Small towns of Ontario - Peterborough

Another weekend spent exploring one of the wonderful small towns, actually a city of Ontario.  Peterborough is located in the Kawartha Lakes District on the Otonabee River which is part of the Trent Severn Waterway.  We stayed at the Best Western Plus Otonabee River.  Situated in a quiet area of Peterborough on a lovely little river leading into the Otonabee. Our room was spacious and bright and the view quite tranquil.  The continental breakfast was sumptuous with fresh fruits, cereals, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and more.  I was quite impressed as I was only expecting coffee and muffins. What a  nice surprise.

The downtown core of Peterborough is where everything happens. There's a great marina with a large parkt next door.  Quite often there are activities in the park with live entertainment.. This particular weekend there was an Elvis impersonator performing at the bandshell and the park was full of avid Elvis fans.  Just down the road the Rib Fest was on.  The bustling crowd seemed to be quite happy with the many choices of ribs being served and there was a band playing. During the summer months Rib fests are quite popular throughout Southern Ontario. If you like ribs, you must check out a Ribfest  in your local area.

 

Little lake is situated in the centre of town and is home to many waterfowl and fish. The view of the town and surrounding area are quite beautiful from the lake side.

 There's a paved pathway alongside the lake with picturesque gardens, memorials and statues. This memorial garden was dedicated in loving memory of the children who have passed far too soon.

This sculpture is dedicated by the Peterborough and District Labour Council to the men and women workers past, present and future. 

 There's an old railway bridge spanning the lake and functions as short cut from one side of town to the other.

Peterborough's lift locks are an engineering marvel.  If you've never seen a lift lock in action I suggest you visit this one. The lift lock opened in 1904 and this project included many engineering firsts. It was the first lock to be built out of concrete, and at the time was the largest structure ever built in the world with unreinforced concrete.The lock has two identical ship caissons (like bathtubs) in which vessels ascend and descend. Both caissons are enclosed at each end by pivoting gates, and there are pivoting gates at the upper and lower reaches of the canal at the junctions with the caissons. The gates on the caissons fit into slots on the gates on the reaches, so that they open in unison. No external power is needed: the lift lock functions by gravity alone using the counterweight principle.