Aylmer -- now a part of the City of Gatineau -- has one of the most impressive concentrations of heritage buildings in Quebec. Many of them date from the first half of the 19th century. Many of them may be found within close proximity of one another in the old village centre.
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Further up the street is another of Aylmer’s outstanding landmarks. The old Court House (120 Principale Street), built in 1852, is a neo-classical edifice of truly monumental size. At one time, a prison was housed within its walls, and to be lodged there was said to have been a grim experience. The old Court House is now home to the Centre culturel du Vieux-Aylmer.
In this age of cement and steel, the massive Marchand covered bridge in Fort Coulonge seems a throwback to an earlier time, a time when building a covered bridge, even one of this magnitude, was a common occurrence.
Wakefield is a small village nestled in the Gatineau hills along the shores of a scenic bay on the Gatineau River. Its main street faces on the river and has not changed much since it was founded mainly by Scottish and Irish pioneers in the early and mid-1800s. This has made the village a popular destination for tourists and visitors with an interest in its heritage, as well as its scenery and its unique opportunities for art expression and outdoor adventure, often arriving from the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau, a half-hour’s drive away.
The young boy was standing in front of a small wooden table on which laid a birthday cake with four lit candles. You could see the gleam in the little guy’s face, and his underlying smile of knowing that this was his day to be celebrated, and his day alone. Dressed in a clean white shirt, dark slacks, and a clip-on bow tie, we could sense what he was thinking as he continued his bright-eyed stare into the candles. We could almost feel his wonder at what other miracles life would bring, and that this birthday was certainly one of them.
The Gatineau River was a wilderness thoroughfare through unbroken Laurentian forest.
Before loggers and farmers cleared its banks, the 275-kilometre long waterway served Algonquin hunters as their main route to the game-rich hinterlands. The river was a link in a vast First Nations trade system joining Huron and Nipissing people in the Great Lakes with Montagnais Innu near Lac Saint-Jean.
The Outaouais-Pontiac Heritage Trail leads to pioneer settlements and historic sites on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River, from Aylmer to Fort Coulonge.
There are many sights to be seen along the road from Aylmer to L’Isle-aux-Allumettes, particularly if the traveller is willing to depart from the main road (Highway 148) from time to time. Drivers should allow for two to three hours in each direction, and more depending on how many stops are anticipated.
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Back on the 148, we continue for about two kilometres, then turn south again onto Highway 303, towards Portage-du-Fort. We are now in Clarendon township, and the scenery is lovely, rolling farmland. On the way to Portage-du-Fort, we pass through the hamlet of Stark’s Corners.
