Ontario Travel – Peterborough:
The Peterborough Farmers Market, Lunch on Hunter
Street and a Cruise through the Peterborough Lift
Lock
After my
brief stay in Peterborough over the July long weekend
I decided to head back there to explore this travel
region in greater detail. I have always liked the
Kawartha Region, with its beautiful lakes and rolling
hills, and equally importantly, I always appreciate
its easy reachability and proximity to Toronto.
It takes just about an hour and half to leave the
Big Smoke behind and reach the serene countryside
and jewel-blue lakes of the Kawartha Region.
So on August 4, 2010 I set off on a 3-day adventure
to explore more of this popular vacation region.
I arrived mid-morning at my home for the next two
days: the Golden Pathways Bed and Breakfast where
dynamic owner Cora Whittington welcomed me like
an old friend. We had already met earlier in July
of this year when I had spent two nights at her
relaxing country retreat.
Cora Whittington, my gracious hostess at the Golden
Pathways B&B
The Golden Pathways B&B has three guest bedrooms,
all located on the lower level of the house with
two bathrooms, a large living room and kitchen area
that is available for guests to use. Outside is
a beautiful porch that overlooks the Whittington
family farm and a barbecue is available for the
guests as well. At only 15 minutes from Peterborough,
this bed and breakfast is embedded in the quiet
countryside, yet has quick access to a major city
with all its restaurants and other entertainment
options. It’s a great place to get away from
it all and relax. Or you can get active and go hiking
or bicycling or enjoy watersports in the nearby
Squirrel Creek Conservation Area and on the Otonabee
River.
My luxurious bedroom at the Golden Pathways B&B
But there was no time to linger: I wanted to head
out to the Peterborough Farmers Market which is
held every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Since
1825 this farmer’s market has been providing
fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, meat
and dairy products, honey, maple syrup and a variety
of preserves to local residents. I admired freshly
cut flowers from local farms and various handicrafts
while the locals were chatting with the merchants.
Two gentlemen from the D'Silva family told me about
the East Indian preserves and finger foods that
they produce at their family business called "Sybil's"
in the west end of Peterborough. A wide range of
curry pastes are very popular with the local shoppers,
particularly the “kick-ass curry paste”
whose recipe is a family secret. I even got a tiny
spoonful of butter chicken, one of my favourite
chicken dishes.
The D'Silva family sells East Indian preserves at
the Peterborough Farmer's Market
This little sample really made my stomach growl
now, so the food stands started to catch my attention.
Local merchant Inna Trotchine from A Taste of Russia
reeled me in with her delicious looking goodies.
The potato-mushroom strudel, the cheese-filled platchintas,
the feta cheese and spinach triangles and the apple
dumplings were definitely enticing me, but I had
planned to visit a local restaurant for lunch so
I had to reign in my appetite. But Inna clearly
recognized my cravings and gave me a free taste
of some of her delicious pierogies, which hit the
spot perfectly to quench the worst of my hunger.
Inna and some of her delicacies at "A Taste
of Russia"
Fortunately I had managed to save enough room for
lunch, so I headed up to Hunter Street which offers
an array of eclectic restaurants and street cafes.
I settled in at Karma’s Café whose
chic décor actually was created as part of
the television show “Restaurant Makeover”.
I even had a chance to peek into the kitchen and
watch chef Vladimir at work who has been with Karma’s
for the past six years. He was working on preparing
some of the Tibetan, Malaysian and Southeast Asian
dishes that are served here. Always on the lookout
for tasty vegetarian dishes, I thoroughly enjoyed
my Nasi-Hapjes rice patties.
My Asian-inspired lunch at Karma's Café
After this flavoursome Asian-inspired lunch, I
made my way to the Peterborough Marina where I boarded
the Liftlock Cruise sightseeing boat. For the next
two hours I hung out with Captain Graham Kent, who
entertains the crowd with his informative and humorous
commentary. He explained that when he started this
business, he hired local university students to
do historical research about Peterborough which
produced hundreds of pages of interesting information
about this city. In the end he distilled the information
down to 32 pages of the most interesting tidbits
about Peterborough and the Trent-Severn Waterway.
Captain Graham Kent is a treasure trove of information
As we started our cruise I had a chance to interview
Graham about the history of his company which he
bought in 1994 from a former business partner. Since
then Liftlock Cruises has truly evolved into a veritable
family enterprise with his wife, his son and daughter-in-law
and his daughter and son-in-law being involved.
They operate two vessels: the Island Princess, a
double-deck replica side wheeler, and the Skylark
VIII, a single-deck tour boat that is often used
for corporate cruises. The season lasts from late
May to mid-October and coincides with the opening
periods of the Trent-Severn Waterway.
