Todmorden Mills

Yellow House at Todmorden Mills, Toronto, March 2013

Last Friday I went to Todmorden Mills, a heritage site in Toronto adjacent to a wildflower preserve.  Todmorden Mills is off Pottery Road, near Bayview Avenue and the Don Valley Parkway, so this visually beautiful place has a backdrop of rushing traffic.  Often I cannot shut out the distressing sound of the cars, but was able to accept them this day and focus on the physical scene.  Indeed, a disturbing part of living in the city is the necessity of shutting down senses at times as a form of self-preservation.

Wildflower preserve by Todmorden Mills, Toronto, March 2013

Wildflower Preserve adjacent to Todmorden Mills, Toronto, March 2013

However, last week as I walked around the grounds I did enjoy the snow that hadn’t fully melted in the valley, the trees, shrubs, stream and old buildings.  I imagined what the land this city sits on might have looked like in the late 1700s when a sawmill and grist mill were built here.  The strangeness of roaring cars and trucks adjacent to the remains of this old community brought forth feelings I’ve had before about being in two worlds.  And, at the same time, I felt refreshed by spending an hour or so in this bit of preserved nature and history in the midst of the city.

At Todmorden Mills, Toronto, March 2013

Todmorden Mills, March 2013 with the Brick Works Shuttle Bus passing by on Pottery Road