The Landing

Richmond Landing is a park setting upstream from Parliament Hill along the Ottawa River. It's a place of some history, including a time when this spot was quite industrial, and a location for a monument that has been here several years, dedicated to the Royal Canadian Navy. On the same day in October as yesterday's post, I descended down to the river's edge. In this first shot, the Supreme Court and the National Gallery can be spotted in the background.

The grounds also include this yard arm and a long wall with the names of Canadian Navy ships from the earliest days of its formal founding. The headquarters for Library and Archives Canada looms on the bluff above.

The monument itself is abstract in its tone, with navy campaigns inscribed on its surface.

The view here, with both Ottawa and Gatineau along the shores, with Parliament Hill just downstream, is spectacular. The Rideau Trail starts close by, offering hikers a path heading over 300 kilometres to Kingston. Richmond Landing actually pre-dates the founding of Ottawa. Veterans of the War Of 1812 and other settlers landed at this spot in the aftermath of that war and traveled inland, founding the town of Richmond several years before Colonel By started on his Rideau Canal. Richmond today has been amalgamated into Ottawa, though it remains surrounded by countryside. 

Down at the edge of the water, several inukshuk were arranged.

A look to the left takes in Victoria Island, which juts out into the river here. The old mill you can see is the one I showed you the other day, occupying part of the east end of the island.