Immaculate Conception

Picking up where we left off yesterday, here are more views of the basilica.

I started descending back down to the street, taking a shot of the basilica beside its neighbour. Once a convent, the building now houses the Guelph Civic Museum. I decided on a second filter for the shot.

A half hour or so and some errands later, and things looked brighter. The basilica dominates the skyline of the city, as seen in this view from the downtown.

A couple of nights before my visit, I photographed the basilica from down below. I decided to conclude with this, and used a second filter for it as well. Tomorrow I'll show you for a couple of posts around Toronto.

Remembrance Day

"They went with songs to the battle, they were young

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them." 

~ Laurence Binyon, For The Fallen

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada. November 11th, 1918 marked the end of the First World War in Europe, and the date remains a day of commemoration here and in other parts of the world, even with other names, for the fallen of war. These shots are from Guelph, taken in July at Woodlawn Cemetery. A section of the cemetery is designated a military cemetery, with the stones in the traditional Commonwealth War Graves style that dates back to the Great War.

Guelph is where my father lives, and when I visited this summer I took photographs that I decided I'd hold onto for this date. This is the main war memorial in the city's core.

During my time there, I paid a visit to the Guelph Civic Museum, where among the items of local history was this hockey jersey for the Guelph Storm. On it is inscribed the poem In Flanders Fields. The author, John McCrae, was born in Guelph and grew up here. As a doctor, officer, and soldier, he went to the battlegrounds of Europe when the Great War broke out. He never came home, dying of pneumonia in France, where he is buried.

McCrae House is where he was born. The house has been turned into a museum in its own right, and it seems this is a place of pilgrimage for locals on November 11th. Here we have a view of the outside gardens with a memorial.

The interior features displays, artifacts, and panels on McCrae, his life, and times.

Back outside, here are two more views.

For my last shot today, a more recent shot of the War Memorial here in Ottawa, in silhouette. I will be down here today for the national services, and planning on visiting the War Museum afterwards. 

The Headlines Of The Age

One of the rooms in the Guelph Civic Museum contains Mercury front pages from key moments of history. They include the sinking of the Empress Of Ireland, which I noted a few weeks back from my visit to the Canadian Museum of History.

The end of the Great War was another one.

As was the beginning of another world war.

VE Day is seen here in the edition of the day.

Two different days in American history, two different presidents, two different fates.

And of course 9/11.

This is a publication page printing the Constitution Act when it came into effect.

The development of the University of Guelph is also examined here in the museum.

We started on our way out, pausing above the children's activity area.

I took this shot below.

And I finished with this display on lacrosse, a sport created by First Nations peoples. To close out the month tomorrow and the following day, as well as this series as a whole, we'll go to another destination in Guelph.

A Passage Through Time

The 19th century and early twentieth century saw changes in Guelph, documented in panels within the museum.

This is a scale model of The Priory. A second larger one resides in Riverside Park. The original was John Galt's first home in the city. These models were created by Walter and David Cowan, a pair of architect brothers.

Panels examine the multitude of churches and other religious establishments in the city.

Long before white settlement, First Nations peoples lived among the rivers known today as the Speed, the Eramosa, and the Grand. Their presence is still here, and the museum has panels and artifacts of their story.

This item of clothing caught my eye.

Guelph residents have served in the Canadian military for over a century, and into the present day.

Over time the city demographics have changed. The menorah candlestick in this display reflects that. There's a synagogue in the city that I missed, one that I was relatively close to.

I liked the look of this clock.

I find myself wondering what the sisters who established the convent would make of its current use as a museum. I have more from here tomorrow.