leaves | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘leaves’

Old Finch and the Finch Meander

Posted: May 29, 2025 in history, nature
Tags: Bailey Bridge, dog strangling vine, ferns, Hillside Church, honeysuckle, leaves, mayapple, nature, Old Finch Ave., plants, rocks, Rouge River, trees, Vincetoxicum rossicum, water

Old Finch Avenue runs immediately north of the zoo way over in the northeast corner of the city. It also crosses the Rouge River close to what is called the Finch Meander. Because of its history and the surrounding geography, the eastern portion of Finch has to curve around the river and as a result, it doesn’t align properly with the western portion.

below: On Finch, traffic crosses a one lane bridge that spans the Rouge River.

below: Hurricane Hazel struck Toronto in October 1954. It damaged or washed away many bridges over the Rouge River including the one here. The replacement bridge is a “Bailey Bridge” built by the 2nd Field Engineer Regiment of the Canadian Military Engineers. Seventy years later it is the last one still in use.

below: Can you see the little orange alien? I think that it’s waving at you…..

And a few photos from walking around the Rouge River park in that area –

below: Down the steps and into the woods….

below: Measuring the water levels

below: Greater Celandine growing in the shadows.

below: Little pink honeysuckle flowers

below: Mayapple among the ferns

below: Keep an eye open for poison ivy!

below: Another silent threat that lurks here (but won’t give you a rash) is an invasive vine. “Dog strangling vine”, or Vincetoxicum rossicum, wraps itself around trees and other plants that it encounters. It is early in the growing season so most of the plants here were still short but there were masses of them. The lighter beige curved objects that run through the middle of this photo are the remains of last year’s vines.

Close by is the old Hillside church built in 1877.

historical society plaque in front of hillside church, white picket fence

Hillside Church – The church opened on Nov 16, 1877 as a branch of the Scarboro circuit of the Methodist Church of Canada to meet the religious needs of this rural community. The property was given by Mr. and Mrs. John Crawford to the “Trustees of the Mount Zion Congregation” – namely John Sewell, Peter Reesor, James Ormerod, George Pearse, James Pearse, Robert Stockdale and Thomas Barnard. Combining to form the Congregation were members of the Bible Christian Church … and the adherents of the former Wesleyan Methodist Church. Known from its opening as Hillside Church, it continued to serve the area until Church Union in 1925 when the congregation became part of Zion United Church, Markham. Both the exterior and the interior of the church remain essentially the same as they were in 1877.

below: Someone with surname Thomas once passed this way. Lived here. Played here. The small stone suggests that it was a child, maybe? Almost 150 years later this little stone, cracked and weathered as it is, still stands in memory of Thomas and the person who cared enough about him to have this stone made and erected in the churchyard. A few of us stop and linger long enough to think about him but at some point the words will become even more unreadable.

old, faded and cracked tombstone in a cemetery, can read the name Thomas and that he died 188?.

Stone possibly says, Leonard, infant son of ?? Thomas, died July 11 1888 (1889?)

With thanks to Wilfred who suggested checking out the Rouge River and Bailey Bridge! It was a few months ago now but I was waiting for a nice spring day.

searching for the end of the trail

Posted: December 5, 2024 in construction, history, locations, nature, transportation
Tags: autumn, bridge, condos, construction, Eglinton, Inn on the Park, leaves, Leslie St., LRT, redevelopment condos, Thorncliffe trestle, tracks, trails, Wilket Creek Park

… but finding many other things instead.

This is a follow-up to my last post about the Don Mills trail. Remember that I mentioned that it came to a dead end just north of Eglinton? I thought that surely someone somewhere in the city government would have looked into options re connecting the Don Mills trail to a street or another multi-use path. The dead end is just east of Leslie, so off I went to check it out (and I wasn’t going to walk all the way to a dead end just to turn around again) .

Hey look! There is a vacant lot at approximately where the trail ends.

