I have been to... Nova Scotia and Quebec

 After our stay in Boston, we set off for Nova Scotia and then around to Quebec, Montreal and Toronto. The first section was a short cruise calling in at various ports on the way, and finally ending up in Quebec. After that it was planes, trains and automobiles.

Bar Harbour in Maine. This rather lovely ship later set its sails and sailed away.

A couple of very large muzzle loaders. I thought these might be Armstrong-Whitworths but they were some strange US manufacturer.

The trees were on the turn at this time of year, with splashes of autumn colours but not the full display.

Halifax in the sunshine. Assembly point for many North Atlantic convoys. A hurricane blew through here the previous week, but it was nice and sunny for us.

I had expected mountains in Nova Scotia, instead it is largely flattish granite scoured by glaciers. The coastline is very beautiful however. 

A lot of it reminded me of Iceland.

Oooh, hello! An actual Flower class Corvette, as seen in The Cruel Sea. In jazzy arctic camo as well. This is the HMCS Sackville, moored along the seafront in Halifax.

From a distance I thought it was a pleasure steamer!

It is beautifully preserved.

Forward 4" gun turret.

Which has these odd rocket thingies attached to the sides, presumably some sort of ASW device.

Hedgehog array, although not fully populated with bombs.

View up towards the bridge. The ship is tiny, more like an armed trawler, but absolutely packed with weapons. There are Oerlikens each side of the bridge.

AA gunners view.

Voice tubes on the bridge, and the tiny radio/ASDIC? cabin on the right. I really wouldn't fancy it up here in an Atlantic storm. 

The voice tubes of course feature in another grim scene in The Cruel Sea. Poor Commander Erickson. 

The other 20mm position.

Carley floats on the rear deck.

Double depth charge racks on the rear deck.

Auxiliary steering at the rear of the hull (the rudder is directly beneath). You can see how little space there is below the deck to the keel. 

Side mounted depth charge dischargers.

The Fo'c'sle. I don't know where everyone is supposed to sleep, the USS Cassim Young was luxurious in comparison. Also featuring in a grim scene from The Cruel Sea.

Some more (apparently very short) hammocks slung in the ship.

Part of the engine room. I wouldn't fancy working down here, although they are only one hatch away from the upper deck, unlike, say HMS Belfast.

There was a small museum on board covering the Atlantic convoys, including this nice diorama which reminded me of the one at Greenwich Maritime Museum. 

View from the other side. What a lovely ship, worth the trip all on its own.

There were some other interesting ships along the waterfront, this nice three master for example.

And one of the regular ferries. This stub nosed design is perhaps peculiarly Canadian? There are similar ferries and water taxis in Vancouver.

After Halifax we sailed up to the north end of Nova Scotia and docked at Sydney. This was one of the first settlements and had a very significant Scottish influence (as did Halifax). I've never seen so much tartan, or so many photos of the Queen.

There are a few blocks of older houses in Sydney, predominantly like this one. Unlike many 'old' houses in North America, this one actually is old, having been constructed in the late seventeenth century.

It is now preserved as a museum.

That patterned bed spread is a very familiar design.

The port here was also used to despatch convoys and there is a memorial to the Merchant Navy.

As well as this rather evocative statue down by the harbour.

Quebec looms into view, the St Lawrence is very narrow at this point, so dangerous, fast flowing and tidal, despite being hundreds of miles from the sea. The old fort is on the green headland just to the left, above the Heights of Abraham.

Much of the architecture of the Old Town is reminiscent of various cities in north west France, particularly La Rochelle, St Malo etc.

There are gun batteries everywhere. This nice redoubt was down by the waterfront.

Whereas these trolley mounted guns are up on the heights.

One of the gates in the old city walls, which are extensive and very well preserved.

The fort. Like most Vauban style forts, there isn't actually a great deal to see. It is still the HQ of the 22nd Regiment, the 'Vandoos'.

This bit of the moat is being used as a car park! 

Beyond the fort are the Plains of Abraham.

Although tbh, it doesn't look a great place to fight a battle, but better than some of the alternatives.

There are a few museums on the heights, including a memorial to Canada in WW1. This has quite a good collection of old German artillery.

A 150mm howitzer.

And a 210mm moerser. You don't see many of them. I guess the recoil mechanism is broken as the barrel is right back. 

Various iterations of 77mm field gun of differing barrel lengths.

The classic early war version.

More muzzle loaders up on the ramparts.

Evidently a Coehorn Mortar, with its date of manufacture stamped on the trunnion (1793).

Me with more of the trolley guns.

After Quebec we went down to Montreal and Toronto, but tbh there isn't a huge amount of (military) historical interest in either of those, although the old town in Montreal is very pretty.

Old Montreal. You get the idea. 

The autumn colours were in full swing by the time we got here.

Toronto is a fairly short trip around Lake Ontario to Niagara. Which was mind bogglingly spectacular.

And very, very wet.

Just amazing. You can feel the ground shake under your feet.

There is a very nice outdoor railway museum near the CN Tower in Toronto.

But mainly it has an amazing waterfront, rather like Chicago. The view from the top of the tower is quite spectacular as well, but I was too scared to stand on the glass floor, as it is a very, very long way down.