Also today I went for a walk on the boardwalk in Victoria Park, it is an area that has always been reserved for the Army and for the Lieutenant Governor of the Province, his Residence is located here, it is a wonderful part of the city.

Note the reddish colour of the water of the River due to the soil. On the right side of the photo is Rocky Point which is cottage country some 15 minutes from the City.

Beyond is the Strait of Northumberland and the sea.

The boardwalk as it comes to West Street and Beaconsfield House which can be seen in the background (yellow house with lantern on the roof) It is a Museum to the Peakes Family who were and are still prominent in Charlottetown.

Masses of flowers in Queen’s Square, (Queen Charlotte)  one of the numerous parks in the old City.

St-Peter’s Anglican Cathedral and the famous All Souls Chapel which is a must see. It is decorated in Pre-Raphaelite style with wall paintings by Robert Harris who used Dante’s Inferno as a theme.

Oh Look it’s our little Nicky having his sun filled morning snooze after his breakfast.

Province House c.1847, the Legislature of the Province of Prince Edward Island.

Great George Street named after George III and St-Dustan Irish R.C. Cathedral.

Other brick buildings on Great George Street dating from the early 19th century. It is all art  galleries nowadays.

This old picture shows in the background on the right Province House. St-Dustan Cathedral is in its original state prior to being rebuilt into the great church it is today.

All the other buildings in the pictures are still there today which is pretty amazing. This was Peakes Wharf’s  known today as Confederation Landings because this is were the Fathers of the Canadian Constitution landed in June 1864 walking up Great George Street.