The Lonely Oak

In the middle of the Experimental Farm, just west of Fisher Avenue, sits a big gorgeous solitary oak. Today I biked over to pay it a visit.

I biked past the Experimental Farm greenhouses along the way. This old one is looking great.

To get up close to the oak tree, you need to ride along the inside of the fence that runs along Fisher avenue, then turn west along an old gravel road that brings you to the tree.

The isolated oak sits in stark contrast to the harvested fields.

And if you love Canada geese, this is one place you are likely to find them. There were hundreds in the surrounding fields. Their continuous honking echoed across the open ground, providing an eerie soundscape while contemplating the oaks heavy gnarled surfaces and complex network of leafless branches.

I continued along the gravel path through the farm heading west until I came to Merivale Road, and then followed the Experimental Farm Pathway to Nepean to cover some residential streets through Centrepointe I had yet to visit. Based on the styles of all the brown brick houses and the height of trees I’d guess the area I biked through was developed in the 80’s and early 90’s.

On the way back I happened upon the old Nepean City Hall and Centrepointe Theatre. The theatre is still going strong. There was a tone of green strongly adhered to throughout all of the old city’s corporate identity that I’ve come to know as Nepean Green. It is still in evidence on the exterior of the building, as is the old city logo above the entrances.

Across the street at the entrance to Centrepointe Park sits this memorial to the late city. The stepped landscape gradually builds centripetally upward towards the fountain. In the middle is mounted a bronze slab, the outline of which describes the boundaries of the old city. On one of the concrete pillars behind the fountain are mounted the dates of the city’s existence (1792-2000) in raised letters set against possibly one of the last applications of Nepean Green.