HRM Point of Interest #11: The Town Clock

Located on the east face of Citadel Hill, The Town Clock (sometimes known as the Old Town Clock, or Citadel Clock Tower) was built under the orders Prince Edward, Duke of Wales, then the commander-in-chief of all military forces in British North America. Purportedly, Prince Edward built the clock because he was sick of the British garrison at Fort Gary (The Citadel) being so tardy all the time. In their defence, none of the soldiers were paid well enough to afford a watch. (As an aside, one of the additional roles of the bag pipers at the Fort was to play specific tunes at different times throughout the day, so that the watchless infantry would know what time it was.)

The Clock Tower was built in the classic Palladian style of Venetian architect Andrew Palladio, which was a favourite of The Prince. It began keeping time for the garrison on October 20, 1803. It's mechanisms are wound by Citadel employees twice a week, but for some reason the clock seems to chime on the half-hour whenever I have been in the vicinity.

The Clock Tower was the inspiration for the character "Chimney" in the wonderful children's television program Theodore Tugboat.

Nova Scotia National Historic Site #8: HMCS Sackville

Corvettes were small, fast ships used by the Canadian Navy in World War II to protect convoys, because they were the only ships fast enough to be able to defend against and potentially destroy the infamous German U-boats.

The HMCS Sackville, pictured above, was commissioned on December 29, 1941, and was built at St. John, New Brunswick. It was credited with a "possible kill" and a "possible damage" against German U-boats in WWII. More importantly though, it is the last remaining Corvette ship of thatera.

The HMCS Sackville is now a National Historic Site, and is maintained as a living monument at Sackville Landing on the Halifax Waterfront, by the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust. It is free to walk on and explore the ship during the summer months when it is open for viewing.

(HMCS Sackville, in its original paint scheme, as viewed from the HMCS Athabaskan battle ship, during the International Fleet Review Week. The blue and white colours made the ship appear to blend in with the waves on the ocean, and made it more difficult for enemy submarines or planes to judge the distance to the ship due to the relatively poor tracking technology of the time.)

HRM Monument #21: General Cornwallis

General Edward Cornwallis established the town of Halifax in 1749 under instructions to found a colony of Protestants which would act as a buffer between New England to the south, and Acadia to the north. That is about all that can be said nicely about Cornwallis. General Cornwallis' British Protestants, much like Cornwallis himself, were pathetic and useless. They were such poor workers, that German Protestants had to be brought in to keep the town from falling apart (more on that in another post).

Edward's rich, royal daddy enrolled him at Eton College for Boys at the age of 13. That, and one look at his picture (above) should tell you that he was a massive prick. Later, as Governor of Nova Scotia, he ordered a bounty on the heads of Mi'kmaq warriors. This escalated the tensions between the English and the Mi'kmaq, and caused numerous atrocities to be committed on both sides (prick). Even in the 18th Century, with its different cultural norms, this action and his treatment of the Mi'kmaq in general were questioned and criticized.

Cornwallis' other life failures include his defeat at the Battle of Fontenoy and his failed amphibious attack on the French coastline during the Raid on Rochefort.

(Note: The black and white picture of Cornwallis is in the public domain.)

Random Halifax Picture #6

Hundreds of square dancers "swing their partners" at the Dance By The Shore at Sackville Landing, down on the Waterfront. The dance was an unofficial community event being held during the Natal Day Festival, on July 30 and 31, 2010. The song being played during this picture was an upbeat rendition, with live singing by the caller, of "There Was Always Love In Daddy's Hands". This song was originally sung by a woman, but as the male caller accurately remembered during his version, "there wasn't always love in Daddy's hands, let me tell you."

Halfiax CFB FireFit Atlantic Championship: July 31-August 1, 2010

The Scott FireFit Challenge is an internationally recognized fire fighter fitness competition that has been running simulated fire rescue obstacle course races since 1994. This last weekend saw fire fighters from all over Atlantic Canada come to the Halifax Waterfront for the 2010 Atlantic Regional Championship.

On the command, the two challengers race against the clock on identical courses. A great deal of lifting, smashing, and dragging things is then done, with the culmination of the torture being the gruelling Rescue Randy drag to the finish line. The women and the men compete on exactly the same course, in full gear. Rescue Randy weighs 175 lbs, or about 40 more than most of the female competitors.

(One of the rookie female competitors slumps over in exhaustion while trying to find the strength to drag the 175 lb "dead weight" of Rescue Randy across the finish line. Much to the delight of the crowd, she would finally make it to the end, after over 9 minutes of struggling.)

(A close, exciting heat. The gloves being used rob the competitors of roughly 50% of their hand strength when they try to haul the roll of hose up to the top of the tower, or when they try to drag Rescue Randy at the end.)

Natal Day Festival: July 29 - August 2, 2010, Part 3 - August 2

The fifth and final day of the Natal Day Festival technically began with the 104th running of the Dartmouth Natal Day Road Races - one of the oldest, continually running foot races in Canada. The races started at 8:00 AM though, and after two hard days of festival going I just couldn't wake up at 5:30 AM a third day in a row (I would have had to cycle over the bridge all the way to Dartmouth, making my departure time even earlier than usual).

I did however make it down to Gottingen Street (apparently the most dangerous neighbourhood in Halifax according to people who don't live there) for the start of the annual Natal Day Parade.

(Town criers announce the start of the parade.)

