I used to laugh at what locals considered “historic” when I first came to Canada. Stores boasting to have been in business for a mere twenty years and these “old” buildings dating back to the 1950s didn’t exactly impress me—the apartment where I grew up in France was at least a century older!
This is where living in the “new world” takes on new meaning.
This is not to say that there aren’t interesting historic sites in the region—Watson’s Mill is one example, and it’s actually pretty old, dating back to 1860.
Watson’s Mill can be found in Manotick, about 25 km from Ottawa. The local landmark, located on the banks of the Rideau River, on Dickinson Square, is one of the few remaining operating gristmills in Ontario and it’s open to the public.
The mill doesn’t seem that big from the outside. It’s a fairly non-descript limestone building facing the Rideau River and Long Island Locks.
Once you step inside, the smell of old wood is unmissable. The mix of dust, wood and dampness reminded me of many hostels in Latin America. Flour and feed were being milled and the old machinery—turbines, milestones, hopper, grain elevators, garner bon, bolter, seed cleaner, and feed grinder—was working all full speed, still in working order.
Like most historical locations, Watson’s Mill is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Ann Crosby Currier, the second wife of the part-time owner of the mill. I didn’t get to see the ghost but the bowels of the mill did feel creepy because of the smell of old wood, the incessant grinding noise and the darkness. It took a little while for my eyes to get used to the shadowy light and I recoiled at the sight of the many huge spider webs all around me which, in a way, was creepier than seeing a ghost!
Now I (sort of) understand the expression, “That’s grist for the mill.”
(noted your picture of the jar of grist – although I still don’t know what grist is…)
I’m glad to see native speakers are confused too! I had to look up some of the vocabulary and I didn’t know the French either!
Hi Elisabeth,
esentially, as I tell people who visit the mill, Grist is the whole grain ground down. There is a process by which the bran is then sifted out and you end up getting flour. The reason the picture of flour and grint look almost the same has to do with the grind- In this instance the grind was so fine very little bran was sifted and therefore looks like the whole wheat flour.
Hence “everything is grist for the mill”, all of it can be used.
Hope this clears it up.
Cam the Miller
Hi Cam,
Thank you for visiting and thank you for providing an explanation!
I am surprise this is still functioning and it’s good that they are open to the public. I think this is a good place for school learning journey 🙂
I’m sure they have school coming to visit. Great place for that, you’re right!
It looks like an interesting place to visit. If they manage to open at night as well, it would be a fun place for Halloween. 😀
Good point! I’m afraid they close pretty early but I should check.
Ah, you raise a very good point that I also observed. I love history and preservation. And I always have a little internal laugh when I see the dates here in North America; they’re quite young compared to what is historical in Europe. But then again, it’s a consequence of history. As you said, there’s a reason why they call it the New World. Except for areas like Boston for example, most historical sites here in North America are quite young, compared to European ones.
Yes, it definitely took me some time to adjust to North America’s vision of “history”. Visiting museums was very interesting for that. For instance, in Ottawa, museums like the War Museums tend to mix old (WWI and WWII) wars with current ones (Afghanistan). I still find it very strange.