Elora-Fergus Road Trip 2022: Fergus

Continuing with our 2022 road trips within Ontario in order to take advantage of the Ontario Staycation Tax Credit, we made a 2 day visit to the Fergus/Elora area, staying over one night in Fergus (which is more economical than the more touristy Elora). We had originally scheduled two nights but with rain in the forecast for the initial night, we decided to compress the trip.   

We were traveling with our friends Yim and Murray, so it was important to pre-book our accommodations since it is more difficult to find two rooms at the same location in the summer.  Using Booking.com, we were able to defer the decision of whether to cancel or modify the reservations until 4 days prior to our arrival.  Given the unpredictability of the weather which shifted daily, it was still a guess whether or not to cancel one of the days and if so, which day.  Luckily, we made the right call as it rained on the day that we canceled and was dry for our two remaining days.  Even better, as it turned out, we had more than enough time for everything that we wanted to do. 

We left early Thursday morning and arrived in Fergus just after 9am so that we could have coffee and breakfast at  “Vault Café Bar”, which is situated in the old Imperial Bank building (circa 1878) and still has access to the original bank vault referred to in the establishment’s name.  The café offered breakfast sandwiches, granola, scones and pastries along with coffee, which gave us a good serviceable breakfast to start our day.  But the main reason to go there was to check out the vault, which is currently used as a pantry with items for sale.  At the front of the café is a 1919 newspaper article from the Fergus News Record describing the first armed daylight bank robbery, which was foiled by the security alarm triggered by the staff, scaring off the three bank robbers.

Following breakfast, while waiting for the shops to open, we headed towards Templin Gardens, once an elaborate garden surrounded by stone walls with a path leading down to the Grand River. It was built by J.C.Templin (editor of the Fergus News Record) as a gift for his wife in the 1920s.  Prior to reaching the gardens, we passed by the FERGUS sign (doesn't it seem like every city and town has a sign now?) and some Scottish-themed “face in the hole” boards where we could pose as Scottish bagpipers and Highland dancers.  We also saw a couple of entries in the “Elora Sculpture Project”, an annual outdoor sculpture exhibition that runs from May through October with installations in both Fergus and Elora.  The sculpture titled “Cradle” looked like a peanut shell to me from afar, while “Mobius Twist” looked like a blown-out car tire. At the entrance of Templin Gardens is a permanent installation created in 2017 to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary.  Titled “Building Canada”, it features a beaver hard at work chomping on a twig.

In its glory days, Templin Gardens included a stone entrance with an elaborate wrought-iron gate, green lawns, meandering flagstone walkways, birdhouses and bird baths, a sundial, fish pond with a statue of Pan, a wide assortment of flowers and trees, and a waterfall flowing into the gorge leading to the Grand River.  Over time the gardens fell into disrepair and part of it was sold off.  After some restoration by the town council, the entranceway with the iron gate still remains, as do the stone steps leading down to the breathtaking view of the river and rapids.  Titled “Allium”, a metal installation depicting a set of allium flowers acts as a memorial to past Fergus Horticultural Society members who contributed to the town’s gardens and society.

Heading back to downtown Fergus, we noticed that many of the buildings were impressive looking heritage structures dating back to the late 1800s to early 1900s.  The 2-storey stone clad Beaux-Arts styled Fergus Library (1910) is a Carnegie Library, established with a $6000 grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie’s library fund.  The Fergus Marketplace On the River is a shopping mall that resides in the former Beatty Brothers Foundry and Machine Shop which was erected in 1878.  The building is easily recognized because of its tall smokestack that towers over the surrounding structures.  The sandstone Fergus Post Office looks quite like the Elora post office since they were both built by architect W.A.Mahoney around 1910-1912 and both feature a clock tower.  The Scottish influenced Breadalbane Inn was built in 1850 and expanded in 1860 by George Fergusson, son of Adam, the co-founder of Fergus.  There is a wooden carving of a Scotsman on the sidewalk in front of the Inn, although it seems a bit worse for wear after the recent storms that have passed through Ontario.  On Tower Street, we spotted another sculpture from the Elora Sculpture Project—a stained glass work titled “Celestial Encounter” depicting a spaceship ready to beam you aboard.

Most of the interesting shops in Fergus are on St. Andrew St. which seems to be Fergus’ main drag.  We were particularly intrigued by the Dutch and Scottish shops which were side by side.  We were lured into Made in Holland by the wooden cutout of a Dutch girl in traditional dress in front of the store, which offered “free Gouda goat cheese samples”.  The samples did the trick since we each bought some cheese to take home as well as some “bacon ham” which is delicious when fried up.. thank goodness Yim and Murray had packed a large cooler and that there was a refrigerator at our hotel. Rich and I also bought a bunch of mini wooden tulips in a variety of bright colours, a bar of Tony’s Chocolonely hazelnut chocolate bar which I had also purchased when we were in Amsterdam, some Stroopwafels (round wafers with a caramel filling) and some bottles of a fizzy Cassis drink.  At the Scottish Corner Shop, we bought some Haggis and Cracked Pepper flavoured potato chips (which sounded better than they tasted) while Yim snagged the last package of Haggis shepherd’s pie while I looked on jealously.  There was a beautifully carved wooden bench in front of the Scottish shop with a tree and the symbol of the unicorn (Scotland's national animal) carved into it.  As we were leaving the shop, the owner came out with her bag pipes and started to play.

