Skip to main content

Binkley Neighbours

Ken and Glen, taking Restore Cootes on a history hike today in Lot M. 
Nothing like living history as Ken and Glen, who are neighbours on Binkley Crescent above McMaster's Lot M parking, took Restore Cootes on a very informative hike through the property between their homes and the parking lot on this beautiful autumn morning.

Binkley's Pond, looking south-westerly from what is now McMaster Parking.
Image from "West Hamilton: A village and a Church" by David N. Jardine
Do we know where Binkley's Pond was? Now we do. It most definitely was fed by the springs still bringing water to the surface on the southern hills sloping toward the parking lots. The pond was partially man-made by using some earthwork to hold the spring water from the streams forming to the south of the wetland/now parking. Later, when the Royal Botanical Gardens owned the land, the pond was diminished in size as the spring fed streams were allowed to return to a more natural flow, snaking northward into Coldspring/Ancaster creek, but as Glen recalls, there was still enough of a pond to skate on in the winter, even with the changes.

We also learned a lot about the Binkley pioneer family's many farm holdings, which shared water resources based both on the Dundas side of Binkley Hollow (i.e. west and north of lot M) and the Hamilton side (i.e. south of Lot M), and Glen helped us to see the former roadways leading from the original Binkley Farm (on Sanders Blvd) above the parking lots and behind the houses on Binkley Cresent.

Ken and Glen join many others from the community and the campus with an interest in seeing McMaster rehabilitate the natural environment in what is now Lot M. It was great of them to share the time and history with us today as we piece together the story of this former wetland.

An update on progress regarding Lot M is coming soon. There's some good news, and (potentially) not-so-good news as well...stay tuned!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

a vision for nature in Cootes

View the Eco-Park Document here Make Cootes national park, group urges TheSpec.com - Local - Make Cootes national park, group urges Create eco-park in urbanized area Eric McGuinness , The Hamilton Spectator (Jan 28, 2009) The idea of a Cootes Paradise National Park is being revived by local conservationists. But they say it is jeopardized by plans for a self-storage warehouse beside the Desjardins Canal at the east entrance to Dundas. They point to a new vision of an urban eco-park -- maybe a national park -- incorporating the Cootes marsh, drafted by Urban Strategies Inc., the firm responsible for McMaster University's campus master plan among other Hamilton projects. Joe Berridge, a partner who has helped reshape waterfronts in Toronto, New York and London, produced the concept document at the invitation of Ben Vanderbrug, retired general manager of the Hamilton Conservati

McMaster's Parking Problem: Next Level

I'm sharing a recent article published in the Dundas Star News about McMaster's plan to build a - get this - $17-million dollar parking structure. Seventeen million. Yes, $17,000,000.00 That's a lot of money to provide temporary shelter for vehicles of people who choose to drive to campus. We will be following this closely. Here's the article.  Cootes Drive six-storey McMaster University parking garage under review Variances or amendment to zoning bylaw expected to permit parking structure Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News, Friday, March 5, 2021 Zoning bylaw variances, or amendments, could be required for a planned six-storey, 567-space McMaster University parking garage west of Cootes Drive, and north of Thorndale Crescent. University spokesperson Michelle Donavon said the $17-million structure on parking lot K at Westaway Road will help ongoing efforts to re-naturalize parts of the west campus, by moving some surface parking into the structure. “These plans will increa

Where did the water go? Art action in Lot M Parking

West Campus Eco-Art Project  A walking activity and site activation on McMaster’s West Campus.  West Campus Eco-Art Project is a project that incorporates creative walking activities and an artistic site activation connected with the West Campus Redesign Initiative at McMaster University. The initiative provides opportunities for connecting with nature through an on-line informational video, walking excursions and creative activities that deepen knowledge and experience with place in all its complexities (social history, citizen science, ecology and diversity).  Focusing on the Coldwater creek valley on McMaster’s West Campus, participants will learn about the history and unique features of the area and will be invited to then engage with the site through observation, sketching and stencil-making. Stencils will be used to paint text and image on the parking lot asphalt to delineate a blue line that marks an historic water route.  The project is supported by the McMaster Museum of Art (