Did I wander back there? Sadly not….. I didn’t have any lock cutters with me…. This was once a Sony Music building but it was demolished in 2016. There was no development notice sign at the site (9 acres).

below: This is the Sony Music (or CBS) building, built in 1959. They don’t make them like this any more – so spread out and only one storey high. Land must have been much cheaper back then!

older colour photo of sony music building on leslie street (demolished in 2016)

Photo credit: by Bob Krawczyk, found on ACO Toronto website (Architectural Conservancy Ontario)

When I was researching the Sony Music building online, I came across the Phoenix Centre. That’s the name of the planned private club being developed at the old Wrigleys site next door to the now vacant lot. If I had realized that when I was out walking, I would have taken more photos. As it is, this is the best I’ve got:

southwest corner of old Wrigleys building on Leslie street, now OTT, low rise modern building

This building, built 1962, was included in North York’s Modernist Architecture, first published in 1997. In addition, The former Wrigley property has cultural heritage value as it is historically associated with the 1950s planning and development of Don Mills by E. P. Taylor and Don Mills Developments Ltd. (if interested, more info at ACO website). The Phoenix Centre plan retains most of the office space architecture but completely remakes the factory space.

There is also talk of a bridge (pedestrian & bikes?) over the CPR tracks to the Crosstown developments. Makes sense to connect the Don Mills trail, Crosstown, and Leslie Street!

Part of the reason I didn’t take any photos of the old Wrigley building is that I had chose to walk south the day…. just south is a fire station as well as some condos.

And there is a well worn path that accesses the back of the properties.

This road doesn’t actually lead to those new condo towers. The CPR railway tracks are in the way. Those towers are part of the Crosstown development on the old IBM and Celestica property (access from both Eglinton & Don Mills)

The road didn’t lead to the end of the Don Mills trail either… but it did lead to the back of a parking garage. No dogs allowed and no trespassing. No luck here.

I got a better view of the neighbourhood though….

Black and white on a grey day.

As I walked back out the path, I noticed this sign. I took it to mean the property behind the blue fence, not the property the path is on… probably?

It stopped munching and stared at me, trying to decide to sit and watch or to run away…. it scampered away before I could get any closer (I don’t pretend to take good pictures of animals but it looked so cute, all puffed up to stay warm).

A very short walk farther south on Leslie brings us to the Inn on the Park site on the northeast corner of Leslie and Eglinton.

below: Inn on the Park as it once was (about 1969) I have ‘borrowed’ this photo from another website – Jamie Bradburn’s Tales of Toronto. Follow the link if you are interested in the story of the hotel – it’s an interesting read. Did you know that in 1962 North York had a ban on cocktail lounges?

below: The site today. It’s now a Toyota/Lexus dealership and home to a few new condos.

But there are more changes coming….. (surprised?)…. more glass and steel towers by the looks of it. The notice also states that parking is planned for 845 cars and 1860 bikes. Does Doug Ford approve?

below: A sad sight, Sunnybrook Park LRT station all ready to go but no trains running. One of the Toronto mysteries, when will the Eglinton LRT open?

Standing by the LRT tracks and looking south. Wilket Creek park and the Thorncliffe trestle railway bridge can be seen. I crossed the road because I had seen stairs down to the park….

A big new set of stairs!…. But. Not shown – the locked gate that blocked the entrance. There is still no entry to Wilket Creek/Sunnybrook Park from this side of Eglinton.

It’s getting to be crowded….

below: Crossing Eglinton and looking westward

New pedestrian and bike paths that provide access to the park from the north side of Eglinton have been built but they too are locked closed. It’s very frustrating to see this infrastructure built and then left unusable. The signs says construction danger but there doesn’t seem to be any construction happening…..

Just in case I have confused anyone, here is a map of the area that Google maps created. Near the top left it even says Don Valley Bike Trailhead… which is very wrong. No trailhead here of any kind as we’ve just learned. Also it was the Don Mills trail not the Don Valley trail (the latter is somewhere else!)

New benches! Wilket Creek Park is one section of the string of parks that parallel the branches of the Don River in Toronto’s ravine system. I’ll leave you with a few pictures that I took the other day while I was in the area…

the tree of life – a ceramic version

Posted: November 16, 2024 in galleries, general Toronto
Tags: art, branches, ceramic, Elaborate, flowers, gallery, Gallery 235, Harbourfront, leaves, Marc Egan, tiles, tree, tree of life

The Tree of Life is a symbol that originated in antiquity; it appears in most religions and cultures. Over the centuries it has been depicted in many different ways. Here, it is shown with colourful and imaginative flowers and leaves in an image that has been constructed using large ceramic tiles by artist, Marc Egan. The resulting artwork is 9 feet by 12 feet big.

It is on display at Gallery 235 in the Harbourfront Centre, It is part of an exhibit titled “Elaborate” that continues until 29th December 2024.

