A Wonder or Two

You have heard of the Seven Wonders of the World, even if you, as I, don't know what they are. Well, Lanark County has anointed its own seven wonders. The five that we are most familiar with are the Mill of Kintail, Purdon Conservation Area (with its Showy Lady’s Slippers Orchids), Stewart Park in Perth, the Five Span Bridge in Pakenham, and the St. Peter Celestine Church, also in Pakenham. I have likely posted photos either here or on Flickr of all of these in the past.

We have never been inside St Peter's and that was the intent of our outing on Saturday, but we didn't plan the tour very well, and, as it happened, we still haven't been inside. But we have seen it from the outside, so I am including it on our seen list.

However, the problem of timing with the church tour did give me the opportunity of taking photos of the Stone Bridge,

I had never taken photos of it from the west side of the Mississippi River, so we went there first. My intent was mostly to scout the area to come back later in better light and with a tripod, but here are the photos that I took on Saturday.

Now, before we wander over to the other side of the river, here is a little about the bridge from Wikipedia.

The Pakenham Bridge is a stone bridge with five arches that crosses the Mississippi River at the town of Pakenham within Mississippi Mills, Ontario, Canada. The bridge measures 268 feet (82 m) long, 22 feet (6.7 m) high, and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide. It is the only one of this type in North America.

The bridge was built in 1903 by O'Toole & Keating, Scottish masons from Ottawa, for a cost of $14,500. The stones, the largest of which weighs 5 tons, came from a local quarry. As a result of local pressure to preserve it, the bridge was never replaced with a newer one and restored in 1984. At that time, the bridge was also strengthened with reinforced concrete to accommodate car and truck traffic.

With a parking lot and rapids right at the bridge, it is a popular picnic spot. Here the Mississippi River drops a few meters over a wide cascade with exposed bedrock. But below the rapids there is a strong undertow that has claimed several lives

And from the other side.

Finally, a shot with the steeple of the St. Peter Celestine Church in the background. Two wonders for the price of one.

As for the two, so-far-unmentioned wonders, they are the Silver Queen Mica Mine in Murphys Point Provincial Park, and Blueberry Mountain in the northwestern part of the county. I doubt if my iffy foot and knees could handle the trek up the mountain, but I really would like to try someday. And while we have been to Murphys Point, it wasn't at a time when the mine was open. Meanwhile, I will consider our own townhall and Riverside Park (which I post of often) to be equally as deserving as the official seven wonders if not more so, and of course, the Tatlock Quarry, which I posted about here.