Self Guided Tour Fort Henry: Opening Day 2020

We celebrated Canada Day with a visit to opening day at Fort Henry. With the changes needed for COVID19 the close order drills and tour guide lead tours are not available this season. You can still do a self guided tour of Fort Henry and interact with multiple soldiers and their wives from 1867.

When you arrive you get a nice little folding map that shows you a route you can take around the fort. As you follow the map you will encounter a variety of soldiers and their wives who explain the history of the fort and show and tell you about the lives of the soldiers and their families back in 1867. Each character is physically separated from the guests but you can still easily interact with them. Inside the confines of the fort rooms everyone is expected to wear a mask.

The self guided tour of Fort Henry map

Once you are done with the self guided tour you can explore the ramparts and enjoy the views of Kingston and the lake.

The fort is much quieter than usual but they still fire a cannon at noon and the Drum Major was paying a fife. Even with the reduced program we still learned new things and enjoyed ourselves.

Enjoy these picture of our self guided tour of Fort Henry.

Visit Fort Henry: Summer of 2019
A night out to Lumina Borealis at Fort Henry

2020/02/152020/03/08

Visit Fort Henry: Summer of 2019

Entrance to the lower fort at Fort Henry

In the summer of 2019 we visited Fort Henry several times. Here is a collection of my favourite images. When you visit Fort Henry have a tour but also make sure you enjoy the other programs they offer. Such as the history of music in the British Army.

Music in the British Milirary — Fife demonstration at Fort Henry

The fort is an interesting place with lots to look at so make sure you take the time to explore.

Doors of Fort Henry — The Barrack Store is off limits to the public but other rooms are there to explore.

Behind one of those doors at the fort you will find David the Goat’s pen. David is the garrison’s mascot and he has a friend Henrietta. If the goats are not in their pen then you might find them on the grass near the entrance to the lower fort. There is often other things to see near the entrance.

Period dress — Three of domestic staff at Fort Henry and David the goat in the background.

Spend the day and watch some of the programming during the day such as the drill practice and the musical performances.

Bayonet drills — One of the many performances at the Fort includes bayonet drills.

Music at Fort Henry — An afternoon performance at Fort Henry

Each time we visit Fort Henry we always have a tour (usually from our daughter) but we also spend time reviewing the program for the day to find other interesting things that are happening.

Past visits to Special Events at the Fort include Lumina Borealis.

2018/06/182018/06/21

Brain Cancer Research â€“ 2018 Cocktails for Cancer Fundraiser

The annual gala fund-raiser Cocktails for Cancer was held last Saturday night to raise funds for brain cancer research in Ottawa. These wonderful people came together to help raise money for brain cancer research after brain cancer effected one of their friends, Heather Geddie. You can learn more about their fund-raising, become involved and donate at their website: Race for Research.

I have had the pleasure of photographing this fun event again this year.

Last Night’s Fun

The evening consisted of a silent auction, live auction, raffle, dancing, food and drinks and a short speech from the head of the Ottawa Cancer Foundation.

The Volunteers

Working Hard

Having Fun

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2018/02/132018/02/13

A night out to Lumina Borealis at Fort Henry

At the end of January we travelled to Kingston ON to visit family and we took in the Lumina Borealis show at Fort Henry. The weather was not ideal, it rained and we were pretty damp by the end. However the show was well done and we enjoyed it. The show is a series of art created by light and sound displayed along a path through Fort Henry. In some installations, sound from the viewers changes the display. In other cases you walk through the art itself.

Interactive display

There were several installations where microphone allowed the viewers to change the light show. As you sing (well or otherwise) the projected picture changes.