The Claude Presbyterian Church in Caledon, Ontario on Hwy 10 just south of Olde Base Line Rd.

Ever since moving up to Caledon I’ve wanted to photograph this church, I’ve always thought it looked unique and interesting but just never got around to it, I finally managed to do it last weekend and was even able to capture it with some blue sky in the winter, a feat in itself. Photo taken with my standard lens and processed in Photomatix software.

The church dates back to 1870 with the congregation going back even further to 1843, extensive renovations & restorations were also made in 1992. For a full history on the building click here to see their website that has a detailed history about the church. For more info on Church’s current activities their website is here: www.claudechurch.com

Here is a photo I took this past weekend of the Toronto Skyline from Caledon, I forget the exact location but I think it was somewhere along Old School Rd/Healey Rd. I think it shows a good contrast of the urban epicentre looking over the farm lands of the rual Caledon area. Still hard to believe this was taken in what should be the dead of winter yet it looks like and feels like fall still with all this unusual weather.

This is an abandoned house on King Road just slightly west of The Gore Road in Caledon, Ontario just outside of Bolton. This isn’t your typical abandoned house, the condition of the place is very good (from the outside at least), the brick work is nice the roof stillin good condition, windows still there although the bottoms of them are boarded to try to prevent intruders. I can’t find out much info about this house, so if anyone knows please drop me a line, the address is 7403 and it has been abandoned at least 2 years if not longer. Photos were taken earlier in the year with my zoom lens, click on the pictures for larger photos.

 

It’s not often that I see deer in the morning in the back field behind me, most of the time I see them at dusk and they seem to follow a routine pattern along these Caledon hills and fields. However this one early October morning I saw two deer outside and managed to snap a few photos of them as they munched some breakfast in the field. Snapped with my super zoom lens and adjusted only the contrast of the photos in Photoshop, click on the images to view larger photos.

    

The Cedar Waxwing bird, a new arrival this year to my Caledon backyard or at the very least I never noticed them until now. These Cedar Waxwing birds started hanging out on this one dead tree and would eat some berries from a bush further below. I took these photos with my big 50-500mm zoom lens and enhanced the lighting on the Photomatix software. Cedar Waxwing birds breed in open wooded areas in North America, principally southern Canada and the northern United States areas. These birds’ most prominent feature is a small cluster of bright red feathers on the wings, the tail is typically yellow or orange depending on diet. The Cedar Waxwing eats berries and sugary fruit year-round, with insects becoming an important part of the diet in the breeding season. For more info on Cedar Waxing birds, click here. Also to see larger photos of each image click on the photos.

Previously I posted some photos of the Cheltenham Brick Works (see the article here), today I have some interior shots to show you what it currently looks like inside. As you can see the buildings are mostly empty and have fallen to disrepair, graffiti and vandalism is also a problem. It also becomes quite apparent from the empty beer bottles/cans that people use the buildings to party at night. There is also evidence of small fires in and around the buildings which worries me a great deal, as you can see in one of the pictures below the wood structure inside is still in very good shape but it wouldn’t take much for a bunch of reckless people starting a fire that could bring the whole thing down. From the outside the buildings still look great but its really a shame more isn’t being done to preserve and perhaps even restore the inside of these historic buildings.

This photo is of a typical Caledon, Ontario hay field which was cut down and baled up earlier this month. The hay fields are usually cut down late June to early July depending on the weather and if the farmers are lucky sometimes they can get a second cut in the fall. The hay is mainly used for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Once hay is cut, dried and raked into windrows, it is usually gathered into bales or bundles, then hauled to a central location for storage. Hay must be fully dried when baled and kept dry in storage. This photo was taken with my Olympus DSLR and zoom lens and processed with the Photomatix software and adjusted ever so slightly with Photoshop. To see a larger version of this image click on the photo above.

Here are another two horses showing some love to each other, part of my continuing photo series of horses in the Caledon, Ontario area. Click on the above image for a larger picture.

Ever since my fiance bought her first horse I have photographed a large number of horse photos, this will be the first of a series of pictures of horses taken in the Caledon, Ontario area.

The Cheltenham Brick Works located on Mississauga Rd. just a little bit north of King St. is an old abandoned but preserved fromer brickyard complex, it is not well known and I actually came across it by accident while driving around in Caledon but quite glad I found it. Even though it is fenced off it is easily accessible as people have made holes in the fense to access it.

The Cheltenham Brick Works is very interesting as it is a good example of our industrial era history. Established in 1912 and in full operation by 1914, the brickyard was the first in Canada to mass produce bricks, shipping to national and international markets by truck and rail. The area was rich in “medina shale” which was a hard clay that made excellent bricks when fired in kilns.

In 1914, the Interprovincial Brick Company took over the brick making operations on Mississauga Road to expand their own brick making operations. Six downdraft kilns and one continuously firing kiln allowed the company to produce 90,000 bricks at once. Its workforce living largely on-site or in nearby villages, the brickyard was an important economic stimulant to the local rural community for many years.

The brick making at the Cheltenham Brick Works continued until 1958 when the Interprovincial Brick Company ceased operatons and it was left vacant. Domtar took over the site and demolished the workers homes. In 1993 Brampton Brick reopened the brick yards for shale extraction and they have preserved the remaining original brick works.

I have enhanced the photos slightly with the program Photomatix to bring out the color a little more, click on the images to open larger versions. I also have a number of inside shots of the Cheltenham Brick Works that I will be posting soon.