Category Archives: Humber River

Exploring Toronto’s Aerial History: Raymore Park Before Hurricane Hazel

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In the City of Toronto Archives there are extensive aerial photos of the city taken between 1947 and 1992. They are black and white images but reasonably detailed. While researching Hurricane Hazel I was able to download an image of what is now Raymore Park to reveal the community that existed just over a year before Hurricane Hazel struck in October 1954. Colourizing and sharpening the photo makes it resemble today’s satellite images (details are unchanged but colours are arbitrary and not historically accurate) from Google and help appreciate the extent of community that existed back then. I have labelled relevant streets.

Raymore Drive extended into what is now the park, hugging the river’s edge before heading south and looping back onto Gilhaven Avenue.

Click to enlarge.

I was surprised at the size of the community with houses occupying much of the flood plain land and stretching a considerable way down Gilhaven Avenue (now the approximate location of the bike path). It looks as if it was an idyllic place to live – riverside dwellings but with city amenities. There was even a beach for the kids. Many of the homes were cottage style on blocks while some had full basements. Most are a lot smaller than our modern dwellings. The homes destroyed seem to have been along the river’s edge at the far right and lower edge of the peninsula. The people who died lived on this stretch of Raymore.

At the top of the image, on the other bank of the river, parts of the (now demolished) water filtration plant can be seen.

Below is a recent satellite image and I have adjusted the size and rotation to match that of the 1953 photo.

From Google. Click to enlarge.

The Bailey Bridge seen in the upper photo was put there in 1950 and both of the old abutments can be seen to this day. The current footbridge was installed in 2005.

Some of the homes along what is now the bike path were undamaged apart from flooded basements but authorities at the time elected to remove all homes in the flood plain leaving only Tilden Crescent intact. Raymore Drive was ended at Tilden and Gilhaven Avenue ceased to exist.

Very few of the buildings on surviving streets from 1953 exist today – I recognize the house that once stood at the east corner of Raymore and what is now Tilden, Westmount Gospel Chapel on Kingdom and some homes on Denison. Readers are welcome to add discoveries of their own.

(Another) Mid Humber Gap Trail Update

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Readers may remember that the Humber cycle and pedestrian trail has a gap around the junction of Weston Road and St Phillips. The trail ends because the Humber’s banks are occupied by private property – mainly the Weston Golf and Country Club.

The gap in the trail forces able-bodied cyclists to lug their bikes up a huge flight of stairs and deters a huge number of others who are daunted by the danger of Weston Road and the physical exertion required to push a bike up several stories.

Cyclists climbing the stairs towards a dangerous trek along Weston Road.
It’s the end of the trail for this family.
The dangerous stretch of Weston Road that links two sections of the trail. Note the optimistic ‘sharrows’ indicating that vehicles share the road with cyclists.

After more than two decades of study and consultation, a solution was found out of several options that would allow the trail to continue its way alongside the Humber without encountering stairs or traffic. The solution involved a couple of bridges and some fencing where the golf club borders the river. After the final hurdle of an environmental assessment by the city and TRCA, the project was given the green light. Ominously, somewhere in the documents was the fact that the Weston Golf and Country Club was concerned about the safety of pedestrians and cyclists during flood events. Some of the great unwashed might find themselves in the Humber after a rainstorm. Think of the liability.

The WGCC is a popular club with a waiting list to get in. They have a decades-old arrangement with the city to defer a (confidential) percentage of their property taxes as long as they operate as a golf course. The club has powerful members who may or may not have the ear of Premier Ford who lives nearby.

The entrance to Weston Golf and Country Club on St Phillips

Enter a pantomime villain in the shape of David Piccini, Ontario’s 34 year-old Environment Minister. Piccini has likely been told to kill the project and may well have done so. Piccini insists that the environmental assessment done by the city and TRCA is somehow inadequate. He has demanded a do-over, effectively stalling the project. In response, the city has commenced a Notice of Application for a Judicial Review in Divisional Court and is challenging the Province’s order for further study on the Mid Humber Gap Trail.

