Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Details:

What: Durham Driving Tour
When: Sunday February 14th 2010
Time: 9AM
Where: Tim Horton's at Kingston Rd. & Sheppard Ave E. (Just east)
Bring: Camera, Tripod, etc...

No plans for Valentine's day? My wife is working night's... so we're celebrating it another day. Come join us on a tour of Durham region. We'll explore some of my favorite secret and not so secret spots to shoot. From Whitevale, and beyond.... we'll go to some cool places such as Altona, Brougham, Uxbridge, Udora, Tyrone, and more. We should be done by sundown, and if folks want, we can find a spot for dinner somewhere in the hood.

If you are TTC bound, the meetup location is TTC accessible, or you can arrange a ride here within this post with fellow members. This is a driving tour, and I will be working on an itinerary which I will post by the end of the week, so that you can have a copy.

The meetup location is as follows:
7337 Kingston Road
Scarborough, just east of Sheppard on Kingston Rd.

Hope you can make it out! If you have to leave a bit early in order to spend some quality time with you significant other, we understand.

dibs on the back seat Maureen if your driving snoooorrr...

Sure Randy, no problem. You called it, you've got it - one of the back seats of the van.

I think you like it back there. lol

Where's the field of "Won't be in the country, dammit"?

This was an event I wanted to go to. Alas, Trinidad just slightly trumps it.

Thanks Maureen

I am interested to join. Can anyone offer a ride for the trip from the meeting place?

Or the field for New Years :S

I can give you a ride from the meeting place, if you like.

Chris just click on "lover would kill me". Everyone will understand.

Hi,

Sounds great. Road Trip! Maureen, can I get a ride with you?

Sure Pam, you can have a ride too.

does anyone want to ride with me? I was planning to drive. Or is Maureen doing all the driving now?

I'm a maybe but can give a ride if I do go. Coming from either west end or downtown (not sure yet).

Only if one of the organizers amends it to read "lovers will kill me"

I'd love to go, but would need a ride from Port Credit/ Mississauga.
Is anyone going from that direction?

Not coming from the west..... and now I have a car-mate! Yay.

Thanks Maureen ......

I think some thought you would be in the van in shot gun seat, but since you have to come in from Ajax, I knew you would be driving.

Glad to hear your not alone anymore.

I had NO idea Durham was so much fun.

Sadly I'll be in the country but don't even dare risk the wrath of my significant other by attending...plus I think it is Chinese New Years that weekend.

what is there to photograph there?

thanks

That is for you to find out! Are you coming? Its kinda like a magical mystery tour.... but as mentioned, there are lots of towns in Durham with pioneer heritage roots. Such as Cherrywood, Whitevale, Altona, Uxbridge, Udora, Tyrone, etc. Many of the towns have old buildings such as mills, train station's and church's that date back to the mid 1800's.


David

Sounds interesting, I will definitely need to see the schedule for that day before I can confirm. Any idea roughly when the event will end?

thanks

Can't say for sure, but I would guestimate around 5pm, but then again, some of us are probably going for dinner, and you're welcome to join. I haven't got the schedule together yet, and will be working on that most likely tomorrow.

look forward to seeing the schedule. Thanks

I will take a crack at convincing my spouse that this is a good idea. We will see how it goes.

Alright I am officially in for my first ever TPMG event after lurking about for far to long. I am going to bring one other guy along if all works out.

I'm still looking for a ride if anyone is coming from my area (Mississauga
Lakeshore area. I will share gas expenses and am a good navigator.

OK.... folks are interested in where we are going. This is VERY rough! And I've had a difficult time trying to put together a map, so forget it... I will describe it instead. (I've been busy, before you tell me how easy it is to put together a map).


We start the morning off by meeting at Kingston Rd. & Sheppard Ave. at the Tim Horton's. Its listed above. WE ARE LEAVING AT 9:10am promptly. You miss the boat...... here is where we are going first.