We had fun wandering into the shops on both sides of St. Andrews Street.  At Joanie’s Gifts, I was intrigued by the shot glasses labeled with birthday wishes such as “21st Glamorous” or “40 Fabulous”  that came with removable, seated, party-girl figurines.  For the men(?), there were bikini-body shaped shot glasses in various shades.  Rich was drawn to the salt and pepper shakers shaped like a car with a kayak on its roof and a camper trailer.  He would have bought this if we didn’t already have a large collection of quirky salt and pepper shakers that we never use and are running out of space to store.  

Both being knitters, Yim and I wandered into String Theory to check out their inventory.  I looked longingly at the cozy crafts circle formed in front of a fireplace and wished that we had something like this near our home in Toronto.  Yim eyed the kits with materials and directions to make small felted animals like Shetland cows, horses and rabbits.  Having recently learned to crochet, I have now taken to evaluating crocheted products like hats, tops and throws and deciding that I could make that (but only if I had a detailed pattern to follow!).  

All four of us enjoyed wandering around in the Bookery, a quaint book store with meandering floor to ceiling shelves housing over 20,000 used books as well as rare and out of print books.  In addition, there is a selection of Celtic jewellery and trinkets, giftware, metaphysical wares, new and vintage décor items.  

Spotted in front of an art and jewelry store, I came really close to buying a cool robot made from various found materials, sitting on a stool and holding a metal serving tray.  I’ve always wanted such a robot for our terrace and had he fit in the packed trunk of our car, he might now be mine.  After walking away to think about it, I realized that there would be no good way to stow him away for the winter and that this just wasn’t practical…another impulse-buying situation averted! 

The Wellington County Museum and Archives is located in the building that is the oldest House of Industry and Refuge in Canada.  Built in 1877 and known colloquially as the “Poor House”, this was a place where over 1500 men, women and children Wellington County were admitted between 1877-1947.  It was a place where poor, homeless, destitute, mentally or physically challenged people who were too old, young, weak or otherwise unable to earn a living were sent, if they were deemed deserving of the county’s charity and refuge.  Those living in the poor house were called “inmates”, since this was the historical term to describe anyone living in a public institution including a hospital, asylum, jail or house of industry (ie: poor house).  The inmates were forced to eat their meals in silence and locked in at night.  A large permanent exhibit in the museum is dedicated to the history of the Poor House.  One heartbreaking image depicts a woman who was sent there as a child and spent the rest of her life there, while another described an elderly mother who was placed in the Poor House when her children found her too much trouble to take care of any longer.

Also in the museum is a small theatre where you can choose to watch one of a series of classic movies as well as National Film Board of Canada short films.  We decided to sit in the nice air-conditioned space to watch a few minutes of “The Sweater”, the 10-minute animated film about the poor boy from Quebec whose mother accidentally bought him a Toronto Maple Leaf hockey jersey instead of the Montreal Canadiens Maurice Rocket Richard jersey that all the other kids were wearing.  The walls of the small theatre were adorned with movie posters of other classic films such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Top Hat starring Fred Astaire and Shirley Temple in Dimples.  Another permanent exhibit is called “Far From Home: A Soldier’s Life at the Front” which features a life-sized trench with mannequins depicting WWI soldiers.  What makes this exhibition extra special is the use of the great-grandsons and great-grandnephews of real WW1 soldiers who were asked to model for the mannequins representing their relatives.  Also on display in this exhibit were uniforms, rations and equipment used by the soldiers.

One of the rotating special exhibits was “Wild Child”, exploring the fashions and fads of the 1960s and 70s.  There were tops and dresses with psychedelic patterns, gogo boots, a retro TV (like one my family once owned!), bicycle, hair dresser’s chair with the overhead dryer, baby carriage, crockpot and Morse Code decoders.  Another temporary exhibit was “Here Comes the Bride – 150 Years of Wedding Fashions”, featuring wedding fashions for the bride, groom, bridesmaids, and flower girls, as well as photographs, gifts and stories highlighting wedding traditions. The Wellington Museum was much larger and more comprehensive than we thought it would be, and well worth the visit.

Following our museum visit, we drove to Elora for a late afternoon “High Tea” at the Wild Tart, but more on that in the next blog about Elora.  Returning to Fergus to check into our rooms at the Best Western, we rested until later in the evening and then headed out again for a light supper.

During our walk around Templin Gardens earlier in the day, we spotted the sign for the “Goofie Newfie” restaurant and bar across the river and decided to try it.  After a short wait, we were able to get an outside table on the terrace overlooking the river and rapids.  We found the food mediocre at best but the setting and ambience was great.  Next time we would come back for a drink only as opposed to a meal.  By the time we left the restaurant, it was dark and when we crossed the bridge over the Grand River, we could see a beautiful blue light shining out from the rapids.