Save Our Lighthouses
Marc Seguin has posted lighthouses at risk and lighthouses already lost.
Posts tagged with “Ontario”
A Tribute to Jeff Chapman: RIP Ninjalicious
Jeff Chapman (1973 - 2005) #RIPNinjalicious
Jeff Chapman was a Canadian urban explorer, known as Ninjalicious. Jeff published Access All Areas and the founder of Infiltration, zines and website.
"It's the thrill of discovery that fascinates me. Yes, I know I'm not the first person there, but I can honestly say I found it and I earned the experience for myself. After exploring for a while, you get a wonderful feeling that you're "in on" the secret workings of cities. You know what's under your feet and what's behind the closed doors and what the city looks like from the highest office towers, while almost everyone around you only ever looks at the public areas and never truly pays attention to urban structures unless they've paid admission to take a look." - Jeff Chapman/ Ninjalicious
Source: Interview at Philadelphia City Paper with Neil Gladstone (1998?)
This month, August 2015, marks ten years since Jeff Chapman passed away. I thought someone should post in his honour. I never met him personally. I did email with him, twice. I met his wife, Liz, at a Broken Pencil Zine Festival in Toronto.
I attended the Festival to buy Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration, see some of Jeff's (and other publishers) zines and take a look at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. I was just beginning to explore with a digital camera then. Before that I just didn't know what I was doing had a name (and film was expensive!).
A tribute can still be found at the Toronto Architectural Conservancy
Jeff Chapman (September 19, 1973 -- August 23, 2005), better known by the pseudonym Ninjalicious, was a Toronto-based urban explorer, fountaineer, writer and founder of the urban exploration zine Infiltration: the zine about going places you're not supposed to go. He was also a prominent author and editor for YIP magazine, as well as its website, Yip.org. Chapman attended York University in the early 1990s and later studied book and magazine publishing at Centennial College. He went on to serve as Editor at History Magazine and as Director of the Toronto Architectural Conservancy board.
Chapman died of cholangiocarcinoma on Tuesday, August 23, 2005 --- three years after a successful liver transplant at Toronto General Hospital (a location he loved to explore). He was 31 years old.
Source: Wikipedia: Ninjalicious
Toronto's own late Jeff Chapman (a.k.a. "Ninjalicious") published his first printed issue of Infiltration, "The zine about going places you're not supposed to go," in 1996. Though Toronto may not live in the imagination of people around the world, Chapman made this city's sewers famous for his global readers. His work lives on in Access all Areas, his book published just before his death to cancer in 2005, and at infiltration.org.
Source: Shawn Micallef: Getting to know Toronto's sewers
Under the alias Ninjalicious is where Jeff made his biggest mark. In his early twenties he spent long periods of time in the hospital battling various diseases. Often bored, he and his IV pole would go exploring the hospital, investigating the basement, peaking behind doors, looking for interesting rooms and equipment. It was here his love for the under explored side of buildings developed, and upon returning to health he created Infiltration -- the zine about going places you're not supposed to go.
Infiltration has had a profound influence on urban exploration in Toronto and around the world, as evidenced by the hundreds of tributes left for him in the Urban Exploration Resource forum. Ninjalicious had a strong code of ethics which he promoted, including no stealing or vandalizing while exploring. Issue 1, all about Ninj's beloved Royal York Hotel, was published in 1996, and the zine was continually published throughout the years ending most recently with Issue 25: Military Leftovers.
Source: Sean Lerner: Torontoist: Death of a Ninja
About ten years ago I was in a Toronto bookshop and found a copy of Infiltration. Subtitled "the zine about going places you're not supposed to go", it was devoted to the escapades of the author, Jeff Chapman --- or "Ninjalicious", to use his nom de plume --- as he explored the many off-limits areas in famous Toronto buildings such as the Royal York hotel, CN Tower, or St. Mike's Hospital. In each issue, Chapman would pick a new target and infiltrate it --- roaming curiously around, finding hilarious secrets, then describing it with effervescently witty delight. Chapman had the best prose of any zine author I've read anywhere. Many zinesters are clever, of course, but Chapman wrote with a 19th-century literary journalist's attention to detail; nothing escaped his notice, from the relative fluffiness of the towels in executive lounges to the color of the rust pools in a mysterious, hangar-sized room buried below Toronto's subway system.
