London's Jet d'Eau

The Walter J. Blackburn Memorial Fountain at the forks of the Thames shoots recycled river water from six stainless steel jets and one larger jet daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Financed by a $450,000 donation from the Blackburn estate, the fountain was the realization of a decades-old dream of the late Walter and Marjorie Blackburn. They were inspired by the 'jet d'eau' in Geneva, Switzerland, but the London fountain is not a copy of the Swiss one. Google the Geneva jet d'eau and you will appreciate the fine design of the London installation.

Forks of the Thames

The historic Forks of the Thames viewed from Museum London. Lieutenant-governor John Graves Simcoe ordered the construction of a road from Burlington Bay to the forks in 1792. The road, Dundas, is still in use today and still carries the name Dundas. It can be seen on the left.

Months later Simcoe visited the forks in his search for the perfect spot to build the capital of Upper Canada. In a journal from that day, this is written: "We struck the Thames at one end of a low flat island enveloped with shrubs and trees; the rapidity and strength of the current were such as to have forced a channel through the mainland, being a peninsula, and to have formed the island. We walked over to a rich meadow, and at its extremity came to the forks of the river".

I owned a home at the forks and I can tell you that some of that rich land remains. The topsoil in my backyard was three-feet deep and you would not believe the corn I grew. It was amazing - large, sweet, beautiful. If raccoons could speak, they'd back me up. They loved that corn.