Map 30. This map takes us from downtown Galt to the trailhead (A) of the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail (CPRT) and then to the northernmost section of this trail, on which we’ll follow the river for the next 19 km. The CPRT on this and the next four maps is marked with red dots. Parking places are marked P.
402. Galt has a fine array of stone buildings. Why are there so many and what makes them special?
Nina Perkins Chapple notes: “In contrast to its neighbouring German communities, Galt was a Scottish settlement. Its well-trained masons found a different but familiar stone to work with – granite” (63). The Scottish masons had at first built with locally-quarried light brown dolomite, e.g., Dickson Mill (see #374 above), the Woollen Factory (#382), and Trinity Anglican church (#401). Granite, which reminded them of their Scottish roots, didn’t come from local deposits, but from fieldstones left by glaciation. The masons used this granite, split from boulders, to great effect, often contrasting it with dolomite in the facades of later buildings. Examples we have seen include the Old Town Hall (see #345 above) and the McDougall Cottage (#390).
(Top) The former Post Office at 12 Water Street South (PO on Map 30), built in 1885 and now a branch of the Public Library, is perhaps Galt’s finest example of the two-toned use of dark granite and lighter dolomite. It was designed by Thomas Fuller (1823-98), Chief Dominion Architect of Canada, who also designed the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.
(Bottom) There are humbler domestic examples, such as this cottage (C on Map 30) at 110 Grand Avenue South.
403. This is the northern trailhead of the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail (CPRT). There’s a free P here on the west side of Water Street South (Regional Road 24) about 1 km south of the Concession Street Bridge. To get to it from Galt by foot or bike, take the pathway on the left side of busy RR 24 going south, then cross the road.
The CPRT follows the Grand fairly closely. You can bike its 19 km comfortably in an hour or so, or hike it in about 4½ hours (with appropriate breaks, of course). This is the route I’ll be following on this leg of the trip. It’s a trail very popular with cyclists during the clement seasons of the year, so if you’re on foot, keep to the right and watch your back.
The CPRT offers a link to a variety of farther destinations, some quite distant. For instance: at Paris the CPRT continues as the S.C. Johnson Trail / Gordon Glaves Memorial Pathway on the east side of the Grand, which connects in Brantford with the Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail. So you can bike or hike the approx. 76 km from here to west Hamilton via the beautiful Dundas Valley.
On the west side of the Grand – you cross the river at Oak Hill Bridge in Brantford – there’s a connection with the Oak Hill Trail and then the TH&B Rail Trail / LE&N Rail Trail, which soon combine into the Waterford Heritage Trail / Norfolk Sunrise Trail / Lynn Valley Trail that take you to Port Dover on the shore of Lake Erie. It’s about 97 km from here to Port Dover.
However, the Brantford connections aren’t always very clearly signposted. So if you plan to do a long distance hike or bike trip, plan your route through Brantford carefully in advance.
404. This sign at the P shows access points for watercraft along the Grand. It gives us a clear picture of our own progress down the Grand. (Better than half completed, as the upper reaches aren’t shown, as they aren’t navigable.)
405. The corporate HQ of CGT (Canada General-Tower) on Middleton Street just across the river from the CPRT trailhead. This company has its origin in the Victoria Wheel Works, established in 1869, when it made wagon wheels and axe handles. Now it’s the largest maker of automotive interior surface material in the world. It manufactures coated fabrics for such things as car seating, vinyl trim, and swimming pool liners, in factories in Texas, France, and China. The long history of manufacturing in Galt continues.
Map 31. This map takes us along the CPRT past the Footbridge Road bridge (FB) to the boundary between the Region of Waterloo and Brant County, about 5.8 km from the northern trailhead. For the Footbridge Road Bridge, P at the roadside on the west side of the river just over the bridge. There’s a gas station / convenience store at the junction of RR 24 and East River Road (at RR 45 on the map), but that’s the last one near the trail until you get to Paris.
406. The 123 m concrete bridge (1970) on Footbridge Road 3 km from the trailhead is not a heritage crossing, but does offer good views of the river. Connecting the Brantford Highway on the east bank with West River Road (North Dumfries Township Road 15) on the west, it’s the most southerly bridge in Waterloo Region. “Footbridge” refers to an 1848 wooden structure that crossed at this point. Like most early bridges across the Grand, it was washed away by the river in flood.
