Monday, 15 February 2010

Skating on the Rideau Canal

I grew up along side the canal.  I spent countless hours after school and on weekends skating up and down the full legnth no matter the weather, as long as it was open.  In 2005 it was recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records as the longest skating rink.  It's also a world heritage site and a whole lot of fun!

I remember one year when there was a concert at one end, at Dows Lake.  There were so many people packed onto the large lake that the whole surface dropped and sank.  Luckily it's not so deep as it's drained every fall;-)

7 comments:

Kay said...

I love snow and ice! We rarely get it cold enough to skate safely on frozen canals and water here in the UK. It looks like fun.

Kurt said...

I grew up alongside the TV.

Serena Lewis said...

That snow and ice looks so inviting after the sauna-like conditions we had yesterday. Interesting info and great pics!

Anonymous said...

Thew, that was a relief to hear the lake wasn't to deep when it give way.
It looks fantastic, certainly love to skate on there. Truly a lovely site!
Thank you so much for sharing your love for this place and part of your childhood.
Have a great week!

Hugs!

Julie

Maureen said...

Beautiful! We have a very long skating canal here too; I think yours and mine were going back and forth for title of the "longest" for a few years. It's great, especially when you see all the families and kids using it!

Jennifer Rose said...

I've always wanted to skate on this, but have never been near enough to :/

sandy said...

What an interesting childhood to be able to skate on one of the longest "skate runs"... I enjoyed seeing this.