Halifax, Nova Scotia

We looked forward to visiting Halifax, Nova Scotia because it promised an interesting mix of places and activities to see and do. Of course, getting there did entail another scenic drive across the Nova Scotia Landscape, this time from Sydney.

We opted for the major routes so as to not spend all day on the road. The first part of the trip took us along side the Bras D’Or, a lake-like inlet in the middle of Cape Breton Island.

From our point of view it was quintessential Eastern Canada, both in the marsh-inlet-low mountain landscape as well as in the way that the roads seem to have a “let’s take charge” relationship to the topography.

The other obvious quality is that the local residents really want to live along the water.

The house in the background is perched on a spit of land between this small cove and the larger lake. It’s probably a pretty exposed site in a Nor’easter; but no matter, that’s where we’re building. In contrast, some key structures perch along the road itself.

We saw this phenomena multiple times – handsome churches, often built of stone, sitting along the road, not at all in a town where we would expect to find them. Nothing wrong with it per se, just surprising. Then, of course, there were the occasional less permanent structures as well – seasonal in this case. We missed out on Chubby’s.

The topography closer to Halifax flattened out into a more agrarian landscape.

And then we arrived into the bustling traffic of Halifax itself.

Halifax is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and a major economic center in Atlantic Canada with a large concentration of government services and private sector companies. Major employers and economic generators include the Department of National Defense, Dalhousie University, Saint Mary’s University, the Halifax Shipyard, various levels of government, and the Port of Halifax. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource industries found in the rural areas of the municipality.

For the next four days we stayed at the Garden South Park Inn, a small hotel a few blocks west of downtown.

Originally on the outskirts of the city, the neighborhood contained a large burial ground,

and as you can see, development is coming. This makes for an abrupt juxtaposition; but it also maintains an area of quiet green within the bustling growth. The main campus of  Dalhousie University sat directly across the street from the hotel.

Dalhousie has three campuses within the Halifax Peninsula and a fourth, the Agricultural Campus, in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia. Studley Campus in Halifax – above – serves as the primary campus; it houses the majority of the university’s academic buildings such as faculties, athletic facilities, and the university’s Student Union Building. The campus is largely surrounded by residential neighborhoods. Robie Street divides it from the adjacent Carleton Campus, which houses the faculties of dentistry, medicine, and other health profession departments. The campus is adjacent to two large teaching hospitals affiliated with the school: the IWK Health Center and the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Center. I’m sorry that our schedule didn’t give us time to explore the campus other than in passing.

Our local neighborhood had a couple of basics that we relied on. Just up the street we found pretty good coffee to start the day at Humani-T Cafe.

We had our usual cappuccinos but this being Nova Scotia, you could also have tea.

Next door, at the foot of this very tall apartment building, we lucked into Le Bistro.

It was definitely dwarfed by the apartments but pleasant up close,

and it turned out to be run by a woman who had worked in it 30 years ago and, after it had fallen on hard times, came back to rescue it and put it back the way it had been.

It was full of regulars and groups celebrating birthdays – a popular neighborhood gathering place. We liked it so much we had dinner there four nights in a row.

But now that we’re finally here, let’s go exploring – first to the Public Library. – next post.

 

Fortress of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia

The Fortress of Louisbourg (Forteresse de Louisbourg) is a National Historic Site of Canada and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-century French fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Its two sieges, especially that of 1758, were turning points in the Anglo-French struggle for what today is Canada. The history of this part of the world can be confusing; but I’ll give a Wikipedia overview for those interested in trying to sort it out:

The original settlement was made in 1713, and initially called Havre à l’Anglois. Subsequently, the fishing port grew to become a major commercial port and a strongly defended fortress. The fortifications eventually surrounded the town. The walls were constructed mainly between 1720 and 1740. By the mid-1740s Louisbourg was one of the most extensive (and expensive) European fortifications constructed in North America. It was supported by two smaller garrisons on Île Royale located at present-day St. Peter’s and Englishtown. The Fortress of Louisbourg suffered key weaknesses, since it was erected on low-lying ground commanded by nearby hills and its design was directed mainly toward sea-based assaults, leaving the land-facing defenses relatively weak. A third weakness was that it was a long way from France or Quebec, from which reinforcements might be sent. It was captured by British colonists in 1745, and was a major bargaining chip in the negotiations leading to the 1748 treaty ending the War of the Austrian Succession. It was returned to the French in exchange for border towns in what is today Belgium. It was captured again in 1758 by British forces in the Seven Years’ War, after which its fortifications were systematically destroyed by British engineers. The British continued to have a garrison at Louisbourg until 1768.

