Discovering my Roots

I've been spending quite a bit of time lately delving into my heritage. I've had a little knitting heritage project on the go (more about that in the near future), and I recently started recording my family history at ancestry.ca. It's amazing how much genealogy you can dig up in just a few hours of internet research. The next step will be picking the brains of my relatives and undertaking a little research at the provincial archives, just up the hill (I love living downtown!)

Cabot Tower (built in 1897), atop Signal Hill

I've also been rediscovering some of the great walks and historic areas of the city. A hike last evening on Signal Hill proved a little chilly, and the trails were very icy, but I'm sure we'll be heading back up there when the weather warms up a little. The hill, overlooking the very strategic narrow entrance to the harbour, still bear physical signs of a military history dating back to the eighteenth century, and as recent as artillery from the Second World War.

Fort Amherst, as seen from Signal Hill. The grey structures below the lighthouse are the remains of a WWII gun battery

What an amazing, rugged bit of coastline we live on. It's prettier and a little greener on a sunny summer day, but sometimes you have to wonder what the first settlers from Europe were thinking when they made landfall and decided to call this home.