Scarborough Bluffs

The Scarborough Bluffs are an escarpment in Scarborough, Ontario along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. They run convert|14|km|mi from the foot of Victoria Park Avenue in the west to the mouth of Highland Creek in the east, reaching as high as convert|65|m|ft, which is the equivalent of seventeen storeys. However, the escarpment continues westward inland, running between Kingston Road and Queen Street East, pausing over the Don Valley, and continuing on the north side of Davenport Road. The escarpment forms the old shoreline of Lake Iroquois, formed after the last ice age, which left valuable geological records as the part of the escarpment by the lake eroded. The eroded alluvial deposits from the Bluffs then settled westward to form the Toronto Islands.

The bluffs were named after Scarborough, England by Elizabeth Simcoe, the wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. The bluffs along Scarborough's Lake Ontario shores reminded her of the limestone cliffs in Scarborough, England. In her diary, she wrote, "The [eastern] shore is extremely bold, and has the appearance of chalk cliffs, but I believe they are only white sand. They appeared so well that we talked of building a summer residence there and calling it Scarborough." [cite web|title=A holiday with history|last= Carter|first= Chris |url=http://www.toronto.com/travel/article/000-000-317 |publisher=toronto.com |date= 2005-10-06 |accessdate= 2007-09-23] [Cite web|title=The Trip to York |url=http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/English/exhibits/simcoe/simcoe7.htm|work=Travels with Elizabeth Simcoe|publisher=Archives of Ontario|accessdate=2007-09-23]

A park created from fill has been built in the lake below the cliffside named Bluffer's Park; it is accessible from the foot of Brimley Road.

A stylized version of The Bluffs appeared prominently on the old flag of the City of Scarborough.

Issues

The Scarborough Bluffs had been eroding at a rapid rate since cottages were built near the edge in the 1940s and this problem escalated in the 1970s when a six-metre chunk fell off the Bluffs. Homeowners knew that erosion would occur, but the waterfront views were enticing enough to settle there, which led to a housing boom along the Bluffs, which was responsible for the accelerating rate of erosion. Even as recently as summer 2008, chunks of the Bluffs had eroded to the point that one quarter of a cottage that the late actor and comedian Billy Van once owned is left hanging on the cliff; the cottage is deemed a safety hazard by Scarborough city officials as a result. To combat erosion, boulders acting as armour rocks and trees were placed at the base. However, to place these rocks and plant trees, a beach must be created to allow trucks to access the cliff base, which would involve levelling parts of the Bluffs, such as the aforementioned Bluffer's Park. The Cathedral Bluffs, which is an impressive portion of the Bluffs, was the result of continued erosion. [cite news|url=http://www.thestar.com/article/483484|title=Scarborough Bluffs residents left hanging|last=Doolittle|first=Robyn|date=2008-08-22|work=Toronto Star|publisher=Torstar|pages=A10|accessdate=2008-08-23]

References