(Top) The view to the north from the bridge in the fall: a gravelly central island with swallows flitting about.
(Bottom) The view to the south in spring toward the Carolinian forest that lines the riverbank.
407. The CPRT was opened in 1994. It follows the route of the former Lake Erie and Northern Railway (LE&N), an electric “interurban” line that ran between Galt and Port Dover. The line was started in 1913 roughly in parallel to, but far better constructed than, an existing Grand Valley Railway line. The latter had suffered from difficulties relating to steep grades and tight bends, was flooded out and then shut down between Paris and Galt in 1916.
The LE&N line began operating that same year under the auspices of the CPR. It soon became very popular, carrying excursionists along the scenic Grand River valley to Brantford, then on to the beach at Port Dover on Lake Erie. But by the end of WWII increased car ownership and cheap gas led to greatly decreased ridership. It carried its last passenger in 1955, though it continued to carry freight. Given that a) electric trains are considerably better for the environment than ones powered by fossil fuels, and b) the lack of transit options in this area, it now seems more than one backward step that the line was de-electrified in favour of diesel in 1961, then abandoned in the early 1990s. At least it has left a valuable legacy in the CPRT.
408. We have now left Waterloo Region and are in Brant County.
Map 32. The CPRT through Glen Morris, the only settlement between Cambridge and Paris. GWM marks the ruins of the German Woollen Mill. WDF marks the W.D. Foulds Bridge. In Glen Morris P only at the official parking lot at the end of Forbes Street.
409. The ruin of the German Woollen Mill looms through the trees between the trail and the river. It sits on private property and there’s a fence around it bearing No Trespassing signs. This is probably just as well, as the structure seems in precarious condition. Two violent deaths are associated with the former mill, now believed to be haunted, or cursed, or both.
“German” was a family name, not a nationality. The mill, with stone walls 2½ foot thick, was built in 1867 by brothers Alva and Sydney German. In 1886 a little girl fell into the raceway by the mill, was swept under, and drowned. After the mill’s days were over, the new owner at considerable cost turned it into a lodge. But it was never a very profitable investment. In 1941 one Dan Hoover was shot to death in one of the guest rooms, and his murderer was never found.
In 1944 the lodge’s owner was notified that CPR were planning to build a rail line across the only roadway that led to it. He spent a lot of money on lawyers to retain access, but ultimately lost in court. The township of South Dumfries bought the lodge from him for a nominal sum and planned to tear it down. But in the end they simply abandoned it and it fell to ruin.
410. The sign that we’re approaching Glen Morris is the W.D. Foulds Bridge (1970-72) that straddles the trail and the river. It carries CR 28, a road that takes you to Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area, among other places on the west bank. For the spectacular river view from this bridge, see #415 below.
411. Near km 68 of the CPRT is the P and river access to the Grand at the end of Forbes Street in Glen Morris.
Though Glen Morris is a small village without even a convenience store, it is, according to some villagers, “overwhelmed by overtourism” from “out-of-towners” (Ball)! Essentially, this is the only official P along the CPRT between Cambridge and Paris, and during good weather it’s not big enough to handle the traffic. “What began as a rail trail and parking lot on a narrow residential street has become a county park, a river access, a trail used in all seasons for many different activities with no limit on public use.”
I have some sympathy for local residents, but the problem is only going to get worse if nothing changes. I suggest no parking signs on nearby streets and a fee to park in the official lot. But access to the trail and the river in these parts is just too restricted at the moment. There should be at least one other P on East River Road between here and Paris. And how about a two-way shuttle between Cambridge and Paris from May to October, so that hikers and cyclists could enjoy the CPRT without taking their car along and having to worry about getting back? Heavens, there used to be an electric railway along this route, before the automobile killed it. It’s time to plan for the end of the Gasoline Age, before it kills us too.
412. Glen Morris had its origin in a mill and bridge over the Grand built by John Dawson in ca. 1831. “Dawson’s Bridge” was renamed “Middletown” in the 1840s, and then in 1851 it was renamed again “Glen Morris” after Scottish-born James Morris (1798-1865), the Province of Canada’s first Postmaster General.
(Top) Glen Morris United Church at 453 East River Road. Built of local fieldstone, It opened as a Presbyterian church in 1849. Typically, no musical instruments were allowed in Presbyterian services in those days, so the key for each hymn was set by a tuning fork struck by a “precenter.” It wasn’t until near the end of the 1800s that an organ was allowed in the church for the first time.
