Ten Things That Make Middlesex County Awesome!
Middlesex County is full of wide-open spaces & pleasant surprises. Surrounding the City of London in southwestern Ontario, this massive rural area may feel overwhelming at first for visitors trying to discover the essence of the place. There are lots of small towns and villages, including Strathroy, Glencoe, Mount Brydges, Komoka & Kilworth, Ailsa Craig, Parkhill, Ilderton, Lucan, Thorndale and Dorchester. What binds all these places together, aside from the obvious political boundaries? What makes Middlesex County truly a community? What is the identity of the place? This is what our team at young & free press set out to discover.
Our focus is always on supporting local businesses and promoting tourism in Ontario’s Southwest. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this has been challenging to say the least as a result of the ever-evolving public health regulations and occasional lockdowns. Still, we covered a lot of ground, hit the hand sanitizer, and put on masks as required! Now, we want to share our list of ‘Ten Things That Make Middlesex County Awesome’ … we know that there are lots of other places and experiences that could be added here, but we wanted to reflect on some of the spots that resonated the most with us over the past year. We feel like, as we assembled this list, we got a bit closer to figuring out what makes the community distinctive. Here we go …
10 / The Shoe Tree in Strathburn
We love a good roadside attraction, especially those without any context or explanation! Shoe trees have popped up across North America, and the origins in each case can be difficult to decipher … sometimes the chaos is random, and occasionally there is a prompt, like if every member of the graduating class of a high school, college or university decides to throw shoes into the same tree. Environmentally this may not be ideal, but hey, we think this has the spark of artistic process … so, pull over and have a look at the shoe tree the next time you happen to be in Strathburn. The whole thing seems kind of magical, and kids love it!
Andrew Gunn & Emily Stage of young & free press taking a moment to check out the ‘Shoe Tree’ in Strathburn.
9 / Roadside Markets & Bakeries
There are some great food-spots around Middlesex County! One of our favourites is Crunican Orchards north of London near Elginfield. The whole place smells perfectly like apples all year round, and we would classify the exterior and interior design as rural hygge, warm and comforting and inviting. We love the Honey Crisp & Jonagold apples, but there are lots of varieties to try, plus local jams, sauces, nuts, drinks & treats.
Emily Stage & Madison Comfort of young & free press picking up some apples at Crunican Orchards.
Another standout is the Arva Mill House Bakery, a lovely spot located on-site at the historic Arva Flour Mill. Established in 1819, the Mill is considered to be the oldest continuously operating water-powered commercial flour mill in North America, and definitely worth a visit. The Bakery offers up coffee and lots of breads & treats. Fun fact: rock music icons The White Stripes performed a secret show at the Mill while on tour in Canada back in 2007! Some footage of the event still lives on over at YouTube.
After a visit to the Arva Mill House Bakery, Avelea Thorne & Julie Couwenberghs of young & free press highlight where The White Stripes played a secret show at the Arva Flour Mill back in 2007.
8 / Walking Trails
If the pandemic has taught us anything, basically life is one long walk! Middlesex County has some attractive trails out in the vast rural expanses and also close by built-up residential areas. One popular spot is the Kilworth River Flats park and trail network located on the north edge of the Thames River with Komoka Provincial Park situated on the south side. Our friends at Middlesex Tourism have a full Trail Guide that highlights great places to explore all around the County. As the pandemic rolls on, why not change up the scenery of all those walks? We have never appreciated parks and trails so much.
Andrew Gunn, Madison Comfort & Bailee Jacklin of young & free press in the Kilworth River Flats. Bailee lives nearby, and took on the challenge of helping our team discover beautiful places around Middlesex County.
7 / Pizza Joints
Yes, we judge communities based on pizza! In Middlesex County, our favourite local spots include Andy’s Legendary Pizza in Mount Brydges and Strathroy, Pizza Picasso in Glencoe, Hillside Restaurant in Kilworth, and Alberta’s Restaurant & Pizzeria in Dorchester. During the pandemic, we got used to aiming for patios, but occasionally we would pick up a pizza & find a park or seating area nearby … this is one thing that many small towns & villages often lack. There are cool opportunities for this sort of set-up in places around Middlesex County. Municipalities within the County could develop signature community spaces in downtown areas to attract residents & visitors to come together in memorable ways. We kept a list of strategic locations and would be happy to be involved! Kind of a perfect project for teenagers to inform in small towns & rural areas …
Avelea Thorne & Emily Stage of young & free press at Andy’s Legendary Pizza in Mount Brydges.
Andrew Gunn, Bailee Jacklin & Madison Comfort of young & free press outside Pizza Picasso in Glencoe. Bailee & Madison are holding copies of the new Middlesex County Culinary Guide.
Madison Comfort & Julie Couwenberghs of young & free press at Hillside Restaurant in Kilworth.
Through the window! Bailee Jacklin, Madison Comfort & Julie Couwenberghs of young & free press enjoying a night out at Alberta’s Restaurant & Pizzeria near Dorchester.
6 / Historical Touches
Whenever we visit a city or town, we take the time to wander without any set agenda, and we avoid being told in advance what to expect. This is the best way to discover the features of a community instinctively, following the paths, sounds and aromas. Last summer, we walked along the main street in Lucan one night, examining the buildings and little side-pathways. This is how we found the interesting collection of buildings at the Donnelly Museum, plus the historical mural by London artist Andrew Gillet highlighting how Black slaves escaping the U.S. on the Underground Railroad settled in the Lucan area in the 1830s.
