Bike Tour 1 - Trinity-Bellwoods, Little Italy, Queen West

Many new and original laneway homes, famous Croft Street and graffiti alley south of Queen W

Sunday June 12, July 10, August 7 and September 4

Meet at the south-east corner of Trinity-Bellwoods Park at Gore Vale Ave and Queen St W at 11 am.

Bike Tour 2 - Corktown to Cabbagetown

The quickly changing alleys north of the Distillery lead to more gentrified alleys of hidden homes and spaces

Sundays June 26, July 24, August 21 and September 18

Meet outside the Distillery District Gates at Mill and Trinity Sts at 11 am.

Bike Tour 4 - Riverdale and Queen East

Leafy canopies shade undulating alleys, pockets of laneway homes and recently dedicated June Callwood Way

Sundays June 26, July 24, August 21 and September 18

Meet at the north-east corner of Withrow Park at McConnell and

Carlaw Aves at 1 pm.

For the 2011 season there will be four tours:

Walking Tour

Queen West, Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Portugal

Graffiti alley south of Queen W leads to laneway homes, residential alleys,

and a fantastic variety of alleys near Dundas and Ossington

Sunday June 12, July 10, August 7 and September 4

Meet outside Pizza Pizza at Queen St W and Bathurst St at 1 pm.

Bike Tours

All tours are free, take place rain or shine and are roughly an hour long,

depending on the number of participants.

You will require your own bike for the bike tours.

Please email me if you’d like to attend or would like more info:

info at graemeparry dot com

Galleries

        structures               public art            textures and materials

        unusual                  green                  funk dump junk

About this site

Maps from original website

“...and so the alley could once again become a special world, not so much a place for the discards and helpless but for a wider range of city dwellers. It offers one of the few urban rather than suburban or rural ‘retreats’, an enclave just off the busy street, a step away from the hurly burly.”

from Alleys: A Hidden Resource by Grady Clay

This quote captures the feel of traveling in laneways, the sense of being in the city yet somewhat removed from it. Exploring lanes for the first time I often experienced a feeling like being on vacation, only to return abruptly when arriving upon a familiar intersection, surprised and intrigued, thinking

"i didn't know i could get here this way." While it was curiosity that lead me into laneways, it's the variety of sights I found in them that makes me want to show them to people.

What will you find in laneways? For the most part garages, many with their own personality, some quite unique. Graffiti is the next most common sight, a lot of it uninteresting, but many pieces are captivating with their brilliant colours and complex styles. Homes are the next most common, from older worker’s cottages and row housing to infill townhouses and custom architectural homes. All amidst the ebb and flow of urban jetsam, decay and renovation, green vines and tall trees. Occasionally people appear: walking their dog, washing their car, or playing in the alley.

This is my ninth year of exploring alleys and giving laneway tours in the city. I encourage you to come out and see a side of Toronto you may have overlooked. If you enjoy alleys already, come out to share your stories about them and maybe see some you missed.

Graeme Parry

June 2011