Flaherty Pond, ON

My Watermark is about skating on Flaherty Pond 3-miles north of Burford, Ontario.

I grew up on a farm north of Burford, in Brant County in the 1950's. On a neighboring farm, about a half a mile away, was a large area of open water. When it froze it became a community skating pond. Snow was plowed by neighboring farmers making an area for hockey as well as a winding trail for pleasure skaters. On Sunday afternoons cars would line the road as people came from miles away to spend hours skating in the open field. I sometimes skated there on my way home from school. With my fingers and toes numb from the cold, it was a long walk the rest of the way home. Sadly this open water is no longer there. The area is now covered with reeds, weeds and scrubby bushes. I am sorry that so few of today's youth have the opportunity to skate outdoors in wide open spaces.