EDO Monday : A lovely day at York Redoubt

This EDO Monday I was determined to make the most of my day and enjoy doing a little sightseeing. I debated about wandering around Point Pleasant Park or checking out York Redoubt. York Redoubt won.

(Click on any of the images in this post to make them bigger.)
It was a gorgeous day for a walk - 14 C weather and not too sunny (so I didn't get sunburnt). Also, being a Monday, there was hardly anyone on the grounds. I was able to wander around pretty much on my own, without bumping into people. [Does that make me sound too reclusive?]

There were a few things that struck me about this National Historic Site. First of all, it's free! They do have visiting hours, but you can basically walk in and around at your leisure. The other thing that struck me was that the military structures - like the powder magazine and the south caponier - were all open to walk in.

One of the highlights [literally] was the highest point on the site - the Fire Command Post, which was still active as late as the 1950s. There were several ways to get up to the command post - a gravelled road, and a wooden staircase, but I took the path less travelled and stumbled upon [not literally] these stairs carved right into the rock.

From the top you look out over the harbour opening into the Atlantic (left), and see Halifax in the distance behind you (right).

When I came down from my high, I bumped into the first person I had seen since arriving - the grounds-keeper (whose name I didn't get). We had a nice chat and he told me a bit more about the grounds in the summertime (apparently it's quite beautiful when the wild roses bloom in mid-July. And it will be a great vantage point when the Tall Ships sail into the harbour this summer. He also told me about the path that leads down to the York Shore Battery. I could see the Battery from the cannons but didn't know if or how I could get down there.

The grounds-keeper said that all you had to do was go outside the gate, and follow the path along the exterior of the wall and it would take you to a gravel road which leads to the shore.

I followed the path for awhile until I came across a trail behind one of the abandoned military buildings. I wondered if it might be a "shortcut" that would take me closer to the Shore Battery. Um, not so much. The trail was steep, and I wasn't wearing my proper hiking shoes, and there were fallen branches and loose leaves and loose dirt, and I nearly went down the trail head-first several times. The trail ended up taking me right on top of the searchlights (which you'll see in pictures below from a different vantage point).

So my "shortcut" was actually a very labour-intensive climbing excursion that left me huffing and puffing when I got to the top. Fortunately, I bumped into my second person - a dog-walker who was surrounded by 5 dogs of various breeds and sizes. She was very friendly and helpful and pointed me in the right direction. Actually, as it turns out, had I followed the gravelled path a little further, I would've seen the fork in the road (right) - the high road goes to a Federal building up the road from York Redoubt, and the lower road goes straight to the York Shore Battery.

So here's another thing I was struck by on my walk: the number of military buildings. The grounds-keeper did mention that this was the main military post, which probably explains why there were buildings almost around every corner. And I was even more impressed when I saw the York Shore Battery. It must've been quite a site when it was operational. Here's what it looks like:


| The York Shore Battery .............| Searchlights

| Looking through a window.......| Looking back up the road
This was such a lovely walk, with a little discovery - a new building or a budding tree - to be found around every corner. I even tried a self-portrait, though I was a little off in my aim (and the dog-walker passed by just as I was about to take a 2nd shot).

There was one last stop before I left York Redoubt - Stella Maris Catholic Church. I hadn't noticed this church until the ground-keeper pointed it out. It was built for the soldiers, but is outside the gates of York Redoubt and is actually owned and maintained by the Herring Cove Catholic Parish.

As it so happened, I bumped into the church's grounds-keeper when I was admiring the building. He was there to inspect a broken window and to wait for the police to arrive to report the vandalism. He told me a bit more about the building - the church has been decommissioned and the Parish is actually hoping to sell the property because it's just too costly to maintain. He couldn't tell me when it was built, but the registered property plaque says 1846. The statue of Mary is not the original, the original was wooden but dried out and split, and despite being told that the church had beautiful stained glass by 2 different people, it actually has none. It was never meant to be decorative, just functional for the soldiers. There is still a bell in the bell-tower but it's never rung. The last time the church was used was in September for a wedding. The groundskeeper said that the church was built by a ship-builder(?), and, apparently the towers bow (or slant) a little due to prevailing ocean winds.

So, that's it. It was a fun day, and this was a long post to write...but well worth it. If you're ever in the Purcell's Cove area, you should definitely make your way to York Redoubt. I'd imagine it would be especially pretty in the Fall!