The weather forecast for Saturday has improved considerably and Scott Woodland, for one, couldn’t be happier about it. A director of the Scarborough Historical Society, Woodland will leading the Thomson Pioneer Settlement walk May 1 beginning at 1:30 pm: it’s the first Heritage Toronto Walk of the season, one of dozens of free, real-time explorations of the city’s present and past.
A public school teacher and committed history buff, Woodland, above centre, is an expert on the early days of Scarborough and its founding family, the Thomsons. “David and Mary Thomson were the first European settlers to be given a land grant in the area [around 1798] although there had been native villages on the site going back about 800 years,” says Woodland.
“The Thomson’s were deeply committed to education and religion and Saturday’s tour traces the progression of the Scarborough community, as well as the phases of construction of the Thomson’s own homestead, part of which has become Scarborough Museum, where the walk begins and ends.”
From its earliest days, Scarborough was a farming community composed of large parcels of land, which meant that buildings were few and very far between. Consequently, there aren’t many pockets of the former borough that lend themselves to walking tours. The proximity of the Thomson spread with its pioneer-era buildings, it’s church, cemetery and carriage works makes it perfect for such an amble.
“The walk provides locals with a great opportunity to learn about the roots of their community and to discover what’s right in their midst,” says Woodland. “And obviously, anyone coming in from outside Scarborough will learn a lot about the area in addition to enjoying a really pleasant country walk right in the city. It’s also a perfect time of year for it,” adds the tour guide, “because the leaf canopy is not entirely filled in so it allows for better vistas.”
Photos courtesy of Donald B. Smith
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