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Added Talking Up The Rideau an audio car tour of the Rideau Canal produced in 1982. It was written by Gordon Cullinghman and Janet Irwin and narrated by Patrick Watson. Although dated, it still makes an interesting listen. Added our Spring/Summer 2023 newsletter to the website. Added our comments regarding the new, very poorly done, Management Plan, to the website. Added our Fall/Winter 2022 newsletter to the website. Added our Spring/Summer 2022 newsletter to the website. Added Watson's 2022 Guide to the Rideau Canal. Added our Fall/Winter 2021 newsletter to the website. Added our Spring/Summer 2021 newsletter to the website. Added submissions regarding the draft Rideau Canal Management Plan. Added Watson's 2021 Guide to the Rideau Canal. December 2020 - We're working very hard on submissions regarding the new proposed management plan for the Rideau Canal. See the Management Planning Page. Added our Fall/Winter 2020 newsletter to the website. Added our Spring/Summer 2020 newsletter to the website. Added the letter we sent to Minister Wilkinson (in charge of Parks Canada) with concerns over the lack of heritage interpretation and public education, the lack of protection for the heritage landscapes of the Rideau Canal and the long overdue creation of a new management plan. See Letter to Minister Wilkinson, February 7, 2020. We've donated our collection of digitized manuscript reports to the website History of Parks Canada Electronic Library, to make these freely available to the public. This website, not affiliated with Parks Canada, is operated by Randall D. Payne, a keen volunteer (in the U.S.) who is simply doing this as a public service, trying to get these valuable reports made available to the public. It's a great initiative and supports what Friends tries to do (make heritage information available to the public). In December 2019, the board of Friends of the Rideau unanimously agreed to donate the twelve manuscript reports to Randy's website ParksCanadaHistory.com. Added our Fall/Winter 2019 newsletter to the website. Added our Spring/Summer 2019 newsletter to the website. Added our Fall/Winter 2018 newsletter to the website. Added our Spring/Summer 2018 newsletter to the website. Added our Fall/Winter 2017 newsletter to the website. Added information about the 2017 Rideau Canal Passport, an initiative of Friends of the Rideau. See the 2017 Rideau Canal Passport Page. Added our Spring/Summer 2017 newsletter to the website. Added our Fall/Winter 2016 newsletter to the website. Added the May 10, 2016 backgrounder for new Rideau Canal Infrastructure funding to the Infrastructure Page Posted another new photo gallery to our Facebook page - this one all about Paddling the Rideau Canal. See our Facebook Page. Posted two new photo galleries, one about the lockstations and one about the nature of the Rideau to our Facebook Page. Added our Spring/Summer 2016 newsletter to the website. Posted info on our May 7, 2016 Annual Spring Meeting. See the top of the Home Page. Posted Watson's 2016 Guide to the Rideau Canal to the website. Added our Fall/Winter 2015 newsletter to the website. Added our Spring/Summer 2015 newsletter to the website. Posted info on our May 9, 2015 Annual Spring Meeting Added our Fall/Winter 2014 newsletter to the website. We've launched our twelfth Book on CD: The Second Tay Canal in the Rideau Corridor, 1880-1940. This 1986 report by Larry Turner looks at the planning, financing, construction and use of the Second Tay Canal (the one still in use today). Digital book (PDF file on a CDROM). For details see the MR295 Report Page. 331p. 2014. Added our Spring/Summer 2014 newsletter to the website. Added our Fall/Winter 2013 newsletter to the website. Added our Spring/Summer 2013 newsletter to the website. We've launched our eleventh Book on CD: Commercial Navigation on the Rideau Canal, 1832-1961. This 1981 report by Edward Forbes Bush looks at the rich heritage of commercial navigation on the Rideau Canal and details over 170 vessels known to have served on the Rideau Canal. For details see the MR247 Report Page. 276p. 2013. Added our Fall/Winter 2012 newsletter to the website. Not something on this website, but we congratulate the Friends of the Turbine in Merrickville for saving this interesting part of Merrickville and the canal's heritage. See the Friends of the Turbine Media Release. Added a notice about the budget cuts being made to the Rideau Canal which are going to have a profound effect on the heritage protection and presentation of the canal. Added Chair of Friends of the Rideau, Hunter McGill's letter to the Hon. Peter Kent about this issue. See Letter to the Hon. Peter Kent (PDF) We've launched our tenth Book on CD: The Architectural Heritage of the Rideau Corridor. This 1974 report by Barbara A. Humphreys looks at the rich architectural heritage of the buildings in the Rideau Corridor. For details see the MR105 Report Page. 71p. 2012. Added our Summer 2012 newsletter to the website. Added our Added Ken Watson's Lockstation Photo Tour Videos to the website. These are short (4 to 6 minutes) videos created from still photos, featuring each of the Rideau Canal's Lockstations. So, whether you are new to the Rideau or just want to check out your favourite lockstation, have a look at the Lockstation Photo Video Tour Page. Added our Spring 2012 newsletter to the website. Added our Fall 2011 newsletter to the website. We've launched our ninth Book on CD: "Industries and Industrialists of Merrickville,1792-1979", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 423, by Richard Tatley, 1979. This 736 page reports deals with the industrial operations in Merrickville, powered by water, steam and electricity, and the men that ran these, over the span of 189 years. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 423. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Added our Summer 2011 newsletter to the website. Added our Winter/Spring 2011 newsletter to the website. We've launched our eighth Book on CD: "Overland Transport in the Rideau Region, 1800-1930", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 424, by Edward F. Bush, 1979. This 397 page reports deals with the development of roads and railways in the Rideau Region. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 424. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Thanks to our volunteer, Helen Parson, for all her hard work in digitizing this document. Added our Fall 2010 newsletter to the website. We're now providing direct access to Ken Watson's paddling guides to the Rideau Canal on this website. These guides, 18 in all, will allow the paddler to do route planning and learn about various points of interest along the route. Each guide includes a detailed map. For more information see the Rideau Paddling Guides Page. We're proud to announce the availability of FoR Director Ed Bebee's new book "Invisible Army" - the story of the forgotten people who made the Canal work - the Rideau Canal staff from 1832 to present. The book has been published with the assistance of our Rideau Legacy Fund and is now available through our website, at The Depot and at other bookstores and outlets in the Rideau Corridor. For more information see the Invisible Army Page. We're very pleased to be carrying FoR Director Ken Watson's new book "Tales of the Rideau" - a non-fiction book with 17 tales about the Rideau Canal. It is now available from us through our website and at The Depot. For more information see the Tales of the Rideau Page. Our ANNUAL SPRING MEETING was on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at the Legion Hall in Merrickville. Our featured speaker was Brian Osborne, Professor Emeritus at Queen's University, on the topic of the The history of the Rideau Canal since 2007 — Global and Local Developments - Brian gave a fascinating talk looking back over the last three years of issues and developments affecting policy and practice throughout the Rideau Corridor. Added our Summer 2010 newsletter to the website. Added Parks Canada's new "Watch Your Wake" brochure to our Brochures and Documents section. Added our Winter/Spring 2010 newsletter to the website. We've launched our seventh Book on CD: "Canal Lock Design and Construction, The Rideau Canal Experience, 1826-1982", Parks Canada Microfiche Report 57, by Robert W. Passfield, 1983. For the details of this book on CD see: Microfiche Report 57. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Thanks to our volunteer, Robert W. Passfield (the original author of the report), who worked closely with Friends to ensure an extremely high quality digital product (better than the original!). Added the Kingston Mills Lockstation Walking Tour (in both English and French) to the website. Added our Fall 2009 newsletter to the website. We've launched our sixth Book on CD: "The First Tay Canal in the Rideau Corridor, 1830-1850", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 142, by Larry Turner, 1984. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 142. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Thanks to our volunteer, Bob Sears of the Canadian Canal Society, for all his hard work in digitizing this document. We've launched our fifth Book on CD: "Recreational Boating on the Rideau Waterway, 1890-1930", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 253, by Larry Turner, 1986. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 253. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Thanks to our volunteer, Helen Parson, for all her hard work in digitizing this document. Our 2009 AGM was held at the Legion Hall in Merrickville on May 9, 2009. Our feature this year was a talk by heritage planner Heather Thompson on the Rideau Canal Landscape Strategy. Following the meeting, FoR Director Ken Watson led the group on a walking tour of the Merrickville locks and dam, explaining the pre and post-canal landscapes. We've launched our fourth Book on CD: "Builders of the Rideau Canal, 1826-32", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 185, by Edward F. Bush, 1976. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 185. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. We've launched our third Book on CD: "Historic Bridges on the Rideau Waterways System", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 212, by Robert W. Passfield, 1976. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 212. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Added our Summer 2009 newsletter to the website. We've launched our second Book on CD: "The Rideau Canal: 1832 - 1914", Parks Canada Manuscript Report 177, by Judith Tulloch, 1975. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 177. The CD is available for purchase in our Sales Section. Added our Winter/Spring 2009 newsletter to the website. Added our Fall 2008 newsletter to the website. Resources for the Rideau. We've launched a new Rideau Legacy Fund project titled "Resources for the Rideau." This project involves reprinting several of Parks Canada's Rideau Canal Manuscript Reports as books on CD. These reports are a series of high quality research documents detailing various historical and heritage aspects of the Rideau Canal. They were produced in limited quantities from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. We are pleased to be able to make some of these available as books on CD (searchable text PDF file). We launched the first one, "Construction History of the Rideau Canal," Parks Canada Manuscript Report 193, by Karen Price, 1976 at the World Canals Conference in Kingston. For the details of this book on CD see: Manuscript Report 193. We're also soliciting volunteer help to digitize more of these valuable Rideau research documents. For information on the project see: So You Want to Scan a Manuscript Report. Out and About. We've been out and about at many of the events taking place along the Rideau this summer. We had booths at the Newboro Boat Show, the Rideau Canal Festival (Ottawa), the Antique and Classic Boat Show (Long Island Locks), Merrickville Canalfest and the World Canal Conference (Kingston). Parks Canada to distribute Sweeney Diary to Libraries. The Rideau Canal Office of Parks Canada has generously agreed to distribute a copy of "The Sweeney Diary" to all Rideau Corridor libraries (municipal, high school and university). This will make the fascinating first hand account of Lockmaster Peter Sweeney easily available to all who wish to learn more about the history of the Rideau Canal. So, kudos to Parks Canada for taking on this project. The Sweeney Diary: the 1839 to 1850 Journal of Rideau Lockmaster Peter Sweeney. Our big project for 2008, turning the diary of Rideau Lockmaster Peter Sweeney into a book, is complete. We received the book from the printer on July 2, 2008 (it looks great!). The book marks the first project to be funded by our new Rideau Legacy Fund. The book is available for sale through our sales section and also from fine bookstores in the Rideau Corridor. Our website has received a complete makeover for 2008. It remains a fast website (even for those of you on dial-up) and your webmaster thinks that the new cleaner interface will make it even easier to navigate. P.O. Box 1232, Stn. Main Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, K7A 5C7 email: info@rideaufriends.com
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