Source: Clive Thompson: Collision Detection: R.I.P. "Ninjalicious" --- the founder of urban exploration
infiltration The zine about going places you're not supposed to go, like tunnels, abandoned buildings, rooftops, hotel pools and more.
Source: Infiltration
See also:
- This American Life from WBEZ: Audio interview with Ira Glass
- The original thread from the UER forum.
- Broken Pencil: 50 People (And Places) We Love
- Broken Pencil: Access All Areas: Remembering Ninjalicious and Infiltration Zine
cancon
what is it that attracts you to going where you're not supposed to go?Ninjalicious
Healthy human curiosity about the workings of the world I live in, of course. I mean, it's free, it's fun and it hurts no one. A harder-to-answer question would be: why doesn't everyone?cancon
what are the tools of your trade?Ninjalicious
Usually I travel very lightly, with a pen, paper, a Swiss army knife, a camera and a flashlight. That's about all the equipment I need to have a good time in 90% of the places I visit. I take along more specialized equipment, such as rubber boots or various props, for specific targets.
West Rouge: On the Edge of Toronto
I grew up in the community of West Rouge. I went to school at West Rouge Public School. I wasn't born there, we moved from the urban area of Toronto, but West Rouge is the place I remember when I think about being a kid, going to school and growing up to attend Joseph Howe Senior Public School (the first year the junior high school opened) and then Sir Oliver Mowat C.I.
West Rouge is a neighbourhood located in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the city suburbs of Scarborough. The community is bordered by Lake Ontario to the south, the Rouge River to the east, Highland Creek to the west and Kingston Road to the north. The area was once known as the town of Port Union.
I've Had a Copy of this Book for Many Years
West Rouge Community and Links
Port Union/ West Rouge History
Port Union is part of the Highland Creek community. The old town lines are located in the south east corner of Lawrence Avenue and Port Union Road.
Port Union thrived as a ship-building and fishing community. The opening of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1856 started the decline of Port Union's shipping industry as the railroad industry grew. In the 1940s, Port Union returned to its nautical roots with the reintroduction of the shipping industry.
The area was settled as early as 1798, when a crown patent for lots 29, 30, 32 & 33, "Con. 1 with the Broken Front, Township of Pickering, County of York and Home District, Province of Upper Canada", were granted to William Holmes, Esquire. In 1843 Henry Cowan, an immigrant from Ayr, Scotland, bought lots 32 & 33 from Holmes and settled the land with his family. In 1848 Cowan sold a small portion of his land on the shores of Lake Ontario to the Grand Trunk Railway Company.
(As a side note, when I grew up on Rouge Hills Drive, there was a Mr. Cowan living across the street from us. So the family stayed in the area for years and years after buying the original land at least 150 years before.)
Mr. William Jackson and others purchase the piece of the shorefront south of the tracks from Henry Cowan in 1860.
A post office opened in Port Union Station in 1865. Early businesses in the area included the Scarborough, Markham, and Pickering Wharf Company (est. 1847), and hotels (Helliwell's Hotel) operated by Will Hetherington and Thomas Laskey.
Henry Cowan's son, William, buys Lot 31, on the east side of the Rouge River from Mr. John Pollock in 1868. This summer resort became known as "Rosebank".
In 1925 Dyson Craig Cowan (the son and heir of William Cowan Jr) sells "Rosebank" to the Riverside Development Company Limited (Cecil White) for the sum of $25,000
Riverside Development Company Limited changes its name to Rouge Hills, Limited. The intentions were to create a summer playground and country estates on the banks of the Rouge. The community was to be "The Venice of the North".
Summerland magazine is published by Rouge Hills Publishing Company in 1938. Summerland speaks of "The Dream and the Man Who Dreamt It".
Although the dream community didn't happen as planned, the name of White's subdivision "Rouge Hills" lives on to this day. Locals call the are "The Rouge" or "Rouge Hills". The name also lives on in the public school, GO commuter station, a shopping plaza, and a very long street (Rouge Hills Drive) which runs from the top, north of Island Road, down to the bottom, at the Rouge Beach.
