Chapel of St. James-the-Less

 

Location: St. James Cemetery, Parliament Street
Date photo taken: 15 November 2015

Walking up Parliament Street toward Bloor you pass St. James Cemetery on your right. Sitting quietly behind its fence, this cemetery is home to a national historic site. On a small rise just inside the main gate is the Chapel of St. James-the-Less. Opened in 1844, the building is considered to be one of the finest examples of Gothic Revival church architecture in Canada. Given the rough cut stone exterior and impressive bell tower and spire, it might surprise you to learn that the ground floor of the chapel houses Ontario's second busiest crematorium. The cemetery is still operating and is in fact Toronto's oldest, continuously operating cemetery.

Fire Pump

Location: Distillery District
Date photo taken: 1 November 2015

If you plan to visit the Toronto Christmas Market in the Distillery District this year, do yourself a favour and download the self-guided walking tour of the site's Victorian Industrial Heritage before you go. Hunting out the artifacts and plaques noted in the guide will take you inside many of the buildings you might not otherwise visit, giving you lots of opportunities to escape the crowds and warm up a little. This fire pump is part of a larger display relating to firefighting on the site.

Pokemon Go

Location: West Humber Trail, between Kipling and Islington
Date photo taken: 11 August 2016

This is proof, if any more was needed, that Toronto loves Pokemon Go. It's a great place to play after all. There are Pokemon and PokeStops everywhere! Including the Royal Ontario Museum. Rather than trying to discourage people from playing inside the museum, the ROM has embraced Pokemon. Their Head of Security has created a video to help players play responsibly, and there's a page on the website dedicated to the gym and various PokeStops in and around the museum. Beyond the museum, if you actually take the time to read about the PokeStops you come across you can learn quite a bit about the places around you. You might even discover a hidden gem you never noticed before!

Harbord Collegiate World War I Memorial

 

Location: South side of Harbord Collegiate Institute, Harbord St.

Date photo taken: 8 February 2016

This memorial is dedicated to the students and staff of Harbord Collegiate who served and died in the First World War. Photos and audio biographies of many of those listed on the plaques can be found on the Harbord Club website. The story of Nursing Sister Carola Douglas is particularly moving.

Text of the carvings and plaques:

These former pupils died for humanity in the Great War of 1914 - 1919

We are the dead, short days ago, we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie, in Flanders Fields

C. Fred Adams

Lt. Col. W.D. Allan, D.S.O.

Capt. Lou D. Anderson

Fl. Lt. Charles T. Brimer

Lt. B.H. Acton Burrows

Robert D. Conklin

Major James P. Crawford

William T. Crummy

Fl. Lt. Frank W. Curtis

Nursing Sister Carola Douglas

Capt. Arthur J. Duncan

Fl. Lt. George S. Fleming

Charles H. Fox

Gordon G. Galloway

Norman C. Gale

Guy Garrett

Lt. James A. Garvie, M.C.

Lt. Harold Groves

Lt. D. Galer Hagarty

Fl. Com’r William T. Hall

Lt. Gordon Hamilton

Capt. J. Fuller Henderson

Raymond F. Henderson

Lt. Charles Hewson

Fl. Lt. C. Victor Hewson

Lt. Richard H. Hocken

Capt. Robert Home

Stuart Hough

Lt. John Howard

Fl. Lt. Alfred Hutty

Eric G. Jones

Nursing Sister Lily Denton Keys

Lt. Herbert N. Klotz

Lt. Lloyd B. Kyles

Major J. Miles Langstaff

Lt. Myer Tutzer Cohen, M.C.

Lt. Walter Howard Curry

Lt. Col. Thomas Craik Irving, D.S.O.

Lt. F.M. Langstone

Fl. Lt. Austin R. Lapp

Lt. John Leonard, M.C.

Capt. L.B.M. Loudon

A.W. McAllister

Harold G. McConnell

Lt. Douglas F. MacKenzie

Fl. Lt. J.L. McLintock

Paul McLaughlin

Major William H. McLaren

Wilfred Macklem

Capt. F. Ross Medland

Lt. Col. A.A. Miller

William Moffatt

Capt. W.M. Carlton Monk

Lt. Harold Mossman, M.C.

Capt. H. Gerard Muntz

Lt. J.C. Newcombe

Norman E.G. Patton

Lt. Cecil V. Perry, M.C.

Lt. William Proudfoot

Lt. H. Charles Quail

Lawrence B. Ramsay

Fl. Lt. Arnold B. Reade

Fl. Lt. Clifford E. Rider

Clifford E. Rogers

Lt. Fred. Scott

Lt. Harley Smith

Douglas Sparks

Lt. James D. Stephen

W.E. Stewart

Lt. Geoffrey Taylor

Norman Wheadon, M.M.

Harold Worthington

Lt. George B. Bickle

Major Frank Connery

Lt. Egerton B. Baines

Lt. G. Thorold

Sgt. Douglas G. Mitchell, M.M.

Lt. Charles L.M. Morrison

Hope in the City Mural

Location: Gerrard, just east of Parliament

Date photo taken: 23 July 2016

This mural, painted on the side of Double Take, a second-hand store operated by the Yonge Street Mission, was unveiled in 2013. The hands are meant to represent not only a range of cultures but also different socio-economic backgrounds, reflecting the demographics of both the neighbourhood and the people the Yonge Street Mission serves. The hands reach for the sky, a gesture, as the name of the mural implies, of hope, but also of inclusion and strength. The mural was executed by a local team, Toronto Muralists.