Woodstock, ON

A year ago we happened to be driving through Woodstock, Ontario on Easter Sunday, on our way to visit my sister in nearby Shakespeare, Ontario for Easter dinner. We ended up taking a wrong turn in Woodstock and came across what was left of a beautiful turn of the century Church.

Only the front wall was still standing in what had been St. Mary's Catholic Church. After doing a little research I found out the property had been sold and the front of the Church had been preserved and was to be incorporated into a senior's home to be built on the property.

Little did I know at the time that a year later I would be living only 15 minutes away from Woodstock, in Tavistock. I recently drove around Woodstock trying to locate the property again and to see if there had been any further progress on the site.

Nothing had changed since my last visit. The beautiful facade remains with perhaps a bit of deterioration. The fence around the Church remains but there is no sign of activity.

I felt very sad when I came across a photo of the whole Church as it looked prior to demolition. A fellow member of Flickr had taken some shots of the abandoned Church before demolition occurred. I've included that photo by Phrenzee below.

I have a hard time seeing historic buildings destroyed. While I applaud the intent of the retirement home to incorporate the front of St. Mary's into their plans, I wonder when this will ever happen. The longer the structure sits as is, the more it will deteriorate, perhaps to the point that the developer may nix their original plans.

This is all speculation on my part as I have no information to prove me right or wrong, only that over a year has gone by since I noticed this grand old structure and I have no idea how long before that, it had been demolished.

Today I'd just like to share the beauty of this once fine gathering place and I hope that it does survive in another form to be enjoyed and admired.

St. Mary's Church - Woodstock, Ontario - Photo by Phrenzee - Before demolition

All that remains of St. Mary's Church - Front shot

St. Mary's Church from the back - All that remains of a grand old Lady

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First came blogging, then came photography, then came hiking.  When I first started blogging it soon became apparent that I should add photos to my posts to create some additional interest.  With all the copyright issues I knew I wasn't supposed to "borrow" photos from other sources without permission.

So I decided I'd have to create my own photos.  I had never had an interest in photography before but I purchased a half decent digital camera and went to work in my community snapping photos of anything relevant for my upcoming posts.

Who knew that being forced to supply my own work would lead to a keen interest in nature photography.  My fellow bloggers know that the camera now goes out the door with me everytime I leave the house as you never know when a great photo op will occur or when you just might capture one of life's magical moments.

My desire to find those photo opportunities led me to begin exploring local conservation areas, hiking trails, historic sites, country roads, lakes, rivers, parks, escarpments and much more.

My constant companion is my dog Lola who sits patiently as I stop to search out the birds I hear but can't see and ponder at what different angles I can shoot a flower, tree, duck, or whatever catches my fancy.  Now that we have moved to a new community I am excited about exploring many new spots with Lola.

So far we have checked out a number of local conservation areas and we will keep exploring and enjoying all that Mother Nature has to offer.

It's been three weeks since we moved to Tavistock in Oxford County. We are fairly well settled in and it was a relatively balmy - 1 degrees C. so I figured it was a great day for a Sunday drive. I checked out a few places that I wanted to visit, put my dog Lola in the back seat and hit the road.

Our first stop was at the Embro Pond Conservation Trail. Unfortunately the snow was still pretty deep and I'd go a few steps before I would end up knee deep with one leg. It was also pretty noisy as for some reason there was machinery taking down trees. I'm not sure what that is all about but will go back soon when the snow melts a bit more.

Our next stop was to the One-Of-A-Kind Antique Mall in Woodstock, Ontario. Two floors of a very old building jam packed with furniture, glassware, jewelry, memorabilia and everything else including the kitchen sink. There is no way you could take it all in in one visit.

Our final destination was to Roth Park on the South side of Pittock Lake in Woodstock. This will be a great spot to explore more when the better weather comes. Today the trail was quite icy so we didn't venture too far.

Lola and I both enjoyed our walks and the fresh air. I'm looking forward to venturing out soon to do some more exploring in my new area.

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My 6 Fearless Predictions

I'm going out on a limb and share my predictions for the real estate market in the next few months of 2010. Now these predictions are for my area in southern Ontario so they may not apply to your area. But it is always fun to compare one market to another.

Here are my 6 predictions:

* Over the next few months well priced homes will sell

* Over priced homes will sit on the market unsold

* First time Buyers will continue to buy unless they stop

* A Sellers house is alway worth more than their neighbours, no matter how much smaller

* Some Seniors will be looking to downsize

* Most homebuyers will mortgage their new home

So there they are, feel free to check back in a few months to see if I'm right. If not than I guess I should change jobs, maybe a weather man or an economist.

Jamie Woodend
Sales Representative
Remax a-b Realty Ltd Brokerage
88 Wellington Street
Stratford, Ontario, N5A 2L2
519-273-2821 ext 229 Office
519-949-0345 Cell