In 1948, the land that is now a new housing development between Rouge Hills Dr. and Ridgewood was sold to Rouge Hills Golf and Country Club Limited. In 1973 the golf course and country club were closed. The land was abandoned and left to grow wild. Locals used it as a bike trail, walking path and so on for a long time. Eventually, it was bought up and a housing development was built on the land.
The West Rouge community was originally part of Pickering. Scarborough annexed West Rouge in 1973. The West Rouge community was east of the town line and west of the Rouge River containing 857 acres and a population of 3,414 at the time of annexation.
In 1979, fire guts Henry Cowan's old stone farm house on Rouge Hills Drive, built sometime between his purchase of the farm in 1843 and his death in 1868.
Port Union / Rouge Hills / West Rouge
C.N.R. Railway Station, Port Union
Kingston Road Toll Gate at Rouge River
Abandoned C.N.R. Station Master's house, Port Union
Abandoned C.N.R. Station Master's house, Port Union
School, Port Union.
Helliwell's Hotel - Thomas Laskey's Hotel, Port Union.
Residence, formerly Helliwell's Hotel
Port Union / Rouge Hills / West Rouge
Port Union was also part of the Highland Creek community. (Although most of the buildings were across the Town Line in Pickering.) Port Union was located in the south east corner of Scarborough, at Lawrence Avenue and Port Union Road. In 1865 a post office opened in Port Union Station. Early 19th century businesses in the area included the Scarborough, Markham, and Pickering Wharf Company (est. 1847), and hotels operated by Will Hetherington and Thomas Laskey.
In the 1920s, real estate developer Cecil White & Co. purchased multiple tracts of land east of Port Union Village with intentions of creating a large community along the west bank of the Rouge River intended to become “The Venice of the North”. Although the dream was never completely realized, the name of White’s subdivision “Rouge Hills” lives on to this day as the name of the local commuter railway station.
The West Rouge community, a modern name associated with Port Union, was originally part of Pickering. Scarborough annexed the West Rouge in 1973 following several years of negotiations. There were concerns about meshing taxation and other costs to the municipality that had to be addressed following the initial annexation discussions in 1969. The West Rouge was east of the town line and west of the Rouge River containing 857 acres and a population of 3,414 at the time of annexation.
Is Ontario Really the Most Haunted Province in Canada?
Why do we assume historical places are haunted?
I would not say I don’t believe in ghosts. But, in my experience there are far less hauntings and haunted places than people would have you think.
I like to visit old buildings. Usually, living in a rural area of Ontario, I explore abandoned farms and farm houses. I like the houses in particular. I have explored at least 50 different old homes in various states of ruin and I have never had an experience which made me feel spooky, scared or consider any place to be haunted.
At most I think I once accidentally stepped on a toad in the long grass. That was gross enough. I get shudders just remembering. But, that was far from being ghost related.
Terry Boyle writes about local history and ghosts in Ontario, Canada.
I have quickly picked up each of his books as I find them. I don’t look for ghost stories but I do want to know about my own local history. (I consider all of Ontario to be at least somewhat local for me). Also, I will visit (and/ or have already seen) the places Terry Boyle has written about. I even have the photographs I’ve taken from my travels and adventures.
Maybe ghost lore and stories of haunted places come about from the loneliness of the locations and not the actual presence of anything spooky. Just the feeling that something was lost there, something has been abandoned and left to fall into ruin. Abandoned houses are sad. Old ruins are mysterious and that would be enough to make them seem haunted to anyone who wanted to find something more than just a sad, lonely and neglected place.
You can’t find the history of a place just from a visit there. I love finding a new (old) place. There is history and mystery to any old, ruined place. But, you need to research, talk to people and dig a bit to get more than photos and your own first impressions.
History is all about the story.
Urban Exploration for Small Town Girls (and Women)
When you don't live in the city you can call yourself a rural explorer.
Chances are you already know the first place you want to explore. There's something that catches your eye on the way home from work every day, each time you drive to visit your Mother, when you go on the backroad into the next town... There's a place out there which you'd like to stop and get a look at, if only you dared. Let's not say you need to find the time. The time is there. It's not easy to stop the car, get out with your camera and make that first step into being an urban explorer.
