A Visit to Leith

On that nice sunny day it was tempting to go for a drive, so we turned off the highway just east of Owen Sound and took the road to Leith.  I'm sure you remember what Leith is famous for, the burial place of the famous Canadian artist, Tom Thomson.  We've been there in the summer to visit his grave, but never in the winter, and we thought we might get a good view of the bay in the sun.

I think the tiny United Church is probably the reason most tourists might come to Leith.  It does still hold Sunday services, though it's not the church but its graveyard that most come to see.

But we actually drove down to the bay first, hoping for that view over the water, but the only place we got a lookwas while crossing the bridge, not a very good view.  The entire shoreline was blocked by cottages leaving only glimpses of the bright turquoise bay through the trees and between homes.  I call them cottages, but undoubtedly mostly these are permanent homes, this close to Owen Sound.

I've never really paid attention before, bit it's Bothwell Creek that flows into the bay right at the 'downtown' corner in Leith.  We cross that creek much further upstream every time we drive into Owen Sound.

So then we did our pilgrimage to the church and stopped to get some pictures.  His grave is just to the right of the tree in the distance.  In the summer people often leave coins or a paintbrush after visiting.

In my mind Thomson is perhaps the best known of Canadian painters.  Though not born here he grew up in Leith, and was buried here in 1917 after dying tragically in a canoeing accident in Algonquin Park where he loved to paint.  A forerunner of the Group of Seven, he painted dramatic pictures of the Ontario wilderness.

 

Here's a reproduction of his famous painting, 'West Wind'.  The Owen Sound art gallery is named after him, the Tom Tompson Gallery, and has a small collection of his original work.  This one, which has been compared to the work of Vincent van Gogh, is held by the Art Gallery of Ontario.