The hearing is scheduled for November 15, 2023.

Is it really the end of the trail?

I guess we’ll find out about the power of a publicly subsidized golf course and how easily due process in a democracy can be perverted – or we might be pleasantly surprised at the judiciary acting in the public interest.

Toronto’s new mayor may have something to say about this.

Pearen Park protest a success.

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When it was announced that Metrolinx intended to clear-cut hundreds of trees along a 1.5 km stretch of Eglinton Avenue a coalition of several groups (including Mount Dennis Community Association) sprang into action. One of the groups, an indigenous-led coalition erected a tipi in Pearen Park and has occupied the site since January.

Today, close to 100 people listened intently as Indigenous leaders spoke about the need to protect the trees that Metrolinx wants to chop down. The provincial transit authority wants to build an elevated section of the Eglinton Crosstown Extension. The extension will link the long delayed main line to Pearson Airport and is planned to cross the Humber above ground before going underground at Scarlett road. The coalition insists that the line must be built underground in order to preserve precious parkland.

The trees to be removed are on the north side of Eglinton (running right to left in the photo).

German rock group Milky Chance were there in support along with the Sierra Club and Greenpeace. They participated with dozens of others to place tobacco at the foot of each tree and mark them with ribbons. Refreshments were generously provided by Super Coffee who have a coffee shop at Weston and Eglinton.

Milky Chance listen to speakers at the event.
Local politician Faisal Hassan attended the event.
The tipi where sacred fire has been burning since January.
Tying ribbons and placing tobacco at the foot of each tree.

There is no reason for Metrolinx to build an elevated line across the Humber that will lead to the destruction of hundreds of trees. Great cities bury their rail lines and preserve nature at all costs.

Is Toronto a great city or will it fall prey to small thinking and destroy irreplaceable wildlife, trees and parkland?

Incidentally, missing in action were Councillor Frances Nunziata and local MPP Mike Ford. Incidentally Ford (who is the premier’s nephew) campaigned for his seat claiming that he would better represent the coalition from inside government. Since he was elected, he seems to have forgotten his promise.

Read more from the coalition here.

Read a January article by the CBC here.

Raymore Park: changes over the years – Part 2.

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Read Part 1 here.

This year marks 30 years since I started coming to Raymore Park. During that time many changes have occurred, most of them reflecting adjustments in park philosophy and management.

4. Areas under grass.

After Hurricane Hazel hit the Humber Valley in 1954, it was decided that flood plain and ravine land should be cleared of settlement to avoid further loss of life. Residents of Raymore Drive and Gilhaven Drive who survived were compensated for the purchase of their homes or lots. Gilhaven drive was approximately where the parking lot is today. Lands were then made part of what is now the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and homes were bulldozed to create wide expanses of grass. Slowly, thanks to diminishing budgets, some grassed areas have been allowed to naturalize and sumac bushes have advanced, allowing trees to spring up in their midst. Currently, there is no grass cutting south of the weir apart from a strip on either side of the bike path.

Looking south towards the weir. Lots of grass with some recent tree plantings.

5. Dogs.

Raymore has been a popular park for local dog owners for decades. When the condos at Hickory Tree opened, residents were allowed to keep dogs and used Raymore Park once the footbridge opened in 1995. The wild area was popular and a path was carved out by dogs and their owners as they followed the Humber through the bush.

In 2017, an area near one of the baseball diamonds was converted into a dog off-leash area (DOLA). The ground was fitted with weeping tile to improve drainage, bulldozed and covered with the aptly named pea gravel. It was then fenced off from the rest of the park. The pea gravel is supposed to allow for better drainage but many owners say that it makes their dogs’ paws uncomfortable.

Residents and their dogs gather Monday, July 10 2017 for the official Raymore Park DOLA opening.

