About my summer adventure

My name is Angus Wolfe. I am 12 years old, and I live in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. I spend most of my spare time at my favourite place, Washago, which is a railway town a few miles to the north. I have a 9-year-old brother named Dougie. This summer just past was the most extraordinary of my life, so unusual that my father approached Ian Wilson, a well-known Canadian author, to write an account of the adventures I had. This writer has laid them out in a 224-page hardcover novel entitledThe Secret of the Old Swing Bridge.

My adventure this past summer had its roots in something which has always intrigued me about Washago: the former swing bridge on Old Highway 11, which used to pass right through town. Here at the south end, the narrow span was a bottleneck for weekend traffic. The bridge was removed in 1955; you can see the old north face here. Since I love old cars, I would love to travel back in time to see them all lined up waiting to cross the Trent Severn Waterway!

There was, and is, another swing bridge at Washago. This one is on the Canadian National Railway (CNR), just up the Trent Severn Waterway about half a mile. My dad and brother went for a boat ride with a neighbour this past summer. I took this picture then—which was before my adventure.