Or, a rural explorer, as I see it. I don't live in the city. I've lived in the city, in a small city and a range of towns around Ontario. I started exploring abandoned farm houses with my Mother and my Aunt, before I ever knew other people were doing the same thing. I didn't go looking for antiques, old hardware or anything like that. I wasn't hoping to see a ghost or wanting to get creeped out. I wanted to see a relic from the past, the old woodwork, the way the bricks had weathered and whatever mysteries might be lost, forgotten and buried under dust, debris and wild plants. The best thing I found myself was an old iron key. I still have it in my jewelry box.
The first time I explored on my own was years later. Right after I got my first digital camera. No co-incidence there. The digital camera is a wonder for anyone into exploring. Now you can take all the photos you want and not think twice about the cost of getting them developed or how many rolls of film you had packed into your purse.
The photo in this introduction is the very first house I explored, alone. Just my digital camera and me. That was the year 2006.
Don't Pass up a Great Chance to Explore
Access All Areas: A User's Guide to the Art of Urban Exploration I bought this book just after the author died. Not from falling off a building or any kind of exploring accident. I met his wife when I bought the book, at a zine fair in downtown Toronto, Ontario. I still have Access All Areas, even though I have not visited all the places he did. Mostly because I live farther north now. The book is a guide to taking a chance, some risks and visiting places mostly unknown, unseen or where you may not be welcome. I hope people continue to buy Access All Areas for all the same reasons I did years ago.
Photo taken in 2007. This house is now gone. Burned down by vandals, then demolished.
The Real Dangers of Urban Exploration
You may expect the top danger for explorers to be people. It's not!
I've been exploring, often alone, and the biggest danger I've found is from wild animals. Not that I have been attacked by wolves, raccoons, rabid squirrels... no. I've been threatened by birds and attacked by bees. I've had toads and frogs scare the pee out of me - I still think I stepped on one poor toad when I was walking through very long grass and couldn't see where my feet were stepping.
Birds can be territorial and may dive bomb you. The only solution is to tolerate it or hide. I've yet to have one actually strike me. But, the closest to do so were blackbirds (those smaller versions of crows) and hummingbirds. Don't laugh!
Bees are pretty self explanatory. Rule number 1: don't step in between the flight path of two beehives. Just don't do it. If you really must, duck down low and make sure your hair is covered. There is nothing like having a bee lost in your long, curly hair - near enough to your ear so you know you're in danger of being stung and you're not really keen on finding it with your fingers.
People will sometimes ask you what you are doing. In all but one case I have never had any trouble at all with people. They are curious. If they know something about the history of the house/ building/ location they will usually tell you about it. Volunteering all kinds of historical information. Which is great. I do like to hear it. Sometimes people want to talk more than I want to keep listening, but I do appreciate their time, their interest in the place I'm looking at and... the fact that I'm a woman and they are likely telling me all this because I don't seem like someone who would be getting into trouble, or making trouble.
Only once, I had a woman who was suspicious. But, it turned out she was the owner of the house I was photographing - it was a ruin but not abandoned. In that case I liked it for the ruined look. But, there are cases where you will find out (later hopefully) that the abandoned house you're photographing isn't actually abandoned after all. It's kind of funny, later.
Getting back to animals... watch for animal holes. You might hurt your leg if you step into one. It is a good idea not to go alone just in case you do get hurt and need help. I do not explore inside the houses, hardly ever actually. I will go inside if I'm with a group, or at least one other person. Safety in numbers, when it comes to injury or... getting caught as a trespasser.
This has not happened to me. But, it is on my mind each time I stop and get out of the car at a location I want to explore. I feel I am keeping myself out of trouble by not entering the premises. If I just walk around outside taking my photos I'm not breaking into the property. Also, I just don't feel right about entering a home this way. Most often they are pretty gutted by other explorers or people looking for hardware and such to steal and sell as vintage. So, in theory, I feel I am not trespassing, or really missing much.
I was asked to leave one location by the security people. This was a time I was not alone so that was nice for me. I had already taken the photos I wanted too. I think they left me alone to wander around for awhile before they finally approached me. But, I'm sure they would have come on the run if I had been trying to do more than take outside photos.
If you do enter any abandoned, derelict or ruined building you must know you are at risk. You can not be 100% sure about anything in that building. Even a place which does not look badly derelict can have structural damage. Don't be an idiot about exploring inside. Wear decent footwear, bring a flashlight (even in daylight). Have someone with you or at least make sure your phone is charged and with you so you can call for help.