The DOLA took a few years to become popular but is now widely used and is popular with professional dog walkers who can be seen with up to six dogs at a time.

Some owners avoid the DOLA, instead preferring to allow their dogs to run free in places like the wild area. They play a cat and mouse game with city by-law enforcement officers and occasionally have encounters with wildlife that are unfortunate.

Parks are for everyone.

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Most Toronto parks on a weekend are filled with people enjoying themselves. To paraphrase an old saying, Parks are the lungs of the city and a natural setting with trees and grass provides cleaner and fresher air along with a chance to relax.

There are parks that are ideal for picnics while others provide tranquility and a natural setting. Some Toronto parks have bathrooms and built in barbecue stands while others, like Raymore Park are more natural.

Glorious fall colours in Raymore Park’s wild area (October 2013).

Raymore Park is quite large and there are areas where you can throw a ball, walk the dog, have a picnic or just sit on one of the many benches and contemplate. Watching the water going over the weir is mesmerizing and the negative ions created by falling water are said to be therapeutic. If you like shade, there are lots of trees – just be careful not to feed the summer mosquitoes! There’s even a rudimentary baseball diamond tucked away north of the dog off-leash area. We don’t have flower beds or seasonal plantings but we have a large variety of flora and fauna.

Geese enjoying the weir in September 2022.

In nearby Lions Park, people like to set up in groups and barbecue on warm weekends. They bring chairs and tables, awnings and coolers and relax by the river. Walking or cycling past these groups is a treat for the nose and if your hunger is stimulated, there’s an increasing number of fast (and slow) food locations a five-minute walk away on Weston Road.

Who are the people using parks? Every age group, athletic level and ethnicity are represented in Toronto’s green spaces and ravines; people looking for exercise, a meal or a relaxing stroll. There are no barriers or fees, everyone is welcome and people become more relaxed when they arrive. If you want to strike up a conversation, talk to a dog owner about their dog – or better yet, borrow a dog and walk it in the park (on leash of course). Dogs are instant ice-breakers. There are many volunteer organizations that help clean our parks after a long winter (locally it’s Humber River Pals) and get rid of accumulated litter while others look for invasive plants and remove them. Garlic mustard is a frequent target for those wanting some springtime greens and provide breathing room for native plants.

Raymore’s wooded area in October 2021.

It is possible to cycle from Raymore Park down to Lake Ontario with very few diversions onto side streets. The trail loosely follows the Humber to it’s mouth on the lake. Cycling through several parks on the way down to the lake reveals the variety of beautiful parks along the Humber.

So what’s stopping you? Get out and enjoy.

Raymore Park: changes over the years – Part 1.

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This year marks 30 years since I started coming to Raymore Park. During that time many changes have occurred, most of them reflecting adjustments in park philosophy and management.

1. Pesticides:

Herbicides were sprayed here – just north of the current off-leash area. October 2000.

Back in 1993, park staff would spray grassy areas with herbicide in order to keep weeds down and in particular, poison ivy. They used Roundup (Glyphosate) which is pretty potent. Caution notices were placed on the grass informing people that weedkiller had been sprayed but these didn’t last long. At that time, much more of the park was grass (more on that in another article). Despite the claims of Monsanto, Roundup when sprayed over such a wide area is probably terrible for wildlife and dogs. The City banned pesticides in theory in late 1998 but the practice continued for a while after that according to this article from 2000.

2. The Humber Footbridge.

The 1917 ‘swing’ footbridge that was condemned and replaced in 1950. Photo via Weston Historical Society.

When Hurricane Hazel struck in 1954, a four-year-old footbridge over the Humber was swept away. This link between Westmount and the stores in Weston wasn’t replaced until 1995 some 41 years later. The bridge gets a substantial amount of use from cyclists, sightseers and commuters who can be whisked to the airport or downtown in about 15 minutes via the UP Express on Weston Road.

Read this excellent article on the three Weston footbridges from the Weston Historical Society.

