Stanhope Road There was also a farm lane running north from this new road between the Carr and Foster properties to the Long Pond cemetery.

In the 1790 map of Stanhope there was no road along the Bay Shore; the road from Charlotte Town went as far as the boundary between Stanhope Farm and William Lawson’s land, and Stanhope Lane is shown as cleared almost to the Gulf Shore. On an 1853 map the road from town still ends at the edge of the bay; Stanhope Lane runs all the way to the Gulf Shore, between Bovyer and Foster lands on the east and those of Martin Power and Robert Hudson on the west. To get to the “Point”, one had to ride or drive along the beach of the bay; however, by 1880 there was a narrow track called “Beach Road” running close to the Bay Shore from Duncan and John Shaw’s farm to that of Angus MacMillan; it ran so close to the shore that by 1922 there was so much erosion that land had to be bought from farmers along the shore-line so that the road could be moved back from the water; this happened once more, in the early 1940s, in spite of rocks and brush placed by local farmers to stop erosion. In 1954 this Bay Shore Road was repaired at a cost of $855.70 and in 1962 it was paved, first with a stabilising coat, and then with four inches of pavement. The main road was paved from Covehead to Stanhope School in June, 1959, and the Stanhope Eastern Road (“Hardscrabble Lane” in older times.) was widened. rebuilt and paved in 1970. And wonder of wonders, in 1982 Stanhope (“Mud Bath”) Lane was paved from the school to the Vail property.

The Gulf Shore Road

With the coming of the National Park in 1937 we got a fine new road, running just inland from the North Shore, from Covehead Harbour to Dalvay; this was part of a highway extending throughout the length of the Park planned by the Park authorities. By the end of 1939 a gravel highway had been completed from Dalvay, where the Park headquarters are, nearly to Covehead Harbour. This gravel road followed the course of a narrow track running between the dunes and the back fence lines of the various farms; where the Park road curves south just before the Dalvay toll-booth, the old road can still be seen, continuing along the shore line to the fish houses and wharf on the west side of Tracadie Harbour.

The Gulf Shore Road was paved in 1951, and re-paved in 1960. In 1957 a pile and trestle bridge over Covehead Harbour inlet was completed, joining the Stanhope section of the new road with those in Brackley and Rustico Island. Unfortunately the middle span of this

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