(Bottom) The handsome stone manse – the residence of the church’s minister – next door at 451 East River Road. It was built 1856-7 and the pillared front porch was added in 1924.
413. The entrance to Glen Morris Cemetery, which dates back to the 1840s, lies between the church and the manse. This gravestone carries a heartbreaking inscription.
414. A Grand River-inspired artwork in the same cemetery.
415. Before I left Glen Morris, I took a side trip to check out the view* from the W.D. Foulds Bridge.
(Top) I noticed a speck in the river downstream of that little green island.
(Bottom) The zoom lens revealed it to be a man … he’s not fishing or swimming, he’s just standing in the river.
*There’s no walkway or shoulder on the north side of the bridge, so as traffic can be quite heavy, it’s not safe to check out the upstream view.
416. Back on the trail. That sign refers to the location of this river access point here at Glen Morris, 135 km from the mouth of the Grand at Port Maitland. As the river is almost 300 km long, this means we’ve done about 55% of the journey to our destination.
Map 33. The CPRT here goes through the densest part of the riparian strip of Carolinian Forest.
417. Here at the 67 km mark of the CPRT we’ve now crossed the extreme northern boundary of the Carolinian Forest Zone, which extends from here to North Carolina in the southern USA. Carolinian forest* may include such broadleaved trees as ash, birch, chestnut, hickory, oak, pawpaw, sassafras, tulip tree, and walnut. Such forests at this Canadian latitude exist thanks to well-above-average annual temperatures, including long frost-free seasons and relatively mild winters. Here in southern Ontario the nearby Great Lakes – and the Grand River itself – help to moderate the climate of the surrounding land. Sadly, much of the Carolinian forest in southern Ontario has been lost to urbanization, as this is the most densely populated part of Canada.
*A chiefly Canadian term. The US equivalent is “Eastern deciduous forest.”
418. (Top) Here near the 65 km mark is one of the few places that the trail gets close enough to the Grand to afford a good downstream view of the river (though in summer leaves get in the way). This section of the river is known as the Recovery Reach. That’s because the river here recovers the oxygen content that it has lost by passing through water treatment plants as its threads its way through the urbanized Tricities. Now as it flows through this largely rural area and drops 68 m between Cambridge and Brantford, its oxygen is replenished by rapids (middle), small creeks, and seepages of cool 9C groundwater (bottom).
Map 34. This takes us past the Murray Overlook (MO) and down into the outskirts of Paris as far as the CN rail bridge (CN on the map). P in the lot at the CPRT southern trailhead (B) on East River Road southwest of its junction with Green Lane. Near the end of today’s hike we’ll leave the CPRT and follow Willow Street a short way along the east bank of the Grand.
419. (Top) The steps lead from the trail up to the Murray Overlook, at the point where the Grand Trunk Railway used to cross the Grand.
(Bottom) The view downstream toward Paris.
420. (Top) The “Three Sisters” are the ruins of three stone piers, that with two abutments, are all that’s left of the Grand Trunk Railway crossing here. Built in 1858 the bridge was on the Toronto to Windsor mainline that also connected Paris and Harrisburg. It vaulted over the LE&N line now occupied by the rail trail. The Grand Trunk Railway went bankrupt in 1923 and was absorbed into the CNR, who abandoned the line in 1933.
(Bottom) A close-up of one of the piers, an irresistible magnet for geocachers in canoes.
421. This is what the electric railway looked like when it was in operation. The single car is just south of what is now the Murray Overlook. Two of the Three Sisters are visible in the Grand, and there’s a Grand Trunk bridge (now removed) leading to nowhere over the LE&N line.
422. On a fine spring day, the CPRT near its southern trailhead is positively crowded with cyclists, hikers, and dog walkers.
423. The CPRT crosses Willow Street a little farther north and so deviates from the river. It bypasses the centre of Paris and changes its name to the S.C. Johnson Paris to Brantford Trail. We’ll pick it up again later, but now we’re going to enter Paris alongside the Grand, that is, down Willow Street. That’s the still operational CN Rail Bridge farther down the street.
424. In the next episode we’ll explore Paris, often considered the most attractive small town in southern Ontario.
Holmström Ruddick 