Learn about eight Canadian trivia destinations in London
Eight destinations in London that should be must-sees for Canadian trivia lovers
With all the things to see and do in London, lakes and trees are probably not high on a Canadian’s bucket list. Still, a walk through Green Park and St. James’s Park is a delightful way to escape the madding crowd and make some surprising discoveries about Canada along the way. Adapted from London Eh to Zed: 101 Discoveries for Canadian Visitors to London by Christopher Walters. Map courtesy of Dundurn Press. 1. Apsley House. Once home to Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. His political sleight of hand helped ram through Parliament the costliest project in the whole British Empire: Canada’s Rideau Canal.
2. The Canada Memorial. Unveiled in 1994, this truncated pyramid of pink granite honours the role Canada played in the two world wars. It was designed by Montreal’s Pierre Granche and was the brainchild of former newspaper baron and later convicted felon Conrad Black.
3. The Canada Gates. Part of the Victoria Memorial, these golden gates at the edge of Green Park display the crests of all the provinces except Newfoundland (which has its own column nearby). Canada paid the equivalent of about $2 million to be part of this homage to its late queen.
4. The Canada Geese of St. James’s Park. Described as the most loathsome bird in Britain, these messy inhabitants arrived here not migrant tourists but as gifts from early explorers of the New World around 1665. The British flock is now fatter, lazier and almost flightless compared to its Canadian cousins.
5. Gen. Charles de Gaulle monument. The French president’s visit to Expo 1967 in Montreal seemed like his triumphant return to Paris in the Second World War, according to many French Canadians.
6. Sir John Franklin monument. The best-known explorer of Canada’s Arctic, Franklin set out to discover the Northwest Passage in 1845 but met his maker two years later. His disappearance prompted 30 search attempts. In 2014, one of his two ships was discovered near King William Island.
7. Capt. James Cook monument. The renowned explorer of the Pacific, Cook cut his teeth leading the British armada under Gen. James Wolfe to Quebec. His successful navigation of the St. Lawrence River led to its first published map.
8. Canada House. Formerly a private gentlemen’s club, Canada House was purchased in 1923 and opened by King George V two years later. The king is said to have described the high commissioner’s office as the finest in London, better than his own.