The photo above is from the bay side where today’s community is located. To get to the fortress you drive around to the ocean side. Here’s a view of a model of the full installation when it was most active, with the heavily reinforced walls facing out to the sea to the left and the more domestic functions facing the bay to the right.

The fortress and town were partially reconstructed in the 1960s and 1970s, using some of the original stonework, which provided jobs for unemployed coal miners. The head stonemason for this project was Ron Bovaird. The site is operated by Parks Canada as a living history museum. The site stands as the largest reconstruction project in North America. The sense of arrival for today’s visitors lacks a sense of ceremony – you drive up and park off to the side – mainly because it was normally approached from the water. It seemed to us that the experience is loosely structured, though there were helpful guides or re-enactors to point things out; and you could take a carriage or walking tour.

This reconstructed gate sits on the bay side – above – and can be seen at the foot of one of the streets – below

As you can observe, most of the structures for the ‘community’ were simple, one-story, wooden buildings. The closer that functions got to the primary military function of the fortress, or administrative activities of the town, the more solid and formal the buildings became, and the more amenities were provided.

The building below was set up to show some of the administrative activities.

I found the process used to display Louisbourg to be both revealing and fascinating. Parks Canada invested significant energy into recovering artifacts, documenting the ways in which the original fortresse was constructed and inhabited AND also showing the many ways in which the recovery, documentation and restoration were done.

It made for very complete – and contemporary-feeling – story telling. Instead of having everything behind glass, clearly displayed and labeled, many of the displays have been made consciously more casual, more as snapshots of an historic time and place, and a bit as if they are still being studied, right in front of you.

This ambiguity of course creates viewer uncertainty, and requires that you engage a bit in what you’re looking at and decide for yourself what’s happening here. It’s fairly obvious below that the ingredients in the jars could be weighed and sold; but the presence of wine glasses and dishes suggests there might be more going on.

Below, for instance, it’s not clear if these various drawing and measuring instruments were used on this particular drawing, are coincidentally co-located, or just happen to be together before being assigned to their own displays. Viewer challenge !

As an architect, I loved seeing the exquisite hand drawings even though the architectural result was quite ordinary.

The ship models were set up as traditional museum displays.

The ship above was clearly part of the navy; while the one below, a shallop, was part of the local fishing fleet.

Here, a view of Louisbourg as a busy town with the fortification in the background.

And just to give a sense of the interior quality of the buildings, a view to the exterior.

 

We walked up one of the typical town streets. Not every building was open to view.

The museum quality definitely shifted gears from passive to active in the street. This local citizen cares for the geese. They had clearly bonded with him – and he with them.

A little farther along we came to a building dedicated to explaining the overall approach to the Louisbourg reconstruction, and to holding meetings and presentations about it.

This is where the large model showed the scope of the reconstruction,

and explanatory panels showed some of the details, in this case the specifics of the early excavations prior to reconstruction work.

Examples of some of the original French drawings were displayed to show the starting point for reconstructions where no original construction survived.

Across from this building stood the King’s garden,

And beyond it the main garrison

A couple of modest structures led to the garrison entrance gate.

There didn’t seem to be any particular hierarchy to the building functions or locations,

but I have to believe that in reality they would have been functionally connected. I liked a small detail of how the windows and shutters were handled here.

These are genuine shutters, that when closed, fully fill the stone openings in which the windows sit. But in a nice design touch, when fully open, they touch each other and create complete stone opening reflections. Just past these buildings we passed through the gate to the garrison.

If I recall correctly the “moat” never had water in it but was simply a mobility impediment against wagons or artillery on wheels.

Strikingly, the first space we came to was the chapel, a surprisingly decorative space, given its location in relation to France and/or Quebec.

The building is not particularly deep, so we passed through initially to the yard / parade ground / defense back-up space.

