More to see in Thornbury, Ontario, than we expected!

Beautiful old houses in Thornbury

While vacationing in Collingwood, we visited Thornbury, a small town about a twenty minute drive from where we were staying.

A perennial garden with Hosta plants

 

We could  find a spot and parked our car easily in the main street area.

Strolling around town, we passed by some beautiful houses with  nice perennial gardens

Shops in the downtown area, Thornbury, Ontario

Like so many small rural towns in Ontario, the business area is usually located on one main street of the town.

Stores in the downtown area

Though a town with a population of around 2200 people -  2011, Statistics Canada (web), there were quite a number of nice shops and stores on the main street downtown area.

 Along with some fine furniture and interior design stores, we saw at least two bakery cafe restaurants.

Ashanti Cafe & Bakery in Thornbury

We found our new favorite coffee shop -

Ashanti Cafe and Bakery which we visited in Collingwood.

We ordered some coffee and  homemade pastries. Yummy!  Using the WiFi. we checked emails and read the newspaper.  Thai Curry Chicken Coconut Soup was offered as the soup of the day. It was O.K.

Catering to a more mature crowd, Ashanti was a  comfortable place to stop for coffee and a bite to eat in downtown Thornbury.

We visited Thornbury more than twenty year ago and remembered the Thornbury Harbour well.

Thornbury Harbour

It was a cool, grey day on the day we visited the town, therefore there were not a lot of actions at the harbour.

Thornbury City Hall

 There were more to see in Thornbury than we expected!

When we were here many years ago, we stood on the Thornbury Bridge over the Beaver River and watched in amazement the salmon run for the very first time in our lives!

Beaver River, Thornbury

The scenery of the river was just as beautiful and peaceful as we remembered.

This time, the place looked not just prettier but with more consideration and help for the salmon fish and their next many generations!!

The Thornbury Dam

Since Thornbury has a dam,  it is almost impassable for the salmon fish returning to their spawning ground  each year.

After some careful study and planning by the town, a ladder like structure was built to enable the salmon to swim upstream gradually and get to their spawning grounds to lay their eggs.

Some generous towns people donated money to build a long wooden stairs with viewing platforms leading to the banks of the river. 

A  viewing platform was built recently

Some generous towns people donated money to build a long wooden stairs with viewing platforms leading to the banks of the river.  

Folks visiting the dam could sit on a bench to rest and enjoy the scenery. It would be a great place to watch the salmon run during the fall seasons as well.

An old wooden bridge in Thornbury

We had a great day in Thornbury visiting the shops, and enjoying the scenery along the river. 

We look forward to coming back to watch the salmon run in the fall!

R.T.

Thornbury, Ontario