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Pyat and the Hidden Castles - MONSTER SUPER MEGA PIC POST!
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velvetpage was in surgery, I took a long walk. The surgical waiting area is inevitably filled with angry people, sad people, irritated people, or worried people, and I was pretty sure I was going to be sitting there for several hours anyway, while she was in recovery.
So. Walking. Up and down the Mountain. I took about 200 photos.
Oh! First stop, though was to the Neonatal Unit, where my oldest and best friend's wife had just given birth to their second child. Both mom and daughter were already set for dischage, after a single day in hospital, and both mom and baby were beautiful.
Then, outside, to walking. It was very cold and clear. The hospital is built into the side of the Hamilton Escarpment, and the area around it is a sort of odd "tiered" district, with houses and streets clinging to different levels of a steep incline.
There are hidden castles, wooded trails, ziggurats, bunkers, and secret cellars, for those with the right eyes to see 'em.
We'll start with the first of the castles, the one that's hidden right in the bones of the city.
Can you see it?
Look closer! That is the roof of an enormous mid-19th century manor home that was once surrounded by gracious parkland. The city grew around it. This is all that can be seen from the street.
Going around the block and cutting through a parking lot and into the back of an apartment built, we find the back of the manor house. Now subdivided into offices and low-rent apartments.
Complete with modern amenities!
The grand entrance runs into the back of a strip mall.
The rest of the building has been consumed by the shabby grey block on the right. It is called, perhaps ironically, "The Castle Building."
Looking down on creation. James Street South, anyway.
Looking north on the James Street hill.
The Medical Arts Building reminds me of a zigurrat temple. Well, sometimes.
Inside... ANALOG ELEVATOR NUMBERS! Like in MOVIES!
Another mansion, just 200 metres from the building with the shabby man peering over a shabby balcony. This is downtown Hamilton for you - rich and poor living cheek by jowl, at least in a broad strip along the base of the Mountain.
Detail of the tower.
Ballinahinch! Bless you!
The front. This is, again, right off the James Street hill.
And this is where Mr. and Mrs. Legoman retired.
Look up from the second "tier", to the third and four "tiers" of neighborhoods.
Across Burlington Bay, 9.2 kms (5.75 miles), the hospital where I was born!
Looking north toward Lake Ontario and the steel mills. Behind you can see the Toronto skyline. The CN Tower is 61 kms (38 miles) from the side of the Mountain, where I took this photo.
Mad prophets! Someone has been posting these around town since I was a kid.
Rock Castle, the front door of which is inacessible from any surface street. The mansion itself is about 150 feet above the lower city, with two "tiers" of houses about 80 feet and 30 feet below it. I took this photo from a trail about 20 feet below.
The entrance of the apartment building on the right is about 30 feet below Rock Castle, though it towers over the mansion.
This is the trail I was on.
This bunker may or may not lead to the dungeons of Rock Castle.
THIS is the path to the castle door. It is private property...
...so I'll pretend to be lost!
Walking up the Jolly Cut. That's the back of Rock Castle on the left. Part of it, anyway.
Walking back down the James Street Hill...
My destination. It was lunchtime, so I had a burger and coffee.
velvetpage was in surgery, I took a long walk. The surgical waiting area is inevitably filled with angry people, sad people, irritated people, or worried people, and I was pretty sure I was going to be sitting there for several hours anyway, while she was in recovery.So. Walking. Up and down the Mountain. I took about 200 photos.
Oh! First stop, though was to the Neonatal Unit, where my oldest and best friend's wife had just given birth to their second child. Both mom and daughter were already set for dischage, after a single day in hospital, and both mom and baby were beautiful.
Then, outside, to walking. It was very cold and clear. The hospital is built into the side of the Hamilton Escarpment, and the area around it is a sort of odd "tiered" district, with houses and streets clinging to different levels of a steep incline.
There are hidden castles, wooded trails, ziggurats, bunkers, and secret cellars, for those with the right eyes to see 'em.
We'll start with the first of the castles, the one that's hidden right in the bones of the city.
Can you see it?
Look closer! That is the roof of an enormous mid-19th century manor home that was once surrounded by gracious parkland. The city grew around it. This is all that can be seen from the street.
