Dingle Park & Melville Island Halifax Canada

 

#Dingle_Park_Melville_Island_NSCanada

On our way to Dingle Park (old British slang for a small wooded valley) that contains treed & open areas, saltwater frontage with a freshwater pond, many walking paths plus some small beaches
 The area (95 acres) was given to Halifax in 1908 by Sir Sandford Fleming

KeyTip; when heading to Dingle Park

Look for Anchor Drive & this Monument
 This piece of iron flew 5kms (2.5miles) in the air & landed here hence the name of the street
  It is a 540 kilograms (1200lbs) of the anchor shaft from the ship Mont Blanc that blew up in Halifax Harbor, which then created the largest man-made explosion up to the atomic age

KeyTip

After leaving the Halifax Explosion Monument
Next look across the water to see Melville Island British Military Prison which held inmates from the French Revolutionary, Napoleonic Wars & the War of 1812

Today it is a Clubhouse for the Armdale Yacht Club

KeyTip

Deadmans Island was a small peninsula near Melville Prison & served as a burial ground from those who were inmates 
The prisoners endured harsh living conditions & also by doing hard labor like breaking granite or carrying heavy cannonballs....... many did not last 

Finally the park was created in 2005 to protect the area from development & also to allow a final resting place for those lost souls
 Some were also remembered in May of that year as the US Government erected a memorial which included men from the USS Chesapeake 

 

Sir Sanford Fleming moved from Scotland to Canada in 1845. He was educated at Columbia University, Toronto & Queen Universities.
 He eventually moved up to Engineer in Chief for the Canadian Pacific Railway which led him to Halifax with the task of a Intercolonial railway to Quebec. It was then he came up with the concept of Universal Standard Time (1884) for scheduling purposes.
He was also the Chancellor of Queens University, a Director at the Hudson Bay Company, member of the Halifax Club & what the heck.....designed the countrys first postage stamp 😀
  

Sir Sandford Fleming Park was donated to the people of Halifax for the 150th anniversary of a government which was deemed responsible & representing the citizens since 1758, when the City was established 

Memorial Tower was built in 1912 with the City of Halifax & the local Canadian Club receiving many donations from within the British Empire
Those gifts are commemorated on the inside walls with either Plaques or Stones from the respective countries

The architectural design of the Dingle Tower is divided into three sections
The base is ironstone from a nearby quarry, with a granite midsection & a copper roof with a pronounced overhang.
The entrance has two large bronze lions that were donated by The Royal Colonial Institute of London in 1913
 An interesting fact, that British sculptor (Albert Brucejoy) got his influence for his statuette in Halifax from the monumental lions at Trafalgar Square 

After climbing ten flights of stairs & now looking out at the Northwest Arm
 (early on known as Sandwich River)
Its an 3.5km (2 mi) inlet that extends from the Halifax Harbor ( yes the Atlantic Ocean... so salt water)

The Arm is sheltered; so an ideal place for marinas, sailing, kayaking plus of course to enjoy Dingle Park from one of the great Canadians / Haligonians .....Sir Sandford Fleming!