March 5
Unusual destination – Pembroke! Because Cynthia’s parents live there. Drove all the way from Toronto, via what I would call the “northern” route (because it does not go all the way through the 401, then the 416 to Ottawa, then the trans-Canadian to destination!) Rained until it started snowing about ¾ of the way. 400km in 4 hours and a half.
A bit of a discovery. The B&B, Grey Gables Manor, (which Cynthia booked well in advance, i.e. this morning before we left – such a planner!!!) is actually a century old (this is their centennial year – the place was built in 1911) house in the style of Tudor (or “stock-broker Tudor” as they referred to it at the time!) built by a wealthy (must have been!) lumber baron, E.A. Dunlop (he was also the President of the Centenary Committee back in 1928). It is a beautiful manor, with a grand hallway, leaded-glass windows and an “impressive carved staircase”, as the B&B website (http://www.greygablesmanor.com/index.html) puts it. I am intrigued by the pressed tin ceilings that are found throughout the place – did the tin act as an insulator, soundproofing, as fire- retardant material, or simply as a decorative element? In any case, the B&B has been well renovated, with modern amenities in bathroom (and wireless access to the net – a sine qua non feature, for me anyway!) We stayed in the Library room, on the same floor as the hallway – great setting with a “live” fireplace and lots of space.
Actually Pembroke has quite a history, going back all the way to Champlain who would have visited in 1613 the site that was to become Pembroke, along the Ottawa River, about 100 miles upstream from the capital. Settlers came much later on in the early 19th century – there is a book in our B&B library room celebrating the place’s centennial, dated 1928! The first white settler, a fellow by the name of Daniel Fraser, would have come in 1823, followed by Peter White, a veteran of the Royal Navy, in 1828. Lumbering was the attraction, and apparently fortunes were made, cutting wood and floating it to saw mills down the Ottawa River. Pembroke is situated at the confluent of a lesser river, the Muskrat, with the Ottawa River. Those are by-gone years though as I don’t think there is any wood left to cut, and if there were, it would certainly not be allowed to float down the river! Other industries and farming eventually took over – I seem to recall coming here some 35 years ago to visit a Northern Electric (eventually known as Nortel, now defunct –sad story, but another story!) facility, as a young diplomat learning what Canada has to offer to the world! No doubt gone by now, probably even before the demise of Nortel…
Pembroke, named after one of the Earls of Pembroke in the mid 19th century, has today a population of some 15,000 to 20,000 people, all surroundings considered. It’s the most important city between Ottawa and North Bay, further north. It is near the Petawawa military base, and the AECL Chalk River reactor is also nearby – the world’s largest source of medical isotopes used to diagnose and treat many life threatening diseases…it became an issue when the reactor shut down a year or so ago... It’s also considered as the gateway to internationally famous Algonquin Park (http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/), and to world-class whitewater rafting, a little bit on the southwest. More on Pembroke: (http://www.pembrokeontario.com/residents/-cultural-heritage/)
Pembroke, March 6, 2011
The snow has stopped this morning, leaving a good 6 or 7 inches of fresh fluffy stuff...
