Botanical Glossary - Home

A nibble between friends:

Ace (Percheron Heavy Horse) and Andy (Clydesdale)

Resting between horse and carriage rides in Stanley Park, Ace (a Percheron Horse at left) gives Andy (a Clydesdale at right) a little nibble on the ear. Ace is the new horse on the AAA Horse and Carriage "Discover Stanley Park" Ride, while Andy has been pulling for AAA in Stanley Park for about three years.

Brockton Point is a significant Vancouver location for several reasons. Vancouver's first graveyard was situated south of the Stanley Park point, on Deadman's Island. It's also the place where the Seawall originated, for the purpose of protecting the shore from erosion by the tides. Brockton Point is also the location of a lighthouse which dates back to 1915, and the famous 9 O'Clock Gun. The canon was cast in England in 1815 and brought to Stanley Park by the Department of Marine and Fisheries in 1894 to warn fishermen of the 6:00 p.m. fisheries curfew. The 9:00 p.m. firing was later established as a general time signal and to help set local ships' chronometers. A famous and majestic collection of totem poles also stands near Brockton Point. In First Nations culture, totem poles tell the tale of a family and are markers of important events.

Originally home to the Musqueam and Squamish native peoples, Stanley Park was Vancouver's first, and presently oldest, nature park. In 1886, Vancouver City Council leased from the federal government a 400-hectare peninsula on the city's north side, bordered by English Bay on the southwest, Burrard Inlet on the northeast, north, & northeast, and Coal Harbor on the southeast, for the purpose of establishing a recreational park. It was named for Lord Stanley, whom was Governor General of Canada in 1888 when the park first opened. (It was actually dedicated by Lord Stanley himself the following year.)

Little has surfaced on the park's early days, but the area began to be built up and by the turn of the century there were apparently large flower gardens, picnic areas, and swimming at places that became known as the "Second" and "Third" beaches. There were picnicking, nature walks, carriage rides, etc. available One of the latter was called The "Tally-Ho". It was a large, open, white carriage drawn by four horses. It sat about 20 passengers.

Photographed at Stanley Park on Park Drive on Brocton Point in Vancouver, BC - October 09, 2008.