Colonel By

A reminder to members of City Daily Photo that the theme for September 1st is Bridges. 

The first Monday of August is the Civic Holiday in Ontario, and here in Ottawa, it's called Colonel By Day, in honour of the British military engineer who led the building of the Rideau Canal from 1826-32, and who is deemed the founder of the city. A statue of him stands in Major's Hill Park, looking west over his project. The flowerbeds around and behind him look different from May, when they are filled with tulips.

A view from above. Parliament Hill is on the far side of the Canal, and down below is the Bytown Museum. By had it built as the Commissariat, a warehouse for the project, and these days the building houses a local history museum.

The Ottawa Locks here descend down towards the Ottawa River. And while I was walking along, work crews were just starting to lower levels in an upper lock, hence the waterfall effect.

There's a lot of water in these locks. This one is largely drained, but not for long, as this is how you get the boats up and down through the series of locks. The Canal was built as a military route between here and Lake Ontario, but these days is used for recreation. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site- a worthy legacy for the Colonel.

Re-enactors were up outside of the Museum.

I crossed the Canal at one of the lower locks.

I came to pay my respects at this Celtic cross, erected as a memorial years ago. Over a thousand workers died in accidents or illnesses during the Canal project. Many of them were of Irish stock, and had brought their families over. On Colonel By Day, a memorial service is held here. The object on the cobblestones looked like a candlestick holder, placed there for the purpose.

I went back up toward the Museum.

Inside, a staff member was talking with the re-enactors.

I took a moment to look around. There's a vault back here. I hope to come back before the fall and pay another visit. I'd thought of it on this day, but the previous week, work-wise, had been utterly exhausting, and I had missed much of the holiday weekend just resting.

This display panel looks at the purpose and history of the building.