Rideau Canal

I spent part of this past spring and summer photographing the locks on the Rideau Canal system. I am not a boater so it was fun visiting places that I would not usually see. Many of the locks are very close to highways and visiting them is a bit like dropping into a parallel universe, always there but just out of sight. I wonder what else we miss by not looking. I am planning to visit some of them again to shoot photos in autumn colours. The locks south of Westport tend to be set in especially scenic forest locations.

This is the 175th year of the building of the Rideau Canal system and it was declared a World Heritage Site in conjunction with that anniversary. Before reading the related media coverage, I had no idea that the waterway routinely attracts international visitors. What I can tell you is that on weekends there are long waits at some of the more popular locks. I overheard one heated discussion between a boater and lock station attendant one Saturday afternoon at Chaffey's Locks. Arguing about the slow progress seemed like a waste of time to me; locks can only operate in one direction at a time and can only hold a limited number of boats. Movement on the system is leisurely at best. I guess that's what happens when Type A personalities go on vacation.

There are cemetaries along the system containing the graves of some of the men who worked on the building of the canal. I guess that carving and moving heavy stones in untamed bush can take its toll. I was surprised to find out that malaria was a common cause of death during construction.

I photographed the locks for fun, but I have also made them available for sale on the Quickpixels stock photo site whose link appears on this page. (A search using "RRR" shows all my photographs, but a search using only the keyword "Rideau" instead will restrict the selection. Many photographers are represented by that site so you may see similar pictures from others when doing a keyword search.)

Most of the lock stations have picnic facilities and some include riverside parks with historic displays and museums. People will be travelling from all over the world to see the system and it’s right here in our own backyard. And visiting is free. The picture above was taken at the Hartley Lock, a short walk from Carleton University here in Ottawa.