The lake is familiar straight away. The open ground around it takes a little longer to recognise. In this aerial photograph, the National Carillon stands in the foreground, a white plume rises from the Captain Cook Memorial Jet, and the bridges give us our bearings.1
ArchivesACT dates the view to around 1970 and associates it with the Department of the Interior’s Parks and Gardens Branch. The photographer is not identified. Rows of young trees and broad stretches of open ground make the shape of the lake especially clear.1
The Carillon was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 26 April 1970. Its presence helps place this view in a period when landmarks we now take for granted were still new additions to the capital.2
Which part catches your eye first: the shoreline, the roads, or the space between the buildings? If your family has a photograph from an early outing by the lake, it could add another piece to this view.1