The property ownership trail is next picked up many decades later when the Caledon Mountain Estates were developed. An irregular shaped lot containing the kiln was made without any road access making it useless for anyone who owned it.
In February 2004 ownership was once again transferred this time to the Crown and eventually ended up being incorporated into the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park managed by the MNR. The property was purchased with the intention that the Bruce Trail could someday be located on it.
Now that ownership had been clearly established, permission to access it was necessary. Through Brian Huis, MNR Park Planner, and Bob Owen, Manager of the Forks of the Credit Park, permission was granted. They had three terms that we had to meet before a trail could be made. The 25 foot drop into the chimney had to be covered for safety reasons and to prevent the chimney from further interior deterioration. We had to prevent further erosion at the side of the walls and that we limit our information signage to one sign. The next step was to obtain 6 private landowners’ permission since not all properties between the Devil’s Pulpit and CVC owned conservation area to the west of the kiln is publicly owned. 6 permissions all at once! That seemed like a lofty challenge to me, especially as a newly elected Landowner Relations volunteer at the time but I had trusty Dave Moule, our previous Landowner Relations person, for help when necessary. Where to start but at the beginning, Barb and Andy McIntyre were our first to visit and they were thrilled to have the Bruce Trail on their property. Next, Raymond & Katherine Stanton, Robert Weeks and Lorraine Baddeley, Jamie and Joan Weston, then avid hikers David Kendall and Charles Peyton – all yes. Without the unwavering commitment of these 6 landowners, our plans could not continue and for that we are truly and tremendously thankful. The trail’s location was next and for that we turned to local history buff Barry Westhouse who has scouted the area many times looking for clues of the long forgotten rail and quarry industry. On one of our scouting expeditions, Barry pointed out evidence of the light gauge rail line that ran higher into the hills than the current railway to facilitate the movement of those large quarried blocks down to the main rail. Having been up and down these slopes a few times, Barry knew the easiest way through and he’d also taken an inventory of survey bars that he’d found so we knew which landowners we had to contact. While site meetings were conducted and the best route determined, we also interviewed welders to make the cap for the chimney. A design was recommended and David Kemp of R.J. Burnside & Associates in Orangeville reviewed and approved it. Before the welder could start, we needed to get the approval of the property manager, Bob Owen of the MNR. Their engineer gave us the go ahead and fabricating of the grate style cap was awarded to Glenn Lott in Hillsburgh. The initial idea was that the grate would be carried in upright, but once we saw the finished product we decided that carrying it in flat would be much safer but in order to do that we’d have to cut a swath through the trees. That’s when we explored the idea of having the railway bring it to the site. Steve Gallagher, Manager of the Orangeville Brampton Railway, was happy to give the Bruce Trail a hand. A large brush cutter on rail would be in the Caledon area for job in mid December and if we could drop our grate off before then at the trail parking lot in Inglewood, they would pick it up on the way by and drop it off where needed. Volunteers led by Laurence Christie prepared a winter platform at the drop off point and flagged it for the railway to find. One chilly December morning, our welder met us at the parking lot and John Martin of Norm Martin Equipment Sales agreed to come up with his forklift to help us unload the grate. Our part done, we now had to wait for the brush cutter to come by and sure enough just before Christmas I got a call from the railway saying that our grate was in it’s winter home. In my mind, this was going to be all we would do until the spring. Over the Christmas holidays Chris Walker, BTA Trail Maintenance Director, met us on site to look at the carrying route to the chimney. He felt very optimistic that a group of strong men with block and tackle could do this but boy it sure would be nice to have a helicopter to save us all this work. “Have you thought about that all”, asked Chris with his big grin? Well, we had in a joking kind of way but were pretty sure the Caledon Club could not afford that. “Make the call, see how much money, maybe we could raise the funds”, he said. I got on the phone right after that meeting and to my absolute amazement I found a helicopter pilot who lived in Orangeville and was a fan of the Bruce Trail. ‘Our crew has training scheduled for this January, said Barry Williams, “you supply the location and I’ll supply the helicopter and crew”. Beyond belief, our grate was going in by air. January 26th was chosen as the air lift day. The railway had to be notified because they were going to land right on the tracks between the trees and once again, Steve Gallagher was there to help and support us. He sent Cory and Kevin to hold the train coming down from Orangeville until we were done. A group of us came out to watch. You can just imagine the excitement that stirred among us as we heard the helicopter approaching from a distance. The airlift was amazing to watch, it took 40 minutes – just hook up and before our eyes the grate took to the sky. We cheered when the pilot, Ron Densmore, returned to the tracks and Barry came out of the woods giving us the thumbs up. Our grate dropped into place perfectly. There has been an overwhelming response to our call for help with the grate from the community and from our members. Members such as John Maxwell who together with Orangeville stone mason, Dylan Sheppard, made sure that the grate would drop as planned. Constant support from club members Colleen Darrell and Janice McClelland was always there when needed. Exciting – you bet. The new Ring Kiln Side Trail is a testament to what can be accomplished when a community pulls together. Carol Sheppard |
TRAIL MAPS
