Elora/Fergus Road Trip 2022: Guelph - Continuation of 2021

The last stop of our two day trip to the Elora/Fergus area was to Guelph to tour the Arboretum, which is on the property of the University of Guelph. This stop in Guelph was actually a continuation of a visit that we made in 2021 with our same friends Yim and Murray.  That day, we did not have enough time to tour the Arboretum after spending much of the day in the City.  I was a bit skeptical about going to an Arboretum after visiting the one in Ottawa and finding it lacking in interesting trees or landscaping.  I guess I am spoiled in Toronto by living next to what I consider is one of the greatest arboretums or collection of exotic trees in the world – that being the Mount Pleasant Cemetery.  All others seem to pale in comparison.  Still I had hopes for this one in Guelph since an elaborate map seemed to point to various gardens, groves of trees of different varieties and other points of interest.  Considering how vast the plot of land is for the Guelph arboretum, it would have been better to explore it on bicycle rather than on foot.  It would also be much nicer in the fall when the some of the green leaves will have changed colour.

As we walked towards to set of themed gardens, we spotted a beautiful red-tail hawk(?) perched on a tree branch.  After we took a few photos of it from a distance, the bird spread its massive wings and gracefully soared a few feet before it landed on a birdhouse just in front of us.  My husband Rich carefully approached the hawk and got closer and closer until he was directly underneath it, in order to get a great photo.  Continuing on, we found the English Garden with the grouping of flowers surrounded by well-manicured hedges and Italian Garden with the large fountain and sculptures.  We were disappointed to find the Japanese Garden was closed for construction so all that remained was the red Japanese maple  tree in full bloom and an Inuit sculpture of Sedna in front – why it was not a Japanese sculpture was perplexing.

We found some more sculptures when approaching and at the Arboretum Centre, which is a space that offers monthly workshops on topics such as abstract landscape photography, Invasive Species in Plants and Animals, Sketching Nature, etc.  The trees are still not as varied and exotic and the landscape is not as beautiful as in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery.  But this Arboretum was a big improvement on what we saw in Ottawa and in Collingwood.

On our first trip to Guelph in September 2021, we spent the entire day touring the downtown core and still did not see everything that it had to offer.  Ironically we were only going to stop by briefly since we were in the area, after attending the large bi-annual antique show in Aberfoyle.  Unfortunately as we got near the entrance into the antique show, we were met with long lineups of stationary vehicles in both directions all waiting to get in.  We would not have waited in that lineup even before the pandemic, so there was no way we were going to try to join that crowd while we were still in the midst of one.  Driving on by, we decided to make the best of it and take a quick jaunt in Guelph before calling it a day.  Little did we know that Guelph is such a beautiful city, full of interesting things to see and do!

The Guelph Civic Museum holds artifacts relaying Guelph’s history. One of Guelph’s most famous figures is John McCrae (1872-1918), the doctor and soldier who famously wrote the iconic WWI poem “In Flanders Fields”.  Just outside the Guelph Civic Museum is a beautiful sculpture titled “Remember Flanders” created by Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy.  It depicts McCrae in army uniform, seated amongst the red poppies that inspired his poem with his medical bag at his feet.  The sculpture sits in a lovely park with stone paths forming a poppy motif.  We chose not to tour the Civic Museum, which had a $6 entrance fee, but did look quickly at the gift shop where we spotted a Guelph-themed comic book called “Tales of a Guelphite’ from the Guelph Phantoms Series.  The home where John McCrae was born is also a museum that is available for visit and offers afternoon tea at 2pm.  This might be something fun to do on a future visit.

While wandering around downtown Guelph, we spotted several fabulous buildings. The Guelph Armoury was built in 1908 and served as the home of the Royal Canadian Artillery, 11th Field Regiment.  It was used to train troops during WWI. The battlements on the two turrets on either side of the armoury made it look like it was part of a castle when spotted from afar. The Petrie Building is the last example of a pre-1890 machine stamped structure with a fully metal- clad façade.  It was built in 1882 for A.B. Petrie who ran a pharmacy on the ground floor.  There is currently a fund-raising campaign to fund restoring the iconic upper section.   The Raymond Sewing Machine Company created beautifully decorated Charles Raymond Sewing Machines starting from 1858.  Today the old building seems to have been converted into a children’s drop-in art studio with programs catered to kids of different ages.  It is interesting to see the old sign for the Sewing Machine Factory in dignified black letters juxtapositioned against the cheerful, multi-hued lettering with childish font of the Children’s Art Factory.   There is a row of giant coloured pencils forming a fence to decorate the frontage.

The Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate is a Gothic Revival styled Roman Catholic church with twin towers flanking a stunning central portal that includes a beautiful stained glass rose window, intricate carvings of saints and a colourful mosaic of the “Sacred Lamb of God”.  Built between 1876 and 1888 to sit at the highest point in the city, it can be seen from way off in the  distance.   On the day that we visited the church, the organist was practising.  Music filled the space below and we sat down briefly on one of the pews to listen.