Taken outside of Barrie, Ontario. 2011.
Shipwreck on Lake Ontario, 2007.
How to Find Locations for Urban Exploring
I find places to explore by driving around and looking out the car window. These are the times it's important to have someone else driving the car. You can't navigate the car and have most of your attention focused on catching sight of weathered wood, boarded windows or a driveway overgrown with plants.
Urban Exploration Photography Tips
My new (new 2 years ago) digital camera has a great feature for urban and rural explorers, zoom. I've got 10x zoom. This makes a big difference in what I can get into a photo without having to be physically closer. You can't always get close up when there are fences, animals, and etc in the way.
Frame your photo and use the rule of thirds. I like to photograph a foreground of weeds/ wildflowers in front of a house. Sometimes I scoot down to the ground so the house appears to be on a hill. (It helps if it actually is on a bit of a rise). I like to get trees on the sides of my photos. It gives the photo a real, living edge. Then I take a photo where the house fills the frame.
Be creative, try different angles, try getting high (the roof of another building, a tree?) then get down low for a different view. Using a tripod is nice, if you have one. I did buy one but I have yet to actually take it with me.
I do have a camera strap. I always keep it on my wrist when I am using the camera. It is so easy to have some little thing trip you up and next thing you drop the camera. If you have that strap over your wrist, your camera has a much better survival rate.
Focus on details. There will be little details you miss, You will notice them once you upload the photos from your camera. As you get practice you start noticing details easier, while you are still on the site. Train your mind to look for small things, the trimmings, the cracks. There will be details which especially appeal to you of course.
Don't be stingy with your photos. Take extra. You can delete any you don't need later. Or, you might find one of your extras just happened to catch the light and the angle just right.
Try different times of day, different seasons too. Sunset adds a glow to your photos outside. Winter makes everything look mysterious and silent. You should explore night photography too, what works for taking photos in darkness. Bring a flashlight, shine it on a window and get a photo of the beam inside the house.
From 2009. Car and house in the background. Ruined by fire.
Another idea is to join Flickr. You can get a free account. Search for local groups with explorers who are already adding photos. Some of them will put directions and locations on the photos. Not everyone will. I tend to leave it ambiguous. I like to protect the places from vandals and people who just want to grab whatever they can sell. So, I am cautious about giving directions. But, that doesn't mean I hoard them all. If you can join the local group, get involved in a discussion, share any photos from old places you already have - you might find a place in the group. Try to attend when people plan an event - meeting at one site. It's a lot of fun plus you make real contacts and become someone they will share information with.
Flickr has a lot of local groups but it isn't the only source. Search online and see what you find.
Read local history. Read the news. See which buildings in your own town are historical and may be in danger of being demolished. Read about the history fo your area and see what has already been lost and what is still left.
Check real estate listings. Some places have been for sale for years, empty. Some of them are being sold due to fire or damage from something else. Some are being sold in order to be knocked down so the land can be farmed or have housing developments built over them.
On a busy road into the town, in 2008. A baby deer was also at the house when I began photographing.
UER Huge site for urban explorers. Having an active membership gives you some prestige and access to extra features. Membership is free, but donations are accepted.
Painting by Michelle Basic Hendry
Women Urban and Rural Explorers - I have met the women explorers on this list through my years of running the Flickr group: Ontario Rural Ruins. If you are a woman urban or rural explorer send me a note and I will check your links and photos and add you to the list.
Flickr: Female Urban Explorers "This group is a place for UE girls to get together to talk about our explores and experiences and a place to share our images. Let's celebrate the fact that we are female Urban Explorers....and proud of it!"
msDeKay Ontario urban and rural explorer. Lots of photos, not all locations in Ontario.
KateKnevil Ontario rural explorer. Not a lot of photos but very good photos.
Lee-Ann Licini Ontario rural and urban explorer. She also runs the Creepy Ontario group on Flickr.
The Navigator Ontario urban and rural explorer. I've actually met Carla, face to face once.
Michelle Ontario rural explorer and artist. Now moved away from Ontario and living in the US. Her paintings of rural ruins are available on her site.
Abandoned on a Lake, 2010
Take only photos; leave only footprints.