There is even a creepy crawly red and white bug!

on a Scarborough pond

Posted: November 14, 2024 in nature
Tags: autumn, bridge, Canada goose, creek, dead leaves, dogwood, fowl, leaves, nature, November, oak, park, pond, rocks, tamarack, trees, water

One of the great things about Toronto is the network of creeks, rivers, and ravines that runs through the city. I happened upon one of these yesterday. A small oasis in a Scarborough neighbourhood.

below: I was very surprised to see a heron standing quietly among the trees. I didn’t have a better lens to catch a decent photo of the bird, so this slightly fuzzy version with have to suffice. A heron in Scarborough! Considering how much ravine and park space there is Toronto, there is probably more wildlife living in the city than we realize.

below: What Toronto park doesn’t have Canada geese?

below: A tamarack tree, a unique tree because it is a deciduous conifer in that it has cones and needles like a conifer such as pine and spruce, but its needles turn yellow and fall off in autumn like a deciduous tree (such as oak or maple) does. Tamarack is also known as Larch.

below: A small oak tree planted in remembrance of a person from the community.

below: One end of the park is the concrete fence in the distance – a fence that separates the park and the 401 highway.

Colonel Danforth colours

Posted: October 24, 2022 in locations, nature
Tags: autumn, bench, colours, creek, dog strangling vine, gold, graffiti, grass, Highland Creek, leaves, maple, October, park, pine, pine cones, Scarborough, sumac, sunlight, swallowwort, tree trunks, trees

Colonel Danforth Park is located where Kingston Road and Old Kingston Road pass over the Highland Creek in Scarborough.

This past weekend we had some amazing warm and sunny days – great days to spend some time meandering through a park, especially this year when the autumn colours seem so much brighter and plentiful than in past years. Is it just my imagination or have the colours have also lingered longer?

The north part of the park merges with the grounds of U of T Scarborough campus.

below: Seed pods of ‘dog-strangling vine’ (or swallowwort) starting to burst. This plant is an invasive species. It is quite pretty at this time of year as the seeds are released and the leaves of the plant turn a silvery colour. Unfortunately, it is a fast growing vine that quickly climbs other plants such as this young sumac tree. It will kill that plant.

below: A wasp nest high up in a tree

below: Ooops! “Off roading” taken a bit too far.

below: Under Kingston Road

***

historical society plaque for Highland Creek Mills

“Highland Creek Mills
The early settlers of Scarborough used the waters of Highland Creek to provide power for their many saw and grist mills in this valley. The first mill in the township was built here in 1804 by William Cornell who hauled his mill stone from Kingston on his sled. In 1847 William Hellewell built the first of his four mills on this site. Downstream there were saw mills operated by Jordan Post, Stephen Closson, and others. …”

There have been discussions recently about the lack of washroom facilities in Toronto parks especially once the city deems summer to be over. There were no facilities that I saw on my walk but I was thankful for the porta-potty that was provided. Not the best but I have seen worse!

history in pieces of stone

Posted: October 1, 2020 in history, locations, nature, old buildings
Tags: autumn, berries, cliff, colours, columns, crab apple, crabapple, Dr. Healey Willan, flowers, garden, Guild Inn, history, Jacobine Jones, Lake Ontario, leaves, marble, monuments, mountain ash, Musidora, park, peacock, people, plants, sculpture, Sir Ernest MacMillan, statue, stone, Thomas Bowie

Another path through the woods. This time there was a hint of yellow in the leaves because it was late September and even in 2020, some things are the same as ever.

The path led me uphill to the newly renovated Guild Inn. It’s been five years since I have wandered around their gardens and surrounding park. In that time, the building has been renovated and expanded. I didn’t take very many pictures the other day because I knew that I had a lot from my previous visit. I was going to link to the blog post from that time but I discovered that I never actually got around to posting anything! So, I have found the old photos and have included some of them here.

below: For instance, this is the front of the inn in July 2015 with its windows covered.

below: And the back, five years ago.

below: Five years later – the back of the Guild Inn with the path leading to the gardens.

below: A statue of Saint Francis Assisi with a wolf, carved by Thomas Bowie (b.1905)

below: A stone wall with statues and carvings provides a backdrop for a garden full of black-eyed susans. Because of the efforts of a few people to salvage some of Toronto’s architectural and creative history, the gardens of the Guild Inn have become the final resting place of a number of pieces of older buildings that have been demolished to make way for modern skyscrapers.