Emily Stage, Maddie King & Madison Comfort of young & free press check out the new historical mural in Lucan that highlights the Wilberforce Settlement.
5 / Local Drinks
Beer fans should definitely check out Rusty Wrench Brewing Company in Strathroy. We enjoyed the pop-up patio on the street this past summer, and the Drunken Slushie cocktail is fun, too (there is a non-drunken option for the under 19 crowd!) There are some tasty pub options on the menu, too. Whenever we visit Strathroy, we always have this sense of the potential of the place – what if artists were truly set free to help design unique spaces downtown? The configuration of the streets offers up some intriguing possibilities.
Avelea Thorne & Julie Couwenberghs of young & free press on the pop-up patio at Rusty Wrench in Strathroy.
One night we stopped by the Crown & Turtle Pub in Ailsa Craig, famous for the healthy selection of whiskey and bourbon on the menu. The pub is cozy & the drink menu is fun to explore …
Julie Couwenberghs & Madison Comfort of young & free press at the Crown & Turtle Pub in Ailsa Craig. As the 19+ member of our team, Julie handles the occasional drink tasting, including this glass of bourbon.
4 / Farmers’ Markets
We love finding farmers’ markets and sampling unique local products! From the Komoka Community Market to the Ilderton Farmers’ Market to the North Middlesex Farmers’ Market in Parkhill, we discovered some excellent food and drink vendors! Really, the farmers’ market is the original business incubator, and we love checking out the start-up culture in each place. One of our favourite finds this year: Ceylon Select Tea at the Ilderton Farmers’ Market. We’re looking forward to the 2021 farm market season!
Maddie King & Julie Couwenberghs of young & free press at the Komoka Community Market. Friendly spot!
Maddie King, Madison Comfort & Avelea Thorne of young & free press at the Ilderton Farmers’ Market.
3 / Restaurants
There are lots of restaurants scattered around Middlesex County. We found our two favourites in Strathroy – the Clock Tower Bistro and Tia’s Place.
The Clock Tower Bistro is a beautiful restaurant, occupying ‘The Clock Tower’ building designed by architect Thomas Fuller and constructed in 1899. Originally home to the local post office and inland revenue services, the site now features the restaurant and an inn. We like the breezy back patio in the summer, which offers up cool views of the clock tower, especially as day passes into night.
Emily Stage, Madison Comfort & Maddie King of young & free press after dinner at The Clock Tower Bistro.
Tia’s Place is a bustling Portuguese restaurant on Front Street West in downtown Strathroy. Visit a few times and delve into the menu … we love Tia’s Bacalhau a Bras!
2 / Heeman’s
Located east of London near Thorndale, Heeman’s transcends the pattern of a typical garden centre by being a genuine tourism destination, drawing guests with new products and events all year long. The plants in the greenhouses are the main draw along with strawberries, supplemented by the excellent honey and cider on offer and the drinks in the Berry Beanery café. The annual ‘Food Trucks on the Farm’ event is a major attraction (pre-COVID and hopefully post-COVID, too). Perhaps the best thing about Heeman’s, though, is the focus on innovation … there is always something new to try, and this is what keeps everyone coming back.
Andrew Gunn & Maddie King (front) of young & free press with Tom Heeman & Susan Judd of Heeman’s … plants, strawberries, cider, honey & more … what else could one want, really?
1 / Ice Cream Spots
We love ice cream on warm summer nights, and we found some cool places around Middlesex County! Make sure to check out DairyLovers ice cream truck in Lucan, Kahuna’s Kones near Mount Brydges, and Lickity Split in Parkhill … one of our enduring memories of travelling through the area is finding these inviting ice cream spots and slowing down just to enjoy the moment. Life can be surprisingly simple sometimes!
Ice cream! Madison Comfort, Maddie King & Emily Stage of young & free press at DairyLovers in Lucan.
Julie Couwenberghs & Avelea Thorne on a twilight stop for ice cream at Kahuna’s Kones in Mount Brydges.
Madison Comfort & Emily Stage at Lickity Split Ice Cream Parlour in Parkhill. Kind of the perfect small-town ice cream shop! We love the sign, awnings and hanging flower baskets.
So, what makes Middlesex County unique? After all, every community has roadside attractions, walking trails, local pizza joints, garden centres and ice cream parlours. Two things come to mind. First, with the City of London looming in all directions, the small-town atmosphere in places like Lucan, Glencoe and Thorndale seems a little more poignant. Maintaining and enhancing the identity of towns and villages is an ongoing battle and existential in nature. We like when small towns tell stories well and let everyone know why the place is significant to the people who live there. This is happening across Middlesex, and there are opportunities to do more of that. Second, the roads are clear and the views are endless featuring gorgeous farmland, glimpses of the Thames River, and the occasional train rolling along the tracks. Try driving through these beautiful rural landscapes around sunset and there is a distinctive sense of freedom, like those moments are always there for those who want the experience. Middlesex County offers that quiet freedom for everyone.
Bailee Jacklin lives in Kilworth and attends Medway High School. She joined our team at young & free press to help us dig into the culture of Middlesex County, and contributed notes & insights for this article.