Going around the block and cutting through a parking lot and into the back of an apartment built, we find the back of the manor house. Now subdivided into offices and low-rent apartments.
Complete with modern amenities!
The grand entrance runs into the back of a strip mall.
The rest of the building has been consumed by the shabby grey block on the right. It is called, perhaps ironically, "The Castle Building."
Looking down on creation. James Street South, anyway.
Looking north on the James Street hill.
The Medical Arts Building reminds me of a zigurrat temple. Well, sometimes.
Inside... ANALOG ELEVATOR NUMBERS! Like in MOVIES!
Another mansion, just 200 metres from the building with the shabby man peering over a shabby balcony. This is downtown Hamilton for you - rich and poor living cheek by jowl, at least in a broad strip along the base of the Mountain.
Detail of the tower.
Ballinahinch! Bless you!
The front. This is, again, right off the James Street hill.
And this is where Mr. and Mrs. Legoman retired.
Look up from the second "tier", to the third and four "tiers" of neighborhoods.
Across Burlington Bay, 9.2 kms (5.75 miles), the hospital where I was born!
Looking north toward Lake Ontario and the steel mills. Behind you can see the Toronto skyline. The CN Tower is 61 kms (38 miles) from the side of the Mountain, where I took this photo.
Mad prophets! Someone has been posting these around town since I was a kid.
Rock Castle, the front door of which is inacessible from any surface street. The mansion itself is about 150 feet above the lower city, with two "tiers" of houses about 80 feet and 30 feet below it. I took this photo from a trail about 20 feet below.
The entrance of the apartment building on the right is about 30 feet below Rock Castle, though it towers over the mansion.
This is the trail I was on.
This bunker may or may not lead to the dungeons of Rock Castle.
THIS is the path to the castle door. It is private property...
...so I'll pretend to be lost!
Walking up the Jolly Cut. That's the back of Rock Castle on the left. Part of it, anyway.
Walking back down the James Street Hill...
My destination. It was lunchtime, so I had a burger and coffee.
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I love it when classic architecture is kept around and continues to be used, instead of demolishing and rebuilding every 40-50 years like they do down here.
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They have a Cathedral. To SCIENCE.
Seriously, though, anytime I've been there for AC, it was like Hamilton crossed with Dark City.
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Pittsburgh Building - Deco - Mundelein College
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Our financial management company (MD Management) used to have their offices in that Medical Arts building on 1 Young St.
Have you ever noticed that they used to build "Medical Arts" buildings, and now they build, "Health Sciences" Centres?
I much prefer the former.
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I can see my house from here!
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One of the two mills announced a "temporary closing" today. I'm worried sick about the city, even though I'm in Toronto now.
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But while 500,000 of ours is "urban" (living in the original city), only 80,000 or so people in Youngstown live in the original city. Maybe the rest is just smaller cities surrounding it that were just incorporated into the city on paper while not being part of it?
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Cleveland is slightly more comparable.
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I've not been to Cleveland, but I hear the unofficial motto of Cleveland and Cincinati is "We don't do that here!"
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"Youngstown: Visit for the heartbreak, stay because your car was stolen."
"Lordstown: Visit to see the GM plant; one of the only places you can actually smell fear in the air."
"Craig Beach: Trust me, it really is only marginally better than the movie Deliverance."
Actually, though, I do love Ohio. It has its good and bad points, like all places.
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That's really fast.
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Doug.
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Fun note - I knew a girl who used to live in Rock Castle. At least, I THINK she did. We had to pick her up for a church activity and I remember going up to the house to knock on the door - IN THE DARK! It was very odd.
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I know exactly what you mean! Anytime I've been at or aruond St. Joes for bloodwork or a hospital visit, I take the time to wander about a bit and explore the nooks and crannies. I love that little stretch of store in the limestone buildings - it looks like it's been teleported from Kingston. However, I'm always a bit disappointed to realize that "Wizards" is a beauty parlour.
I wondered about Rock Castle for years, because it just seemed to hang there, stuck on the the middle of the escarpment. I think I was nearly 30 before I found the actual front path.
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Lee.
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Lee.