below: Stone wall with features from the Bank of Nova Scotia building (1903)

below: The bird nest is long gone. … but it would have been a nice quiet spot to raise a family.

below: From the Royal Conservatory of Music. There are two bas-relief bronzes of men associated with the Royal Conservatory. On the right is Sir Ernest MacMillan (1893-1973), an organist, composer, and conductor who was knighted in 1935 by King George V. On the left is Dr. Healey Willan (1880-1968) another organist and composer who was associated with the Toronto Conservatory for 30 years (1920-1950).

below: Looking through one stone arch to another, the square arch from the Imperial Bank of Canada Building (1928) and underneath sits Musidora. Many artists have lent their interpretations of this woman (in sculpture and paint), the subject of a poem titled “Summer” by Scottish poet James Thomson written in 1727. The beautiful Musidora strips naked to cool down by bathing in the stream, not knowing that she is being watched by Damon. Damon is torn between watching and turning away but chooses the latter.

In 1887, a Bank of Montreal building was built at the northwest corner of King and Bay; a site now occupied by First Canadian Place. The building featured a series of sculptures representing the Canadian provinces that were created by a number of artists. When the building was demolished in 1968, these panels were brought to the Guild Inn. Not all of them are on view today possibly because some were not in good shape (held together with metal straps). Maybe they are being fixed up?

below: This is the Alberta panel in 2015; the artist was Jacobine Jones (1897-1976)

below: It has since been cleaned up.

below: One of two stone angel panels from the North American Life Assurance Company Building (1932).

below: The brick and stone entranceway from the Granite Club (1926)

below: This cabin was named for William Osterhout, a United Empire Loyalist who in 1805 was given the first Crown land grant from King George III as reward for his service with the Butler’s Rangers. Although Osterhoust briefly owned the property, he never settled in Scarborough Township. The structure was more likely built around 1850 to 1860…. that may be a contentious “fact” as some believe that it is at least 50 years older than that.

The gardens have several different types of trees all in their autumn plummage.

below: Orange berries on a mountain ash tree…

below: … and many little crabapples on a crabapple tree.

below: At the south, the property ends at the Scarborough bluffs and there are many warning signs along the paths that run near the edge.

below: Looking out over Lake Ontario

And then, when driving north on Morningside on my home, I encountered this…. The peacocks have arrived.

For more of the history of the Guild Inn, see their website.

Gwendolen Park and ravine

Posted: September 8, 2020 in locations, nature
Tags: branches, cliff, Don Valley golf course, golf, golf course, green, Gwendolen, Gwendolen Park, leaves, North York, park, path, ravine, roots, summer, trees

The other day I was near Yonge and Sheppard when I found myself with some extra time so I decided to drive around the nearby neighbourhood where I once lived. A little trip down memory lane along with something new.

below: On Florence Ave looking northeast across Yonge Street.

I discovered that the little house where my family lived when I was grades 4 and 5 is still there and is one of only a few that haven’t been replaced or enlarged (no photos!). Continuing on my tour, I passed the local school, Cameron Avenue P.S., before I thought that I would take a look at Gwendolen Park. I have vague memories of it but it was just far enough away from home that we didn’t go there often.

Southeast from Gwendolen Park there is a path through the ravine that is well worn. It passes among some of the tallest trees I have seen in the city – maples, oaks, and others. It is darker than most ravine walks. It is also quieter. I didn’t encounter any one else while I was in the woods.

below: A tiny little bird house with a brown plastic beetle.

below: At the bottom of the hill is Don Valley Golf Course. The bridge in this photo is the 401 jst west of Yonge Street. I was trying to figure out the best route to the bridge but I happened by this spot at the same time as the course marshal. He kicked me out.

Getting to the bridge was not an important goal but when someone tells me I can`t do something I feel that I have to try to find a way to do it. Google maps shows this space as green but there is no differentiation between golf course and park. I tried bushwhacking my way around the edge but I couldn`t find an easy enough way to make it worth my time. So I retraced my steps…. but not before finding a souvenir of the day.

