I love walking the Waterfront Trail from Bay Street to Princess Point, the calm rolling of the water, the beautiful waters of Cootes Paradise which are devoid - with the exception of the fish gate - of human structure.
It wasn't always this way, there was once a shanty town along the shores of Cootes where the trial runs today. The story of this town, and the demolition of it, is one of many stories included in the book.
Admittedly, I expected the book to be about the past 50 years of environmental history in the Harbour. It was much deeper than this.
The opening chapters discuss the first fishing inspector, and the fisheries that were once a major part of the Harbour.
If you want to know more about the past of Hamilton Harbour - and a glimpse of what it can be again - I recommend reading this book.
The People and the Bay: A Social and Environmental History of Hamilton Harbour by Nancy B. Bouchier & Ken Cruikshank, published by UBCPress, 2016.
Available at the Hamilton Public Library