Byron is neighbourhood in the City of London, Ontario, Canada. Nickname: Location of London in relation to Middlesex County and the Province of Ontario Coordinates: , Country Canada Province Ontario County Middlesex County Settled 1826 as a village Incorporated 1855 as a city Government  - City Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best  - Governing Body London City Council  - MPs Sue Barnes (LPC) Glen Pearson...

Located downriver (west) from London on the outer fringes of the city, Byron was originally called Westminster, then renamed Hall's Mill, and then finally Byron. The Byron area was settled in 1800 and first became a village in 1804. The village of Byron was annexed by the City of London in 1961 and the population grew substantially with the development of large subdivisions around the original village. Nickname: Location of London in relation to Middlesex County and the Province of Ontario Coordinates: , Country Canada Province Ontario County Middlesex County Settled 1826 as a village Incorporated 1855 as a city Government  - City Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best  - Governing Body London City Council  - MPs Sue Barnes (LPC) Glen Pearson...

To this day, some long-time residents of Byron refuse to call it anything but Byron, Ontario, but most people use the term as a point of reference within the city of London.

The current boundaries of Byron are generally regarded to be the land south of the Thames River and west of Colonel Talbot Road. Recent housing developments have expanded Byron southward to Southdale Road and westward to Wickerson Road. Outside of the urban area, Byron is surrounded by farmland and forested areas. On the eastern border of Byron is the Byron Gravel Pit, the sixteenth-largest gravel pit in Canada. Historically, Byron also consisted of some land north of the Thames River in the area known today as Oakridge Park, including the Byron Bog (now Sifton Bog). The Thames River is located in southwestern Ontario, Canada. ... Colonel Talbot Road is a well known roadway in the London area. ...

Education

There are five publically-funded elementary schools in Byron, namely Byron Northview Public School, Byron Somerset Public School, Byron Southwood Public School, St. George Catholic School, and St. Theresa Catholic School. The first three schools are under the jurisdiction of the Thames Valley District School Board and the latter two are part of the London District Catholic School Board. Byron Northview Public School is an elementary school in Byron, London, Ontario. ... The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) is a public school board in southwestern Ontario. ... London District Catholic School Board ...

There are no secondary schools located in Byron (a source of some consternation to residents, as a secondary school was originally promised by the city of London when Byron was annexed). Two publically funded secondary schools serve the needs of Byron students. The nearest is St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School in the London District Catholic School Board, to the north across the Thames River. This school primarily serves the needs of Roman Catholic students, though, as it is publically funded, students of any religious denomination may attend. The majority of secondary school age students in Byron choose to attend Saunders Secondary School in the Thames Valley District School Board in the Westmount suburb of London. Though they do not live within the drawing area, several secondary school age children from Byron currently attend Oakridge Secondary School, located in the Oakridge suburb of London. London District Catholic School Board ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Saunders Secondary School is located at 941 Viscount Road in the Westmount suburb of London, Ontario. ... The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) is a public school board in southwestern Ontario. ...

There is also a private Montessori pre-school in Byron, located on Commissioners Road between Grand View Ave and Chestnut Hill. The Montessori method is a methodology for nursery and elementary school education, first developed by Dr. Maria Montessori. ...

Tourism

Byron is one of the most scenic parts of London and is home to Springbank Park, one of the most picturesque urban parks in Canada. It is also the home of Boler Mountain, a small co-operative that offers skiing, snowboarding, snow-tubing, and mountain bike terrains. The hill has been in operation since 1946 and is Canada's most southerly ski hill. Springbank Park is a 57 hectare (140 acre) park located along a stretch of the Thames River in London, Ontario, Canada. ... Boler Mountain, is the home of the London Ski Club in London, Ontario. ... A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) comprises a legal entity owned and democratically controlled by its members, with no passive shareholders. ... Cross-country skiing (skating style) in Einsiedeln, Switzerland. ... Snowboarder in a half-pipe Snowboarder riding off cornice Snowboarding contributes greatly to the economies of ski resorts Snowboarding is a sport that involves descending a snow-covered slope on a snowboard that is attached to ones feet using a boot/binding interface. ... Snow tubing is sledding on snow using an over inflated inner tube for a sled. ... A cross country mountain bike race A hardtail mountain bike A mountain bike or mountain bicycle (abbreviated MTB or ATB (All Terrain Bicycle)) is a bicycle designed for mountain biking, either on dirt trails or other unpaved environments. ...

The ski hill began as a single run on the southeastern-most section of the modern hill, accessed by a gravel road from Boler Road, just south of today's Gatineau Road. The small ski club property expanded westward over the years, and the current chalet was built in 1972. The original Boler Road access was closed off around the same time to permit the building of a subdivision, and the entrance moved to the newly extended Griffith Street where it met the original road.

Boler Mountain was served by three T-bar lifts throughout the 1970s and 80s, the western-most of which was replaced by a quad-chairlift in the early 1990s. The other two T-bar lifts were replaced by a single quad-chairlift in 2003. A fourth T-bar lift had been partially constructed in the early 1980s on a then-newly acquired area of land immediately west of the chalet that came to be known as Hill 2000. The lift never was completed, and was mostly dismantled in 1997. Building of Hill 2000 has progressed slowly since 1978, and has yet to be completed. The tubing hill was added at the base of Hill 2000 in January 1998.

The summer venue was home to the 2001 Canada Summer Games mountain biking event. Byron was also home to the Games's road cycling event, where cyclists raced through the heart of the village. The Canada Games are a multi-sport event that occurs every two years in Canada. ...

Byron Telephone Company

Byron was served until August 1960 by the Byron Telephone Company, when it was sold to Bell Canada. A manual telephone exchange continued to operate until September 15, 1963, and in 1962 or 1963, the short code 471 was introduced to London exchange customers for the convenience of immediately reaching the Byron operator to complete a call. Upon dial introduction, 471 became the exchange prefix. Bell Canada Enterprises (TSX: BCE, NYSE: BCE), legally BCE Inc. ... is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

However, some two or three years before 1960, the Byron Telephone Company converted its Lambeth-area customers to a dial exchange, the OLiver 2 exchange. Lambeth was a population centre in Westminster Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada. ... During the early years of telephone service, communities that required more than 10,000 telephone numbers, whether dial service was available or not, utilized exchange names to distinguish identical numerics for different customers. ...

Tim Hortons Controversy

In 2000, Tim Hortons, which had 44 locations throughout London, sought to open its first full-service location in Byron. At the time, Tim Hortons' presence in Byron was limited to a kiosk inside the A&P grocery store with no seating, limited hours, and a limited menu. Tim Hortons is a coffee-and-doughnut fast food restaurant chain largely based in Canada. ... For the short story by John Updike, see A&P (story). ...

Tim Hortons was met by bitter opposition from a small group of members of the community, which had also stopped Tim Hortons' entry into Byron in 1998. Some members of the group claimed building a Tim Hortons would ruin the "small town atmosphere" that they claimed Byron to have, by generating too much traffic and noise.

London City Council sided with local residents and refused to rezone a parcel of land along Commissioners Road to permit Tim Hortons to build a store there. TDL Group Ltd. appealed the decision to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), and the OMB sided with TDL and ordered the City to permit the required rezoning. [1] Tim Hortons opened its Byron location in December 2001. The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) is an independent adjudicative tribunal that provides a public forum for resolving disagreements relating to community planning, governance issues and other matters in the province of Ontario, Canada, as provided for under the Ontario Municipal Board Act. ...

Notable Byronites

• Rob Ramage, professional hockey player
• Joshua Workman, Canadian political consultant
• Lorraine Hack, Local Philanthropist