The "Island Princess"
As we cruised on Little Lake we passed by the marina
and Del Crary Park, Peterborough’s popular
outdoor gathering spot and home to many free concerts
throughout the summer. Grant pointed out the Little
Lake Cemetery which has been in use since 1850.
We also saw two sandy beaches at Rogers Cove Park
and Beavermead Park. Then it was on to Lock No.
20 on the Trent-Severn Waterway.
Captain Graham Kent expertly steers the boat towards
the lock
The Trent-Severn Waterway is a 386 km (240 mile)
long canal system that connects Lake Ontario with
Lake Huron via a series of lakes, rivers and canals.
It starts in Trenton, Ontario, and ends in Port
Severn on Georgian Bay, the southern portion of
Lake Huron, and was built in the second half of
the 19th century and the early 20th century to facilitate
transport of timber for logging companies. Balsam
Lake, not far from Peterborough, is the watershed
of the area, where the Severn River flows westwards,
and the Trent River flows eastwards towards Lake
Ontario. With an altitude of 840 feet, this is the
highest point on earth to which a boat can travel
from sea level.
Approaching Lock 20 on the Trent-Severn Waterway
Construction of this engineering marvel began in
1833 in Bobcaygeon and was not finished until 1920.
Grant explained that the construction of the waterway
would proceed in fits and starts, since most of
the construction happened in the years leading up
to elections. Politicians knew how to use the continued
construction of the various portions of the canal
as an effective vote buying tool.
Lock 20 is still operated manually today by cranking
this mechanism
Lock 20 of the waterway, the Ashburnham Lock, is
a manually operated lock and connects Little Lake
with the Trent Canal which helps to overcome the
steep elevation drop and the rapids in the northern
part of Peterborough. It took about 15 minutes for
our boat to be lifted up and over the lock into
the canal. Passing under a historic and still operational
railroad bridge we approached one of the most significant
sights along the Trent-Severn Waterway: the Peterborough
Lift Lock.
Lock 21 - the famous Peterborough Lift Lock
Built between 1896 and 1904, these dual boat lifts
are the highest hydraulic boat lifts in the world.
Captain Graham also told us about the engineer behind
these lift locks: Richard Birdsall Rogers, who studied
canal systems in England, Belgium and France to
come up with the design of this structure. The Peterborough
Lift Lock boasts many engineering firsts: it was
the first lock built of concrete, and at the time
of its inauguration, this was the largest solid
unreinforced concrete construction on the planet.
In 1987, the Peterborough Lift Lock was designated
a Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
We are inside Lock 21, waiting to get lifted almost
20 metres!
Essentially, the lift lock is composed of two huge
concrete “bathtubs” that move up and
down using the counterweight principle. While one
basin ascends the other one descends, using gravity
alone. The water level of the top basin is 30 cm
higher than the lower one, causing an extra weight
of 144 tons. And this extra weight makes the upper
basin descend, while at the same time lifting the
lower basin and any boats that might be in it.
Now we are on top of Lock 21 - high up in the air!
The height difference between the lower and the
upper levels of the canal is 19.8 metres or 65 feet.
This was a significant achievement at a time when
other locks only had a rise of about 2 metres. And
it only takes about 4 minutes to ascend or descend
between the higher and lower levels. Now about 20
feet higher on the Trent Canal we went for another
half a kilometer or so until we turned around. Just
before our turnaround point we cruised underneath
a bridge that is a popular diving spot for local
kids. Several teenage boys were holding on to the
bridge’s railing and let us pass, only to
jump down into the water the second we had sailed
by. Then Captain Graham swung our vessel around
and we started our slow ride back.
Local teenagers are jumping off the bridge
On the way back our captain pointed out a building
with a circular roof right next to the Peterborough
Lift Lock, the Lift Lock Visitor Centre. Up on the
hill west of the lift lock is another Peterborough
landmark: the former Westclox factory, built in
1922 as a subsidiary of an Illinois-based company
that manufactured thousands of Canadian Big Ben
clock models during the first half of the 20th century.
Production came to a halt in 1986 when manufacturing
moved to cheaper off-shore locations. Then the former
factory, now renamed Times Square, underwent a complete
transformation, was turned into 152 residential
condo units and some commercial and office spaces
and became an example of a highly successful conversion
of a historic industrial structure.
The historic Westclox Factory
After this comprehensive introduction to some of
Peterborough’s most well-known landmarks,
it was now time for my next adventure: the Canadian
Canoe Museum.
