John Langley is a lawyer, an author and maritime historian. His book Steam Lion is the definitive biography of Sir Samuel Cunard, founder of the Cunard Line. Like Cunard, Langley was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Langley still considers Halifax his hometown and is active in the affairs of the city. We spoke with him to get his views as to what Halifax is all about and his suggestions on what cruise passengers should see and do during port calls in Halifax.
Halifax is surrounded by scenic countryside. There are forests and quaint fishing villages that look like something out of a postcard. Visitors sometimes assume that the thing to do during a port call in Halifax is to take a tour of the countryside and maybe have a lobster dinner. However, Mr. Langley is adamant that there is much more to Halifax. “The first thing I say to people about what to do in Halifax is stay in Halifax. It is Canada's east coast seaport and it has a deep, deep history and deep roots with the sea. Read about it a bit before you come. It is an old British seaport - - 1749 is the incorporation date for the city.” “My suggestion to people when they get off the ship is to just walk. You can start with a walk on the waterfront. Remember, historically, Halifax was built up around the harbor, just a forest of masts and wharves.” Today, “Halifax has one of the most open and accessible waterfronts in the world. It is right there, you can put your feet in the water. You can reach out in some cases a few feet and touch the hull of a ship. Sometimes a sailing ship - - we have tall ships [events] here every two years and in between times they come and go. We have the most modern navy ships. We have the most current and up to date cruise ships. It is all right here in a touchy feely harbor. I say walk the mile and a half from the cruise terminal right up as far as you can go and back. If you don't get something out of that you must be sleepwalking.” To facilitate such walks, Halifax has built a pedestrian boardwalk called the “Harbourwalk” that runs along the water. “There are key points of interest. [The boardwalk] is fairly well-marked with a lot of identification tablets and so on that tell people about what they are seeing.” “The focal point being the Maritime Museum [of the Atlantic]. It is right in the middle of everything on the waterfront. It is a not-to-be-missed place to go if you are into maritime history at all.” The Museum is best known for its exhibit on the Titanic. After the sinking, Halifax was the staging point for the recovery efforts. In preparation for a lecture given on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy, Mr. Langley researched the connection between Halifax and the Titanic. “I thought I would be looking at four or five items. Well, it turned out there are about 35 of them and I learned a whole lot about the city in those days.” In addition to the artifacts on display in the Museum's Titanic exhibit, the Museum has other relevant exhibits. “The CSS Acadia, the in-water exhibit at the Maritime Museum, has a lot of trappings of the original Titanic. They were built at the same time. The lifeboat davits are the same as the ones on Titanic, built by the same people. The type of construction, the plate construction is the same. Inside, the reciprocating steam engine, is the same sort of technology. So it is worth going on that and picturing what the Titanic would have been like. And [Acadia] is a lovely old ship.” “The Museum exhibit is the focal point from which you can travel out to the cemeteries.” The recovery ships brought the bodies of many of the victims back to Halifax and some 150 are buried in three of the city's cemeteries. “The cemeteries mesmerize people because you can actually sit down with a grave stone and there it is. That is the closest people can get to the remnants of the people [who were] lost.” “Another thing people like when they come here and which starts at the Museum is the story of the Halifax Explosion.” In 1917, Halifax was devastated by a massive explosion that took place when a ship waiting to become part of a convoy collided with a munitions ship. “It is one of the major themes of the Maritime Museum. You can also walk the North End and still see some of the remnants. There are little parks where they have pieces, shards of metal, from the Mount Blanc [the munitions ship]. On the Dartmouth side [of the harbor], there is a bit of that there as well.” |
Next to the Museum is another historic ship, HMCS Sackville, the Canadaian Naval Memorial. “It is the last remaining corvette from the World War II era. There were dozens and dozens of them built to protect the convoys and [the ship] speaks to that whole era of conflict. A lot of the war effort, the supplying of England to keep it going, came from the convoys that left here. Submarines were out there waiting for them. Some [ships] did not get more than 20 miles before they were torpedoed. People don't realize that there was submarine activity right in the harbor entrance here. Of course, a lot of the ships never came back.”
A little further down the Harbourwalk from the Museum is the ferry terminal. “You can take a historical trip on the oldest salt water, continuously-operating, salt-water ferry in the world. The Halifax-Dartmouth ferry has been going back and forth across the harbor for over 250 years. It was mechanized, by the way, under the tutelage of Samuel Cunard in the 1816-20 era. It was one of his early forays into steam. You can ride that ferry and that is a bit of history.” There is an added bonus to taking a ride on the ferry. “The best view of Halifax is from Dartmouth. If you take the ferry over, you can walk the waterfront, a very lovely waterfront, and get great views of the city.” Not far from the ferry terminal on the Halifax side is another historic area. “Historic Properties is Halifax's restoration project of some years back where parts of the original waterfront downtown city were saved from the wrecker's ball and restored. You can have a nice lunch in the restaurants in the old iron stone buildings there. That gives you the flavor of the old.” But “Halifax is [also] very much involved with the new.” For many years, there was little commercial development of the downtown area. “With the new administration of the City, in the last 12 months that has opened up quite a bit. Now if you look at the skyline, you'll see cranes everywhere. Someone said it looks like a mini-Manhattan. That may be a stretch but I think it will take on a different look and a very modern look.” In addition, “Per capita Halifax has more universities than any place else in Canada. So it is an intellectual center. It is a high tech center and it has got the history.” Not everything of interest is along the waterfront. At the top of the hill overlooking the city is a massive fortress. “The Citadel is one of the most popular and visited tourist attractions in Canada. It still has the noon day gun - - the ceremonial firing each day. There is a lot of pomp and pageantry that you can see up there with the soldiers, the 78th Regiment. And the fortress itself goes back to the very founding of Halifax.” Down the opposite slope of the hill, “you can go to the Public Gardens, which has strong ties to Rule Britannia and that sort of thing.” Halifax's hidden gem is Point Pleasant Park. “I would say that one of the most enjoyable experiences for people getting off the boat is to walk Point Pleasant Park. It is a very historical place like Stanley Park in Vancouver. It is at the very end of the peninsula, the south end, and overlooks the harbor entrance where the ships come and go. It just provides a great respite from the city. It is one of the things that makes Halifax what it is. We know that as residents but I don't think it is a place many visitors get to.” There are also attractions right at the cruise port. “Halifax Seaport has been built up in the last eight or nine years to the point where it is an impressive place by itself. The focus being the Cunard Centre [convention and events center] but the Seaport market, the Farmers' market and the shops, which are typical of most seaports are part of what people will see there.” And the area is not without historical significance. Pier 21 “is a recently designated national museum site. It is our Ellis Island and a lot of people who travel here will have roots [running through there]. Perhaps some of their ancestors will have come through that entry point into Canada. You can spend a lot of time there. It is very proximate to where the ships dock.” “The history just mounts. Where do you want to be? What do you want to take away from here when you leave? It is up to you and Halifax is your oyster. Open it, shuck it, enjoy it. That is what it is here for.” |
Above: John Langley with the statue of Samuel Cunard at the Halifax Seaport.
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Cruise destination - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada - My Halifax John Langley Interview