This is a long skinny island known as “the Island” between the Welland Canal and the Welland River. Dad often talks of “the Island” so I took him there for a brief walk.
The entrance to a park is over the Aqueduct, where the Welland River is siphoned under the 4th Welland Canal (now the Recreational Waterway). This view looks back from the south entrance of the park over the Aqueduct.
Many people like to fish from the Aqueduct.
Just inside the park there’s a map and a playground. On the right is the Welland River, rather low and reedy.
On the left is a disused portion of the Canal, broad and clear, with a water level several feet higher than that of the river. The old water pump-house had giant triple pistons that pumped water to the city using the difference in water level for power.
The old road through the island has become a bicycle and hiking path. It’s part of the Merritt Trail, as this park is part of an extended system of parks and paths from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
Here’s my dad demonstrating a garbage disposal system eerily named “Moloch.”
Random Thoughts: If not now, when? 
Tuesday, 29 August 2006 at 15:31
I’ve frequently run along Merritt “Island”, particularly when monado’s mother was sick and we were visiting weekly.
It’s defined (as monado notes) by the Welland River to the east, and old Welland Canal to the west. The northern tip is where the old canal meets the current (post-1973) route. There’s a syphon there, too, where the Welland River is taken under the new (5th) canal.
The old canal to the west is (I think) the 3rd canal originally. Prior to its being dug, the “canal” ran along the Welland River. Northbound essels were locked into the river more or less where the southern syphon is, and locked back into the canal at Port Robinson. Some depressed ground, and maybe some stonework are still visible around the former locks at Port Robinson. monado’s long-lost swimming pool (which I remember in operation in 1981) was one of the locks between the Welland River and the Welland Canal.