The bridge with an abutment of the 1950 version in the foreground; looking upstream in March 2009.

3. Garbage Containers.

Garbage containers were either lined wire-mesh bins or the occasional re-purposed oil drum back in the 20th Century. There were no recycling containers back then – just open-topped receptacles that went uncollected during the winter. The cans and baskets weren’t replaced with the current wheeled carts until 2012.

Even with our clearly marked carts, park users are fairly indiscriminate where they toss their waste, so the recycling bins become contaminated and their contents worthless. As a result, garbage and recycling are collected by the same truck and the contents lumped in altogether.

From February 2004.

Humber Gap project gets deep-sixed by Ford government.

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The Humber Gap is the name of the missing segment of the Humber Trail between Mallaby Park and Cardell Avenue. Apart from the infamous gap, the Trail connects Brampton to Lake Ontario. At the moment, cyclists wishing to proceed north must climb a hefty set of stairs then risk life and limb on busy Weston Road which is optimistically painted with sharrows. These indicate that cyclists are to share the road with other vehicles without barriers or protection.

The perilous stretch of Weston Road with an actual sharrow in September 2020.

The Trail can be re-joined after deking into Cardell Avenue opposite the Loblaws Supercentre.

With much public encouragement, Toronto city planners have tried to solve the problem for years. Read this excellent blog post and the follow-up about the difficult choices that planners had to make. A ton of money went into designing alternative the routes, a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment and public consultations.

After receiving much input, a decision was made to create a path that stayed at river level, crossing the Humber twice as it navigated the patchwork of public and private properties along the way.

From: toronto.ca (click to enlarge)

One of the private properties affected is the Weston Golf and Country Club which had raised some concerns about safety of cyclists and pedestrians travelling along the edge of their property. WGCC were also concerned that flood events may wash away the new trail. The city assured them that fencing would be secure and that the trail would be built high enough to be safe from flooding. No doubt they weren’t keen on losing a strip of land as well as the issues that members of the public might bring to the course.

Luckily WGCC has friends in high places and out of the blue (literally) came word that:

“On January 18, 2023, the Minister of Environment Conservation, and Parks (David Piccini) (the “Minister”) issued an order requiring that the City and TRCA carry out an individual environmental assessment of the Project (the “Order”). The Order states that allowing the Project to proceed on the basis of the MCEA (Municipal Class Environmental Assessment) would not be consistent with the purposes of the Act.“

Conveniently, the reasons behind adding this additional environmental assessment are confidential but uncharitable speculators might assume that the WGCC membership doesn’t want the project to happen and they have pulled some strings. Not coincidentally, Premier Doug Ford lives about a kilometre away from the golf club.

That’s the thing with hiding behind confidentiality, people get to speculate. If I was a betting man I would speculate that the project is dead.

Tree graveyard – what’s going on?

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Just south of the leash-free zone in Raymore Park there’s a narrow rectangular strip of woodland that stretches below the houses along Westbank Crescent.

The small woodland runs west of the Humber from just north of the weir and runs alongside Scarlett. (Google Maps) (Click to enlarge)

The strip extends down to Eglinton but the area in question ends at the Humber Creek and is about 200m long.

Inside this small flood-plain wood lie the trunks of many trees that have fallen – seemingly pushed over and uprooted by a strange and powerful force.

Looking south at the entrance to the wood. (April 2023) (Click to enlarge)

The downed trees are mainly at the base of the hill that rises up to Westbank Crescent and Scarlett Road (on the right in these images). This hill is thought to have been part of the shore of Lake Iroquois, which existed about 13,000 years ago.

Further south and more uprooted trees. (April 2023) (Click to enlarge)

This tree graphically illustrates the violence of what is going on.

Looking south a tree has been violently snapped in two about 8 feet off the ground. (April 2023) (Click to enlarge)

It looks as if the downward slope of the hill is helping to focus intense, violent downbursts and uprooting trees during summer thunderstorms when such wind gusts are common.