We spent some time touring the Art Gallery of Guelph, which Rich and I had visited once before, on a really quick drive to Guelph to pick up a ceramic plate that we had custom-made.  We found the gallery to be quite impressive and were pleased to discover that the works of our ceramist were featured in the gift shop. Being still in the midst of the COVID pandemic, the main exhibition was appropriately titled “Breathe”, featuring artistic versions of COVID masks as imagined by Metis Artists Natalie Bertin and Lisa Shepherd and other artists that they invited to contribute via a Facebook group.  The masks “speak to a cultural resilience and strength of community in face of a pandemic” and featured masks from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists.  Forty-four stunning masks make up this exhibit.

One of my favourite parts of the Art Gallery of Guelph is the outdoors Don Forster Sculpture Park that surround the grounds of the gallery.  You first get a glimpse of these external works when walking up the stairs inside the gallery.  As you pass by windows in the stairwells, you see little metal skeletons doing battle on the limbs of trees.  Traversing the 2.5 acres around the building, you can find many more large-scaled sculptures that you can get up close to and interact with.  One very clever work that doesn’t show up well in photos is a small motor boat rising out of an undulating grassy field made to give the feeling of rolling waves.  This is the largest sculpture park that is part of a public gallery within Canada, featuring 40 works by prominent Canadian and International artists. 

Like Elora and Fergus’ Grand River, Guelph has the pretty Speed River running through the middle of town, which provides scenic views and walking trails.  We walked the portion of the 7km Royal Recreational Trail that follows the river.  On a sunny week day, this was a pleasant, peaceful walk on packed earth and through short patches of wooded land that provided welcome shade.  I imagine it would be much busier on the weekend.  You can spot wildlife such as the heron that we saw peacefully chilling in a shallow section by the far shore. 

Continuing along, we found the Covered Bridge, a 144-foot lattice-covered pedestrian and cycling bridge that spans the location where the Speed River and the Eramosa River converge.  Although it looks old, the bridge was actually constructed in 1992 but was inspired by the bridges of the 1880s.  Next we spotted the pretty green onion domes of the Holy Protection Ukrainian Catholic Church.  Heading north, we next discovered Allan’s Mill, initially a small wooden grist and flow mill built in 1830 until William Allan of Scotland bought it in 1832 and erected a 5-story stone structure.  Allan expanded the complex to include a brewery and wool carding house, running the mill until 1966 when it was destroyed by fire.  Ruins of the stone building are now part of Guelph’s Heritage Park.  A cairn constructed from the original stone of the mill marks its location and celebrates the 150th anniversary of the founding of Guelph.  In 2019, Spring Mill Distillery opened on the site in the same building as the original distillery.

John Galt was the founder and designer of Guelph in 1827 and his sculpture can be found in front of the historic old Guelph City Hall.  The park named in his honour sits by the river at 147 Woolwich St adjacent to the Heffernan Bridge.  Locomotive 6167 was a 1940s steam engine used in WWII to haul troops and supplies to the Eastern Ports.  In July 1943, Locomotive 6167 was involved in a high-speed head-on collision with Locomotive 6166 killing 3 and injuring many.  In 2002, Locomotive 6167 was restored and became part of the Guelph Museums.  It was originally situated at Guelph’s Central train station but in 2020, it was moved to its permanent home in John Galt Park.

Finally we arrived at the Goldie Mill Ruins, on a site that was originally a saw mill dating back to 1827.  James Goldie bought the land in 1866 and built a 3-storeyed stone building which he ran as a flour mill from 1866 to 1918.  Goldie Mill was considered one of the leading flour manufacturers and dealers in Ontario.  The site was subsequently used as a foundry, cooperage, distillery, piggery and tannery before the 3-storey limestone building was destroyed by fire in 1953 (sound familiar?).  Much of the ruins still remain including a 90-foot brick chimney that towers over the building.  The area has recently been restored to address sink holes and reopened in 2021 as a popular destination for weddings, markets and performances.  

We had fun just wandering around downtown Guelph, which has interesting shops, eateries, murals, sculptures, and street art that brightened up the main drag.  For brunch we ate at Vienna Restaurant which has been open since 1901 according to the sign on the front and is touted as the only authentic schnitzel in town.  Rich had the breakfast schnitzel topped with 3 eggs, ham, spinach, swiss cheese and Hollandaise with home fries.  I am not as fond of eggs, so I went for the good old standard Jager Schnitzel covered with mushroom onion gravy and hunter sauce, accompanied with home fries and a side salad.  Towards the end of the day, we were craving a place to sit down and have a drink and we found it at Two Faces. This was a fun, colourfully decorated bar with a sidewalk patio where I was able to order an Aperol Spritz.  This was just the ticket after a long hot day of walking around and adding in a couple bags of truffle chips made this the perfect snack and rest stop.

There are still a few more things that we want to see in Guelph as well as in Elora and Fergus, so there might be another road trip to this area in a future year.