on Covehead Bay gave easier winter travel than the land, and from

the days of the first settlers was used extensively by the people of Stanhope and Covehead West.

The Bushed Roads on Covehead Bay

In early winter, as soon as the ice was thick enough, the roads were marked. Small trees, 6-8 feet tall, were cut from woodlots, and taken down onto the bay with horse and wagon (later with tractor and trailer). Balsam fir was preferred over spruce for the trees, as it was bushier and thus easier to see on the ice. Holes were made in the ice, first with an axe, then with a crowbar, so that the water came up into the bottom of the hole. The butts of the trees were sharpened into a wedge shape, and put down into the holes, where the water froze and fixed them. The trees were placed 35-40 paces apart, and lines were taken on trees or other landmarks on the opposite shore to get the roads straight. The work took several days; no. 1 road, about three miles long, took two men a day and a half. Originally, residents bushed roads to suit themselves; then the provincial government assumed the responsibility, and the job was a political one; names of men who did this work include Isaac Foster, Rupert Ross, Bert Misener, John Andrew Kielly, John Arch and Edward MacLauchlan, and in 1950, the last year the Bay was bushed, Wendell Kielly and George Marshall; the pay that year was $15 for the total work. The roads were as follows (see the map): —

I—l

Horgan’s farm, now the Golf Club House, to Lorne MacMillan’s. 2. From the lane between Lea MacLauchlan’s and Brent MacMillan’s to George MacMillan’s.

Rupert Ross’ to Roy Bell’s with a branch to Parson’s Creek.

Matt HudSon’s to Allie Mutch’s.

2“.“

People no longer drive horses and sleighs across the ice; they use a truck or a snowmobile instead. And on the roads and on the farms, the one-horse-power machine that ran on hay and oats (and provided organic fertiliser as a by-product) has given way to many-horsepowered cars, trucks, motor-bikes and tractors: a transportation revolution.

Bridges

There is a plan, drawn on February 15, 1834, “of a Bridge expected to be built across Cove Head Mill River on Lott or Township 34 to be 225 feet long and 18 feet in breadth, heighth (sic) 8 feet and posts 3 feet.” The 225 feet must have included the approaches; the bridge carried the road from Charlotte Town to Stanhope. There were two

115