I was bored today and it was nice out so I took some pictures around the neighbourhood where I grew up. Mainland South is comprised of Armdale, Spryfield, Herring Cove, Purcell's Cove, and the Sambro Loop. The region is almost exclusively residential aside from some light commercial activity along Herring Cove Road as well as fishing and seafood processing along the coast closer to Sambro. Major parks include Fleming Park (the Dingle), Long Lake Provincial Park, and York Redoubt National Historic Site, which incidentally is in pretty rough shape.
I'll try to get some more pictures in the future, possibly with a better camera (these were all taken with my iPhone).
William's Lake Road. This street has developed quite slowly over the decades and does not fall neatly into any particular neighbourhood. Although Spryfield is (perhaps rightly) associated with bland, cookie-cutter subdivisions, some areas, such as this one, feature interesting modernist residential.
A new subdivision off William's Lake Rd. called Ravenscraig. Largely built on the site of an abandoned quarry and semi-integrated into Fleming Park. Although it's pure suburbia the houses are very energy-efficient and a lot of effort was put into preserving trees and other natural features. The sign kinda reminds me of the community of Agrestic - major props if you get that reference!
Though today's Spryfield is basically as suburban as it gets, some of the older houses have features that hint at the areas rural/agricultural past.
Saint Michael's Catholic Church, an interesting fusion of modernist and gothic approaches.
South Centre, one of the saddest malls in HRM. To be honest I'm surprised it's outlived Penhorn. It seems to be undergoing a bit of a renaissance and filling the retail gaps with services lately, much like what's happened with the old West End and Bayer's Road malls. This also acts as a transit hub for 5 bus routes - the 14, 19, 20, 32, and Sambro Community Transit.
The Captian William Spry Community Centre, which features a large branch library, a gym, meeting rooms, office space, and of course the Wavepool. The pedestrian bridge is relatively new - built sometime within the past 2 years.
This nifty little skatepark was quietly opened a year or two after the main one on the Commons. It's tucked in behind the Spry Centre and surrounded by forest - there was obviously a deliberate effort to integrate it into the landscape. It's about half the size of the main section of the Commons Skatepark, but it is of the same quality and arguably a nicer design. I wanted to get some more pictures but there were actually a lot of kids using it this afternoon and I didn't want to get in their way. This is just one small corner of it:
One of the grittier parts of Herring Cove Road:
The South End as seen from Spryfield:
An interesting little monument at the entrance to a small cemetary. Although Spryfield was primarily an agricultural community, quarrying and stonecutting played a major role in its early development as well. Much of the granite and ironstone used in older buildings on the Peninsula originated in Spryfield.
Another cool modernist house with Dalhousie off in the distance:
Entrance gates to Fleming Park.. the odd thing is that there are several residential streets surrounding the park that are inside of these gates.
One of three small beaches in Fleming Park. I'll try to get some photos another time when it's not so dark out (aka before 5 pm)
The head of the arm - an anatomical paradox but a nice view. The iPhone doesn't really do it justice, a telephoto lens might:
Swag house
Linear Mode
