A Bard and a Lord

Good afternoon. I hope you all had a great weekend. As you may notice this blog entry is being written earlier than most but that is due to the fact that I didn't go for a walk today. I walked for hours around Stanley Park yesterday and overdid it. So, to be safe, I am staying in today.

When a person enters Stanley Park he or she has a few options. One route to take is the seawall or you can cross this bridge and instead go into the park.

Once there you will be greeted on the left hand side by a statue of Lord Stanley of Preston. Although this park was named after Lord Stanley and opened on September 27, 1888, the Governor General of Canada didn't visit until a year later. (An interesting note, he was the first Governor General of Canada to visit British Columbia.)

When Lord Stanley officially dedicated the park he raised his arms to the heavens and said 'to the use and enjoyment of peoples of all colours, creeds, and customs, for all time. I name thee, Stanley Park. This was important because at that time there were still those belonging to the First Nations living on the land. (And for those of you who might be wondering yes this is the man responsible for hockey's Stanley Cup.)

On the right hand side poet Robert Burns looks moodily down at thle inlet.

J. Ramsey MacDonald,a Prime Minister of Britain, unveiled this statue of Scotland's national Bard on August 25, 1928. It was rededicated by the Burns Club of Vancouver on July 21, 1996 - the 200th anniversary of Burns' death.

The front of the statue has a plaque with information on the figure being memoralized. The other three sides I will show you.

This side is dedicated to Tam O'Shanter.

This is has The Cotter's Saturday Night represented.

And finally a pictorial tribute to To A Mountain Daisy.

This fine looking, somewhat intimidating, sculpture is outside the Vancouver Aquarium which is located in the park.

Skaana - the Killer Whale known by the Haida to be chief of the world beneath the sea who from his great house raised the storms of winter and brought calm to the seas of summer. He governed the mystical cycle of the salmon and was keeper of all the ocean's treasures.

This bronze sculpture was created by Bill Reid and purchased for the Vancouver Aquarium by Mr and Mrs James S. Graham and unveiled on June 2, 1984 by Isabelle Graham. The Governor General of British Columbia at the time, the Honorable Robert G. Rogers was in attendance.

Sunday afternoon was beautiful and sunny. The temperature was a bit chilly walking on the seawall but still fantastic for November. People were everywhere - joggers, bicylcists, roller bladers, families out for a stroll and those on the water enjoying the relatively calm water.

Seeing people out boating like this, watching them sail by I can forget how dangerous boats can be.

On July 21, 1906 at approximately 2 pm a Union Steamship Chehalis  crossed the bow of the CPRs Princess Victoria. The Princess Victoria rammed the Chehalis and the small wooden steamer was crushed and chopped up by the ship's propellers.

Opposite the spot where it happened rests this memorial. Of the fifteen people aboard the Chehalis only eight survived. These fortunate souls were rescued by William Jones, the Brockton Point Lighthouse keeper.

The original tower here at Brockton Point was built in 1890.This current structure was erected in 1914 and when I walked by there was work being done on it. With the continual erosion from the water and the beating these structures take from the elements, keeping the lighthouses, the seawall and most everything else in Stanley Park operational must be a full time job.

So that is a little more on our world famous Stanley Park. I'm not finished yet - I have so much more ground to cover and so many more pictures to take. My poor legs can't do it all at once you know.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Brockton Point, The Chehalis,Princess Victoria,Bill Reid,Vancouver Aquarium,history,