1. We will drive east on Kingston Road, then head north on Altona Rd. Turning at 3rd Concession Rd. to the town of Cherrywood. We will stop breifly at Cherrywood, this is a pioneer community, which might make for some interesting pics. (approx. 15mins, arrive at 9:25, depart by 9:35a.)

2. We will head back to Altona Rd. and turning right head north again to Whitevale Road. Turning right - east on this road to the town of Whitevale. Whitevale has a feedmill, and historic buildings. We will stop for roughly 10-15 minutes. (approx. 15mins travel time, arrive at 9:50am, depart by 10:05pm.

3. From Whitevale, we will head west on Whitevale Road to the York-Durham townline, turning right to head north to the Pickering/Uxbridge townline, turning right to the town of Altona. Altona is a small town, with a collection of interesting buildings that are possibly destined for a future of demolition. This town will possibly one day be part of the "Pickering Airport" (travel time is roughly 15 mins, we will arive approx at 10:20am, with 15 minutes stop. Depart at 10:35am)

4. Heading east on the Pickering/Uxbridge townline, we will head east to Westney road. At Westney Road, take a right to head back south. Drive south to 9th Concession Road [highway 5], and turn left heading east to the hamlet of Balsam. At the hamlet of Balsam, turn left onto Balsam Road. Heading north on Balsam, we will come into the ghost town of Glen Major. We will stop at the Glen Major Church arriving roughly around 10:50am. There will be roughly a 10 minute stop to photograph this pioneer church dating back to the 1860's. This is also where I got married in October of '08. (we will leave around 11:10am).

5. Next we will head north to the Town of Uxbridge. We will drive due north up Balsam road which becomes Uxbridge county road 7. In Uxbridge, we have a number of locations that we can shoot. I am also suggesting this as our Lunch location. There is a restaurant on Main Street called "The Hobbyhorse" which is the oldest house in Uxbridge, and its a great pub. I suggest we head here for lunch after shooting.

Uxbridge has a number of historic buildings including The Music Hall, Churches, Fire Hall, Library, Train Station, and Feed Mill. We will give ourselves an hour to shoot in Uxbridge, then head for lunch for roughly another hour, so we will aim to leave Uxbridge around 1:30-1:45pm.

6. The town of Udora is one of the most northern towns in Durham, just at the very north border of the region. We will head north on county road 1 from Uxbridge which goes straight to Udora. In Udora, we will visit the Udora Feedmill. It is just off of the highway, so we need to find a safe place to park. We will arrive roughly around 2pm. 15 minutes should be plenty of time, departing by 2:15pm.

7. Tryone is a small community where the Tyrone Mill is located. Tyrone Mill has some very tasty treats! They make their own donuts fresh onsite. They also sell tarts, and other treats. And its a fantastic place to shoot.... an operating flour mill and water powered wood shop.

The easiest route to get to Tyrone is to head south on Lakeridge, and then east onto highway 7 which eventually turns into durham road 3. Following this road leads directly into Tyrone. From Udora, we will have left around 2:15pm, it will take probably 35 minutes to get to Tyrone, arriving at 3pm-ish. We will spend at least 30 minutes in Tyrone - maybe more depending on people's wishes. We also have the option of stopping at the Brooklin Flourmill on the way to Tyrone.

I am estimating that the day will conclude around 3:30 - 4pm. But that doesn't mean we have to stop there. There are a few more places that we can go, but when we arrive at Tyrone we can decide from there what we want to do. There are mills in Bowmanville that we can visit - such as Vanstone Mill, and the Cream Of Barley Mill. There are also a collelction of antique english phone booths which I can lead the group to.

I will be coping my mapbook, and highlighting the locations for those who are driving.


David

Just a reminder that the TTC subway doesn't open until 9:00 on Sundays. You have to take the blue night network to get there. Maybe I'm the only one who didn't realize that until this morning, but I thought I'd share anyway.

Thanks for mentioning that.... I am sure if you talk nicely to Maureen, she might be able to meet folks at a closer point in Scarborough.