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| St. Andrew Street East, Fergus, Ontario, Canada |
Dianne
Ascroft, author of the Century Cottage Cozy Mystery series and the World War II
series The Yankee Years, is a Canadian who has settled in rural Northern
Ireland, with her husband and an assortment of strong-willed animals. She is
fascinated by the history of the places where she has lived, and when she’s not
writing, she enjoys walks in the countryside and evenings in front of a roaring
fire. Learn more about Dianne and her books at her website.
Sometimes
you find a place that captivates you and it just lingers in your mind. For me
that spot is Fergus, Ontario, Canada, a small town one hundred kilometres
northwest of Toronto. In fact, it has made such an impression on me that it
inspired Fenwater, the town in my Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries series.
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| Carnegie Library |
One of the
best things about Fergus is St Andrew Street East, the main street. The
downtown section is only three blocks long but it has a diverse collection of shops
and restaurants where you feel welcome as soon as you walk through the door.
The last time I visited the town, I wandered along the street and stopped to
admire the historic architecture of the squat, granite Carnegie Library, then
walked a few doors farther to pop into an eclectic bookshop where I leisurely
browsed without interruption. When I reached the end of the street, I rummaged
in an old-fashioned market housed in a rustic, barnlike building. I also
stopped at several craft and artisan shops. In one of them, I watched a
craftswoman thread a beaded necklace together and another artisan paint stained
glass decorations, and in another shop I sampled homemade chocolates.
Some of
the other things you’ll find on the street are hot tubs, carpets and flooring,
jewellery, health food products and fresh produce. There’s a wealth of unique
items on sale that you won’t get in a chain store.
When
you’ve had enough of browsing in the shops, you can indulge your taste buds at
a tearoom, a public house, a tandoori restaurant or eat Italian cuisine in a
150 year old stone inn. There’s also a family-style diner where you can order
something as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich.
Entertainment
is provided by the Grand Theatre, which stages a variety of shows and concerts throughout
the year. You won’t find wild nightlife on St Andrew Street East, but there are
lots of reasons to be there day or night.
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| Fergus Grand River |
And as
you wander along the street, the soothing sound of the Grand River’s flowing
water winding its parallel path behind the street accompanies you.
Many of
the buildings were built from granite quarried locally more than a century ago,
giving the architecture a distinctive, charming character. Life on the street
moves at a slower pace than on busy city streets and it’s not surprising to
meet someone you know and stop for a chat. It’s just the sort of place where my
protagonist, Lois Stone, feels at home. She left the big city for a slower pace
of life and that’s what she’s found in Fenwater, the fictional version of
Fergus.
On the
flipside of the coin and the town are the huge supermarkets and chain stores in
shopping malls, surrounded by acres of parking spaces, which have sprung up outside
the downtown area. While they provide necessary products and services, they are
impersonal and boringly predictable. The same brand name shops can be found in
any mall on the North American continent. I think these cloned shopping complexes
leach away the individual character of a town.
Given a
choice between the two, I would rather meander along Fergus’s main street, not
race my shopping trolley down unending aisles piled high with no-name brand
goods. Since neighbours and community, and getting away from the rat race, are
important to my protagonist I won’t be sending Lois to a mall to shop. That’s
the world she was desperate to leave behind when she moved to Fenwater. So
she’ll stick to the peaceful, welcoming main street of her town where there
will always be friends to meet, something unique to discover and an intriguing
mystery or two.
A Timeless Celebration
A
small town, a big party, a stolen gift.
When an artefact from the Titanic is
stolen before her town's 150th anniversary celebration, it's up to Lois Stone
to catch the thief.
Middle-aged widow Lois has moved from
bustling Toronto to tranquil Fenwater and is settling into her new life away
from the dangers of the city. Then two events happen that shatter her serenity:
her house is burgled and an antique watch belonging to a Titanic survivor
is stolen from the local museum. Her best friend, Marge, was responsible for
the watch's safekeeping until its official presentation to the museum at the
town's 150th anniversary party, and its disappearance will jeopardize her job
and the museum's future. Lois won't let her friend take the blame and the
consequences for the theft. She's determined to find the watch in time to save
her best friend's job, the museum's future, and the town's 150th anniversary
celebration.
And so begins a week of new friends, apple and cinnamon muffins,
calico cats, midnight intruders, shadowy caprine companions and more than one
person with a reason to steal the watch, set against the backdrop of century
houses on leafy residential streets, the swirling melodies of bagpipes, a shimmering
heat haze and the burble of cool water.
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2 comments:
Thanks for hosting me on your blog, Anastasia. I can never talk too much about Fergus and it's fictional counterpart, Fenwater.
We were happy you could stop by, Dianne.
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