Aside from a time of impending tornados or blinding blizzards, anytime is a good time for a drive in the rural Guelph area.
But traditionally, a Sunday drive is just a little bit slower, and consequently a touch more picturesque than most.
Here in mid-summer, the rolling countryside around the town of Maryhill – right on the western boundary of Wellington County – is brilliantly lush and green, with great squares of ochre wheat nearing the harvest stage.
In the graveyard of St. Boniface Catholic Church stands some of the most unique wrought-iron markers, each affixed with a limestone plate providing a chronology of those who settled in the area in the 1800s.
There are a number of Mennonite families with thriving farms in the area, with their diversified and intensely busy operations (aside from on Sundays, the day of rest). Many of the farms out here have been here for over 100 years.
The back roads are full of surprises – from gaudy new mansions that could fit three families, to historic barns that have stood through many tornado seasons and blizzards.
This photo gallery was compiled from photographs taken in and around Maryhill on a late Sunday morning. The sky was mostly overcast, with a hint of sun periodically. There were frequent photographic stops on the drive, and it was leisurely.