(The Navy Marching Band leads the procession.)

(Mounties leading the Pipes and Drums "H Division" of the RCMP...)

(Leading yet more Mounties.)

(Pipe and drum bands are very popular in Halifax, as you can probably tell by now if you've read the blog regularly.)

(The Annual Halifax Comic Convention is coming in October, hence this guy's get up.)

(Upper Clements Parks, eh? Sounds like it needs to be added to add to my list of places to visit. Too bad the website URL doesn't work at the time of writing this.)

(This float was in the Pride Parade too, with the same prisoners... I wonder if they were allowed out between parades?)

(Tinkerbell sings on the Best Commercial Entry winning float for some fairytale birthday party company.)

(And here's my pick for Most Colourful Float. I haven't seen Champ in ages; this brings back memories of early morning television watching as a kid... "I can put my arm back on. You can't. So Play Safe." Great message and effective ad, since I've obviously never forgotten it.)

(Again, I never know what these things are supposed to be, but they're always fun to see.)

(Ditto for this thing.)

(The relatively rare Vietnamese parade dragon - often overshadowed by its more visible Chinese relative.)

(Air Cadets marching in time...)

(And the answer to the age old question, "How many boy scouts does it take to help a little old 'lady' across the street?")

(Of course no parade would be complete without Shriners on tiny motorcycles.)

(But apparently even driving a miniature bike or car was too hard for this Shriner.)

After the Parade had ended, it was time to head over the bridge to Sullivan's Pond and Park for the Mayor's Dartmouth Natal Day Tea Party, where I ate even more cookies and even more free cake.

(The excellent Shirley Jackson & The Good Rockin' Daddies entertain the large crowd enjoying the excellent weather and the excellent Natal Day Festival.)

(These guys travelled over to Dartmouth too, to pipe in the mayor again; tax payer dollars well spent, twice.)

Sullivan's Park was also the site of the Pirates of Sullivan's Pond Family Fun Day, featuring bouncy castles galore!

After stuffing myself full of cake and cookies at Sullivan's Pond, I headed back to the Macdonald Bridge for the 28th Annual Bridge Walk over the Macdonald Bridge. Every year during the Natal Day Festival, the Macdonald Bridge (a toll bridge over the Halifax Harbour that sees 40 000 vehicle crossings a day) is closed and a giant celebration is held with even more cake and refreshments, even more bouncy castles and music, and the greatest sight I've ever seen on a bridge - no cars!

(I estimate at least 5 000 people walked over this bridge today. I'll update the real number when I find it.)

(Mr. MACPASS hands out high fives.)

(These ladies were so happy the bridge was closed they started dancing in the street! Either that, or it was because there was a live band playing behind me. Regardless, pay attention Canada, this is what happens when you get cars and drivers off the road.)

Natal Day Festival: July 29 - August 2, 2010, Part 2 - August 1

Day 4 of the 2010 Natal Day Festival started at 9:00 AM, with the Maritime Heart Centre's 17th Annual MACPASS Miles run, over the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge. The race started on the Halifax side of the bridge and continued for one mile up one side of the arched Halifax Harbour suspension bridge, and down the other to the finish line by the toll booths in Dartmouth.

Not only was the race free to enter, but New Balance was on hand giving out free sneakers for anyone to try during the race. Since my old running trainers were over a year old, had crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and travelled across Canada three times, not to mention having spent considerable time walking, hiking and running on three separate continents, they were a little worse for wear (my toes had blown a hole through the sides of both shoes). Therefore I jumped at the chance to wear a new pair for free, even though my personal view is that expensive cushioning-heavy running shoes are the major cause of running related injuries, not their solution.

(My perfectly fitting racing false feet.)

Not having ran any race even close to only a mile since high school, or even having trained for running in over a year, I had no idea what to expect from the race. I just tried to pick a decently fast pace that I thought I could maintain, and see if I could finish the race looking strong and not so close to the back that I embarrassed myself.

In the end I felt that I finished a pretty good race. I estimated that I finished somewhere in the top 25 to 30 racers, and that my time was around 5:35. I even ran the second half-mile a little faster than the first, so that was a good sign too. As my new friend from the YMCA (a retired guy who has to be at least 80 years old) tells me though, "don't you worry about going fast, just meet some people and have fun." It's a great motto for running, and my new motto for life.

(Waiting around at the "start line" on North Street.)

(Heading on to the bridge. I apologize for the off angle picture here, but I didn't have time to stop and focus my shot during the race.)

(The winner of the Open Women's category "breaking the tape" in about 5:20.)

Speaking of the YMCA; after the race I went back there again to get in even more exercise. After lifting some weights and relaxing in the whirl pool and steam room, I went out for coffee with my aforementioned friend. We talked for so long though, that I missed the gospel choirs concert at the Waterfront. It was little worry though, as I was then more easily able to make it to the Mayor's Halifax Natal Day Tea Party in the Public Gardens, where I filled up on the free cake, cookies, and iced tea.

(A pipes and drums band plays for the crowd before the mayor took to the podium to address everyone. His speech was mercifully short and sweet, so that we could get to the cake sooner.)

(The very popular, very busy refreshments tent. The mayor was out carrying around a tray of cookies when I took this picture, so he is not in the shot.)

(Haligonians enjoying the sun and the fun in the Public Gardens. A live band was providing entertainment at the bandstand this afternoon too.)