Don Valley Golf Course from up the hill near Gwendolen Park. September has only started and already there are some colours appearing on the trees.

below: Cliff by the park

below: Part of the path passes behind the tennis courts.

below: Luckily there is a hole in the fence otherwise it`s a steep drop to the left!

below: The path continues to the northwest but a few drops of rain persuaded me to return to the park where my car was waiting. Earl Bales Park is the next green space along the path although I am not sure if there is access. Another day’s adventure.

below: This cat loves Mondays.

below: Perhaps I’ll follow the sign to the North Pole for my next walk? Oh oh – I think that it says 4800 (kms? miles?) so maybe not…..

nearing the end of autumn

Posted: November 1, 2019 in general Toronto, nature
Tags: altered sign, autumn, bike, Chinatown, construction, election signs, garden, graffiti, hoardings, Kennedys, leaves, oak, reflections, rugs, skeleton, speakers, St James park, St. James cathedral, stores, tea bags, trees, U of T, uber5000, University of Toronto

Yikes! Preparations are already underway in the Distillery District for their annual Christmas market.

At least their sign that counts down the number of days until Christmas is not hung yet. I am not ready to think about Christmas yet!

I was hoping for some sun as I walked the other day but October seems to have ended with clouds and rain. November is here and it is notorious for being grey and depressing. The clouds on these hoardings seemed appropriate. They are around a construction site on Lower Sherbourne street, at the southeast corner of Lower Sherbourne and Front.

below: This is the hole behind the hoardings.

That intersection, (LS & F), has construction sites at both the southeast and northwest corners. At a third corner, the northeast, there is a development notice sign.

Yet another developer wants to build yet another 37 storey building here. At least one person has voiced their displeasure.

And other signs of discontent nearby….

below: Looking west on King Street East at Jarvis.

below: St. James Park gets new walkways

below: In the Sculpture Garden across the street from St. James Cathedral is a collection of wood poles with small speakers attached to the top of them. This is an art installation by Lou Sheppard called Dawn Chorus/Evensong 2019. It is part of the Toronto Biennial of Art that is on now (until late in December). It “interrupts the denaturalized landscape with music created through the transposition of spectrograms of birdsong…”

below: ‘Haunted City’. One of a few Halloween decorations along Queen West.

below: While walking up Spadina this bike caught my attention because

below: … it’s decorated with many, many used tea bags. On closer inspection, there seem to be quite a few different brands. My guess is that this is one of a kind…. or at least I hope so!

below: I’m not sure just what these added words mean. Is now real? Can we be sure?

below: A few remaining campaign signs from the federal election back in October. The Liberals won every Toronto seat.

below: Discarded and left in a pile in an alley, JFK and Bobby Kennedy rugs. Not one but four? or five?

below: Uber5000 birdies riding in tandem, along with an old banana seat bike affixed to the wall.

below: A grumpy sign? Or just a sign with fangs?

below: Van Gogh can still be found on Huron Street

below: This is part of the CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) building at College & Huron Streets. There might be a certain charm in the concrete buildings of this era… when it comes time to renovate them or tear them down, will there be an effort made to save them?

below: Nearby, this “artwork” on the exterior of 215 Huron Street, is from the same time period.

below: Reflections in a window on the University of Toronto campus.

below: U of T playing fields on Hoskin Ave with the black/darker brick Trinity College behind.

A few more “campus in autumn” photos

below: There were still lots of leaves on the trees at Queens Park too.

below: Some of the oak trees had multicoloured leaves.

below: End. Yes, this is the end.

Three Sisters, Tikay and Aner

Posted: June 19, 2019 in graffiti and street art
Tags: agricultural, agriculture, aner, Aner Urra, bean, colours, corn, Dundas West, First Nations, flowers, indigenous, leaves, mural, paint, Paula Tikay, Rodrigo Ardiles, squash, symbols, three sisters, tikay, tikay & aner, vegetables, vine, women

Three Sisters – both literal and allegorical. Three women, each with a vegetable, and these three vegetables, corn, squash, and beans, are the three sisters of indigenous agriculture. These were the main crops of most North American native groups and they were usually planted together; together they thrived for thousands of years.

This is one of two murals by Paula Tikay and Aner Urra (aka tikay & aner) in the Dundas West area. They are two indigenous Mapuche artists from Chile who were invited to come to Toronto to paint the murals.

The project was organized by Rodrigo Ardiles (of the Dundas West Museum). This neighbourhood was chosen because of its ties to the many immigrants from Chile who have found a home here as early as the 1970s. Children from the nearby Alexander Muir / Gladstone Avenue Junior and Senior Public School and The Grove Community School had some input on the mural. Also involved was StartARToronto.