2006 Census data is out, and since with the other info outlets are all a-buzz with their vital statistics, I figured, hey, why not us too?

Top of the list, 'tis only fair warnin' boys, this here Community of South Bruce Peninsula, and Ontario too says StatsCan, is a Land of the Women! They's the majority 'round here, so Watch yer manners, boys, and bring flowers, 'cause competition is fierce and it's a buyer's market!

Canada is, as any school kid knows, way way older than the 140 years since the paperwork was filed, although one could also argue that this nation is really only just a svelt shade under 40 since it took that long to get that paperwork SIGNED, but then, that sort of goverment efficiency is one of the things that makes this land great, and another is that we'd use any excuse we could to throw a lakeside BBQ party!

Inspired by international efforts to refine the list of World Wonders, the CBC is on the hunt for the Seven Wonders of Canada, and the list of nominees has been whittled down to include man-mades like the CN-Tower, the Museum of Civilization, the Vimy Memorial and Montreal Bagels, and natural spectaculars like Mt Thor, Haida Gwaii and Manitoulin.

And there, midst the latter group, a familiar old friend, and easily the only Wonder of the World known to go great with ice cream ...

Was there ever a working industrial port of any kind on the Sauble River? Ever since I can remember (the '60s, when I was a kid) the Sauble seems to have been mainly used for recreation: rent a boat or canoe, go fishing, that sort of thing. My dad, Jack Robertson, and his family grew up in Southampton and summered at Sauble since the '20s, and I don't remember him ever mentioning commercial or industrial use either. But I'm curious. Was there ever a significant non-recreational use of the river? A mill or factory, say? A passenger service to nearby lakeside towns? A commercial fishery? Anything like that at all?

Setting out from the Springmount Motel bound for the Sauble Falls and then down the Bruce County shoreline through MacGregor Point and on down to a Easter weekend sunset at The Pinery, here's a little gem of a photoblog essay by MySpace blogger Steph as she takes us along on her Adventures along the Bruce Peninsula ... Part 2

And before you ask, 'cause I know you're wondering, the answer is yes, there is a Part 1, too.

A little tidbit of more history of the Bruce.While doing a little digging into the past, I came across an interesting tidbit about our area.Yes there are abandoned towns, ghost towns we call them all over, but it seems our specific locale may have the distinction having 3 ghost towns all with the same name, Balaclava.One in Grey, one in Renfrew, and one near Mildmay.You can read about that here .While researching the Bruce county Balaclava, I found resources slim, but did discover Lauries homepage, with in depth knowledge of the history, and life of the area of the township of Carrick, you may want to read about it here.Feel free to add any details ;)

As promised, and I never said it would be soon, the Journey begins again of our tour of S.B.P. . This time we head past the old bookstore in Clavering(Can someone tell me where the train station was years ago in Clavering? Was this it??) along the straight and narrow Highway 6, past the cut off to Zion, and you will enter one of the prettiest towns you can imagine, Wiarton.

The name Wiarton is said to have been taken from the birthplace of the Governor General at the time, Sir Edmund Walker Head. The area’s lots were not put up for sale until 1868, putting it behind the earlier settlements on Colpoys and Oxenden, with the earliest settler being James Lennox,living in his little log shanty.
Wiarton evolved from a rural market point, to a community of mills, and businesses in a very short while. There was even three times a week stage coach runs to Owen Sound, in 1876, now THAT was progress!
A large influx of people to the area started, when rumours of a railway soon to come to the town started. The inevitable building of schools and churches resulted.A special act of parliament was needed to allow Wiarton to officially incorporate as a town, because the town itself was split between 2 counties, Bruce and Grey. Wiarton actually came into existance with a NET DEBT of 13,000 dollars, quite a bit of money in those days.

On a dare from The Echo, we take a trip out along The Rowdies to where Paul Kastner has a few haunting tales to tell from the shores of Wildman Island ...

"... after his death, the mystery surrounding the Wildman of Oliphant took on further dimensions when new owners of the island came across an alarming inscription carved into a birch tree. There it remains today, a tantalizing message of nearly a century and a quarter ago. Does it reveal who the Wildman was, and why he sought escape? Perhaps ..."

[ Haunted Hamilton : The Wildman of Oliphant ]

Novelist, writer, tram historian, urban planner and environmental activist, James Bow is the only person I know who knows Dr. Who personally, and if that bit of fictional reality isn't enough, he also makes his home in the quaint rurality of Clarksbury, Ontario ...

Clarksbury, Ontario doesn't really exist (at least, not so far as I know). If it did, it would be a small town the size of Wiarton located on the shores of Georgian Bay, roughly where Lion's Head resides. As you can see from the websites linked on the left, Clarksbury's residents are an ecclectic bunch, very interested in railroads and transit, and boasting a substantial artistic community.

[ via Clarksbury Home Page ]