Why is the last tree bent over the opposite way to the others? I have no idea other than it might be some sort of rolling vortex that caught the top of the tree during a storm. It must have been a powerful gust.

Given the sheer quantity of downed trunks it might be wise to steer clear of this area when a summer storm is forecast.

Are there beavers in Raymore Park?

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The amount of wildlife in Toronto parks is quite amazing and we aren’t always aware of the secret lives of the animals who live alongside us. Yes, beavers are a presence in Raymore Park and although it’s rare to see them, we can often see signs of them.

This young tree is close to the bike path by the footbridge. (April 2023)

One sign is the tell-tale gnawing of tree trunks at about 30-40 cm above the ground – often leaving a stump with a conical point. When the city plants trees in Raymore Park, they have (usually) learned to protect the new trees’ trunks with wire cages or else beavers will make quick (and expensive) work of them. Another sign might be a noisy tail splash – used as a warning to other beavers as you approach the water. Sometimes a cluster of sticks on the riverbank is evidence of a lodge.

Protect it or else… (July 2018)

Beavers need to eat wood as part of their diet and since their rodent teeth are constantly growing, gnawing on wood helps keep them in trim. Beavers restrict the flow of rivers and therefore mitigate the impact of flooding. Other wildlife benefit from the presence of these native animals. Eurasian beavers (slightly different to our North American variety) were hunted to extinction in the U.K. a few centuries ago but have been re-introduced in several locations throughout the British Isles and particularly in Scotland.

A fallen branch suspended at the right height is being consumed by beavers. (April 2023).

Where can beavers be seen in Raymore Park? One place seems to be fairly constant from year to year. There is an island just above the weir where they often hang out as it’s relatively safe from disturbance from humans and especially dogs. The Humber is quite wide so rather than dam the river, beavers will create a riverbank lodge that accommodates several animals.

A beaver swimming upstream by the island in May 2013.

Be patient as beavers are shy and usually hide when humans are present. If a dog is swimming in the river, a beaver might attack (they have the advantage in the water) so it’s wise to follow park leash rules.

A pair of ducks across from the clearly visible beaver island lodge. (April 2023).
‘Beaver Island lodge’ in summer (on the far bank). (August 2018) (click to enlarge)

A bench above the dam can be a good observation spot. Early mornings and late evenings are the best times for catching a glimpse of these mainly nocturnal creatures.

A costly lesson in neighbouring Lions Park. This tree was planted just a few years ago. (April 2023)

Lastly, a piece of beaver trivia – the minster town of Beverley in Yorkshire, England – which gave its name to Beverley Massachusetts and subsequently Beverley Hills in California – was named because of the beavers once living there. The town’s coat of arms proudly sports a Eurasian beaver.

Beverly Town Council coat of arms (from Wikipedia).

Spring Runoff

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Temperatures hit the mid-teens today and with yesterday’s rain adding to melting snow coming from further north, the Humber river is running high. A good benchmark is the old footbridge abutment and today it was almost underwater. Adding to the drama, logs and dead trees were cascading down the river – probably after being blown over during this winter’s storms, having waited for a good flood to float them and flush them down to Lake Ontario.

The abutment can just be seen slightly to the right of centre behind the farthest log. Click to enlarge.

The Condo building called ‘The Humber’ is almost ready for occupancy and residents facing the river will soon have a ringside seat for the ever-changing river landscape as it makes a 90° turn in front of the building.

A few hundred metres downriver at the weir, some large trees were stuck as they lumbered over the edge. The roar of the river by the weir is quite something. People were standing mesmerized, soaking up the vibrations.

A couple witness the power of the river with their dogs. Click to enlarge.
Two people watch from the Mount Dennis side as trees get stuck on the weir’s edge. Click to enlarge.

Water levels should go down tomorrow during a one-day temperature dip but inevitably, spring is pushing its way north.

No doubt we’ll be complaining about the heat soon.