At the far end the thick wall with the small, square windows contains munitions storage, above which a row of cannon aims out through narrow slots to the fields beyond. A little later we went up and walked the walls; but initially we returned to the main building and explored its functions and the history of its reconstruction. Accommodations were spare to say the least, and bitterly uncomfortable in winter when the uninsulated stone walls barely resisted the cold.

Fireplaces were strategically placed in the middle of the spaces where the heat from the hearth and the chimney could radiate out into the rooms.

It was explained that the soldiers shared beds for warmth; and that rank determined how close your bed was to the fireplace.

And if this bedding is representational, there weren’t any down comforters either.

As we moved through the building we passed through some rooms dedicated to showing the level of effort involved in the reconstruction.

Because the British engineers had thorough demolished the buildings after capturing the fortress from the French, the reconstruction began as archeology project. This included uncovering the buildings but also the contents, some of which needed reassembly.

It must have been an incredible jigsaw puzzle to assemble.

The building reconstruction combined traditional (roofing, stone walls) work with more contemporary (reinforced concrete).

All of this had to be figured out and drafted by hand – pre-computer aided drafting.

In places, the displays – such as this door hardware – became graphic art.

I suspect that some of this craftsmanship had to be recreated as well.

It wasn’t all just he-man work either. At the upper levels of garrison administration there was some room for the finer things – though it’s hard to believe it could have been much of a lifestyle given the nature of garrison living.

Men’s dress was clearly more utilitarian.

We walked across the yard and up on to the walls, from which the total building could be seen. Note that from this vantage you can pick out the four large chapel windows just to the right of the central tower.

A few cannon were on display. These particular ones seemed awfully exposed.

There was an interesting collection of “slotted” outlooks that were constructed for cannon but also created their own aesthetic in relation to the fields beyond.

This one was a protected lookout space, reached through a narrow channel.

In the opposite direction, an interesting view of the fortress roof and spire.

And, of course, the prevalent cannon openings.

From the walls at the end of the grounds we could take in the length of the garrison building – a long thin shape that probably was not easy to defend.

At this near end the building included the commander’s quarters – the class distinctions were impossible to ignore. The kitchen, at least, was straightforward.

It’s hard to believe that this level of artwork would be included at the frontier.

Tapestries were often used both to show off the leader’s bravado and to provide some added comfort for the space; but they would have been difficult to preserve here.

Sleeping seems to have been an individual affair in many cases.

Curtains and drapes were definitely used to conserve warmth.

The conference room included the two French powers of the day – the portrait of the king and the crucifix standing in for the Catholic Church.

We exited with a view back to the museum with the model,

and then looked back from the seaside as we circled the fortress.

It was pretty obvious from this high-ground view, that the siting of the fortress had not been particularly well thought out.

Finally, one last look as we headed back to Sydney.

Next time – Off to Halifax

 

 

 

 

Sydney, CBI, Nova Scotia

After our long day on the Cabot Trail, we were happy to see our Colby House Bed and Breakfast in Sydney with its comfortable rooms and comforting food.

It sits in a neighborhood of early 20th century homes of similar character.

Gordon and Bev Gabriel raised a family in the house and developed the B and B after everyone got old enough to move out.

They got into the spirit of doing it enough to acquire another couple of houses that they use for apartments and additional B and B guest rooms. It makes for quite the gathering at breakfast when everyone shows up.

Sydney has been a boom and bust town. It was founded in 1785 by the British; was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolved on 1 August 1995, when it was amalgamated into the regional municipality. It served as the Cape Breton Island colony’s capital, until 1820, when the colony merged with Nova Scotia and the capital moved to Halifax. So while we have felt as if we were in the separate province of Cape Breton Island, we’ve actually been in Nova Scotia all along. Wikipedia provided some historic insights:

Early in its history, coal was discovered and mined at the north end of what is now downtown – American prisoners during the Revolutionary War were forced by the British to help mine the coal. In November 1784 the 600-ton ship Blenheim landed a group that consisted primarily of English citizens and disbanded soldiers. A group of Loyalists from the state of New York, fleeing the aftermath of the American Revolution, were added to the immigrants upon their arrival in the neighboring colony of Nova Scotia.

