Maple Syrup Season at Westfield
An (extended) visit to Canada wouldn’t be complete without a trip to a Maple Syrup Farm! We began our maple discovery season at Westfield Heritage Village, one of the Hamilton Conservation Areas. This outdoor event ran throughout March and April on selected weekends. It was a SOLD OUT event!
The event was superbly organised, from the seamless arrangement of parking attendants to the information leaflets and signage. At the entrance we were able to discover that Rita was in fact 5 pancakes high.
We proceeded through the Sugar Shack Trail. Luckily Rita and I were joined by our Canadian friend Karolyn who was able to stop me just in time before I threw Rita’s poo-bag into the Maple Syrup bucket, thinking it was a trash can!! We were definitely overdue this educational experience. The numerous information boards and staff members giving demonstrations taught us a lot. In addition, there were Maple Trivia boards throughout the walk – did you know that Maple Trees have to be at least 40 years old before their sap can be collected for syrup??
From here, we joined the larger trail network in the park. We completed both the Chinquapin Oak and Giant Swallowtail Trails, covering over 4km. Along these trails were a couple of ruins sites and a teaching forest. The walk was nice and foresty and quiet.
Back at the Village, we wandered around the permanent heritage buildings at Westfield, established by two Brantford school teachers in the 1960s. The buildings were closed today, and anyway unfortunately dogs are not allowed inside. However we were able to appreciate them from the outside, and particularly enjoyed the preserved steam locomotive.
“They envisioned a unique project which would develop a pioneer village as a non-profit educational institution to preserve and present the 19th century rural life in Upper Canada”
No visit to a maple syrup farm is complete without a free sample, and we were able to obtain just that at the “Hardware Store”. Rita was allowed to lick our pots clean. Upon her seal of approval, I purchased a bottle to take home.
