Classic Camera Revival – GAS Meet II

When it comes to podcasts, Classic Camera Revival may not be the biggest out there, but like any Internet project, you’re sort of shouting into the void and hoping that someone might hear you. And in the case of CCR, people heard and we have a group of listeners. And a group of fans that reach from beyond Canada. Not bad. So in light of our first meet, we promised that we would host the second meetup in 2018. So, using details from my own trips into the historic downtown of Cambridge, formerly known as Galt, and from the daily walks by Tom Fournier, a meetup was conceived. And for me, putting it after the first week of start-of-term would be a perfect decompression after the craziness that is start-of-term. Gear wise, I pretty much stuck to a single camera, the Minolta XE-7 as well as borrowing Jame Lee’s M6 (but that’s for a camera review, so those photos won’t be included here).

For the most part, we stuck to the downtown core, with a bit going a little further afield to the old Southworks Shopping Centre, a former industrial site turned outlet mall, now under construction and conversion to condos. Sadly we couldn’t legally get into the interesting parts of the works, so we moved on crossing the Grand River on approach back into the core. It’s amazing how much old architecture has been preserved through Galt’s downtown core, so it makes sense that shows like the Handmaid’s Tale and Murdoch Mysteries are filmed here. There’s way more than even Hamilton’s downtown.

We managed to get a great view of the core from Founder’s Point, however to my surprise there was no plaque for the founding of Galt, it would have been helpful for my on-going 1867 project which touches on the town’s namesake John Galt, not for the founding of Galt itself, but for his work with the Canada Company and the settlement of the Huron Tract. But one thing I was able to enjoy was the recently restored post office, fresh from a long project and now free of the scaffolding. It certainly made a unique look on downtown coming in from not my usual direction.

There also was a brief stop as John, Bill, and I checked out Phidon Pens, a local stationary and fine writing shop. Certainly worth a return visit! From there we headed back towards the river to check out the old mill ruins, and by that point I had to switch up cameras and film. It’s one thing I’ve started doing is bringing a second body and lens with on these walks along with plenty of film. So going with the Nikon F5 is certainly a contrast to the XE-7.

By the time I had wandered through the old Mill Race Ruins, it was time for lunch, so I headed to our final meeting spot. The Black Badger again carries the historic flair of the rest of the down and looks like a traditional English Pub, both outside and inside. Certainly worth a stop if you’re looking for a place to eat and rest if you’re in the downtown.

A big thanks to all who took the time to attend, it certainly makes these events worthwhile both in attending and planning them! If you want to see all my photos from the day, check out the rest of my images in the Flickr Album!