The colony was disbanded and merged with neighboring Nova Scotia as part of the British government’s desire to develop the abundant coal fields surrounding Sydney Harbor; the leases being held by the Duke of York. In 1826, the leases were transferred to the General Mining Association and industrial development around Sydney began to take shape. By the early 20th century Sydney became home to one of the world’s largest steel plants, fed by the numerous coal mines in the area under the ownership of the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation. Sydney’s economy was a significant part of Industrial Cape Breton with its steel plant and harbor and railway connections. But by the late 1960’s, coal and steel had fallen on hard times. The plant was closed but then reopened under government management, and finally closed for good in 2001.

On one walk into downtown we took the harborside route which goes along the area formerly in use by the steel plant. As is evident, some new development has taken place

while other areas await some reinvestment. A commitment has been made along the water’s edge to a continuous boardwalk to tie things together along the harbor.

As we rounded a corner we caught site of today’s most popular source of municipal income, a cruise ship and it’s tourists.

At the moment, Sydney is a one cruise ship at a time town; or if more than one shows up, then one of them has to anchor off-shore and ferry the passengers in.

One observation I couldn’t help but make was that the new development (to the right, above) that backs up to the harbor, generally ignores the urban opportunity along the water. The buildings orient to the street (which is totally appropriate) but hardly pay attention to the harbor except as it provids a distant view. Lost opportunity.

Some historical events have been recreated as artwork and reminders of an earlier time; and a celebration of the musical heritage of the area has been included at the terminal.

Although overwhelmed by Norwegian Dawn, the world’s largest fiddle still gets its share of attention. Now if it could just make some music.

We turned uphill a couple of blocks to see the small historic district, a total change of scale and interest.

St Patrick’s Church Museum

A small church museum anchored the district. This history panel had one of the more interesting descriptions of Sydney’s earliest days.

I liked the simplicity and directness of the interior space.

Since it was a museum, it was set up for multiple uses and didn’t look as if religious services were held there any more.

A half a block away we toured one of the earliest homes, the Cossit House.

It’s amazing to experience such small spaces. Here’s a sampler.

The top photo shows the dining room, with a lace table cloth on display. The upper left photo is of a display of the lace-making tools that would have been used to make the table cloth. Notice that in the bedroom photos the windows are small and almost at floor level – a way of building a second floor under the roof without having to go too high.

As with many of these ‘recreated’ museums, docents in period clothes help explain the various displays and answer questions. Our experience has been that these people are really invested in the history and enjoy conveying it to others.

A fun surprise occurred when we wandered into the back yard.

A series of raised beds had been planted with vegetables and herbs – and the plants had been labeled with their “medicinal properties”. See if any would work for your needs.

Unfortunately, Lungwort won’t cure your Bubonic Plague.

We worked our way back downtown, and checked out St. George’s church

St. George’s Anglican Church is valued as the oldest Anglican Church in Cape Breton; the oldest building in Sydney; for the property’s long history; and as a representation of the important role its parish council played in colonial Cape Breton. Many of Sydney’s early and prominent citizens are buried in its cemetery.

Building of St. George’s Church began in 1785 by engineers of the British 33rd Regiment of Foot, concurrently with the founding of Sydney and its designation as the capital of the new Colony of Cape Breton; however, it was not completed and designated as a parish until 1791. For almost two-hundred and twenty years St. George’s Church has been a place of worship, serving the people of Sydney. Originally, the Parish included the whole of Cape Breton Island, and St. George’s served as the British garrison chapel. As a garrison chapel until 1854, it was granted a Royal Pew and became the official place of worship for members of the Royal Family, if they should ever visit; a role that it still retains.

From the church we walked through downtown towards our B and B.

The ups and downs of Sydney’s history are reflected in its architecture,

with the occasional addition of new buildings, such as the YMCA.

It’s clearly an activity center, with a strong focus on young families and kids.

It also sits back from the street enough to have some foreground and entry space.

Towards the south end of town a small stream cuts across the street grid on its way to the harbor. It’s been developed into Wentworth Park, a string of small water environments.

As with many areas like this, the wisdom to develop the park and stabilize the stream came in small steps as the city grew.

Some of the spaces serve as simple view areas for the local residents.

Others do that but are also animated – though I suspect that this sort of spray may be as much for necessary aeration as for decoration.

In this section, the water flows through culverts so that a bandstand area can provide adequate space for concert crowds.

Altogether, a nice set of amenities for a city of this size, and luckily for us, just around the corner from our Colby House digs.

Next up – a trip out to Fortress Louisbourg