Walking Tour of Old Thorold
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(regular)
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In honour of Blue Quasar's walking tours...I decided to do my very own.
Welcome to Rockharder's Walking Tour of Old Thorold!
Old Thorold? Where the heck is that?
We'll start by parking at Woodend Conservation Area (N43 08.650 W79 09.983). This is the best place that I can think of to park in relative proximity to the tour. If you know of or can think of better parking, feel free to do so, but I cannot endorse any other parking area in good conscience.
Feel free to take pictures along the tour, actually I do encourage it. You may be surprised how many things you'll see that you never knew existed before.
From the designated parking area, get on the Bruce Trail and head west to Stage 1 which is located at the above
co-ordinates.
Stage #1
This location is formerly a bridge which used to carry St. Davids Road across a small creek that is now part of the Royal Niagara Golf Course.
Once here, you will be looking for a 4-digit number on a tree.(checksum=8)
Divide this number by 1000 and add to: N43 07.331 and
W79 09.629. This will take you to...
Stage #2
Welcome to the Iron Bridge Course, part of the R.N.G.C.
At the tee off area, you will notice a rather large structure behind you. This is the east end of a tunnel that used to carry St. Davids Road under the 3rd Welland Canal, just south of Lock 16.
The cache is a black nano container, containing co-ordinates to...
Stage #3
Welcome to the west end of the aforementioned tunnel.I spent a few days, a year and a half ago, excavating this tunnel, which was backfilled. The dirt is a mixture of rock and dirt, which made it extremely difficult to dig into....so what you see is all my back and legs could unearth.
The cache here is a tag attached to a sapling, a slight homage to the Blue Box Series, which holds co-ordinates to....
Stage #4
Upon arriving at these co-ordinates, you will notice a tunnel which hasn't been backfilled.
This tunnel carried St. Davids Road under the Grand Trunk Railway line, which is now the CN railline. You will notice that this tunnel consists of old and new. Half of it is old limestone, the other half is concrete.
This was done because the original railway line above was a single track. Later, a second track was added, thus requiring the tunnel to be extended and concrete was the choice of construction.
The cache here is a micro container containing co-ordinates to...
Stage #5
I spent a day, a year and a half ago, excavating these "vertical displacement platforms". I had to clear them off once again when I was showing my girlfriend this tour.
Here, you can count the number of "vertical displacement platforms", divide that number by 100 and add to
N43 07.888 and W79 10.898
If your math (and mine) is adequate, you will end up here....
Stage #6
You are now located in the railbed of a spur line of the Grand Trunk Railway. If you continue to follow this railbed to the east, you will end up at the famous Blue Ghost Tunnel. If you haven't been there before, I recommend taking a few snapshots while you still have the opportunity.
A few meters to the east of where you are standing, you will notice some limestone structures. These were used to carry St. Davids Road over the Grand Trunk Railway. The roadway no longers exists but these "support columns" still remain.
Count the number of "support columns" (all of them) divide that number by 100 and add to: N43 08.024 and W79 11.018
Hopefully, your math is better than mine, and you end up at....
Stage #7
Here you will find a hidden treasure I uncovered after staring for countless hours at old aerial photos of this area from 1921.
Please explore these ruins but be careful!
The co-ordinates will take you to the back of the "building" to where a micro cache is located. This micro contains the co-ordinates to....
Stage #8 (FINAL!)
This is yet another unknown building, but I like it more because it is not so close to any ATV trails.
The cache container is a homemade cache, made out of PVC piping and has a threaded end. Inside are a bunch of toys and, if you're lucky, a TB may still be there.
***THERE IS A PACKET OF SILICA GEL INSIDE. DO NOT EAT OR TAKE!***
Also, inside are two photos from my collection which I highlighted so you can trace back the journey you just took, and what it looked like 85 years ago. PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THESE PHOTOS! If you are interested, email me and I can send you a copy of them.
This is where the town of Thorold was located before the 3rd Canal bissected the land. This was flourishing with farm land and newly built houses and intersections, bustling with activity.
St. Davids Road, at this time, was a major thoroughfare and was so named because it linked Thorold to St. Davids, which at one time was the temporary capital of Upper Canada, while York was being rebuilt during the War of 1812.
Since the 4th Canal was being built during the early 1920's, all of this land was expropriated by the St. Lawrence Seaway and Thorold was already expanding on top of the Escarpment where it still resides, but it's humble beginnings are left forgotten, despite the many links to it's past which still remain today...if you know what to look for.
Hope you enjoyed this tour....have fun walking back to your car! HAHAHAHA
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fgntr 1-ahzorerq gerr
Fgntr 2-url xvqf, fnl ab gb penpx
Fgntr 3-gnt, lbh'er vg
Fgntr 4-vs lbh trg n ebbg pnany, lbh znl arrq n cerfpevcgvba
Fgntr 5-fgnvef
Fgntr 6-orgjrra guerr naq svir?
Fgntr 7-univat gebhoyr? Jryy, lbh fubhyq whfg fgvpx jvgu vg naq xrrc ba gelvat
Fgntr 8-avpr gel, V'ir urycrq lbh gbb zhpu nyernql