Cape Breton Estates: Land of the Golden Arms

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This large farm of 270 acres is located in a rural farming area of Cape Breton known as River Denys, the name sake being a river that winds through the area towards the Bras d'Or Lake. A good paved country road, provides access to the TransCanada Highway that in turn leads to Port Hawkesbury for shopping and services (about a 15 minute drive). Big Marsh Road is a school bus route and is ploughed regularly in the winter. The Bras d'Or Lake is about a 20 minute drive away with a very nice public beach access at Marble Mountain.

The old farmhouse has not been lived in for a few years and the pastures have lain fallow, but the owners live nearby and have maintained the house and the barns in reasonable condition. The house needs updating as well as new windows and plumbing fixtures, but is basically in livable condition.

According to the owner, 25% of the acreage is former pasture land already cleared of forest and ready for crops or herds. Another 50% of the land is former pasture with bush grown-in. About 70 acres are forested with mainly softwood.

Around the house is a small apple orchard with 7 trees. The vintage species name is not known but the apples are red, very good-tasting, pest resistant to the point that they require no spraying and the apples will last throughout the winter with proper storage. Between the orchard area and the driveway is a beautiful old hedge of wild rose.

The Upper River Denys cuts through the property and explains the totally flat area that is river bottom land. The land needs to be drained in order to get maximum use from the acreage. A backhoe and trenches were used before to successfully drain the property and needs to be redone.

The River Denys Lowlands are bounded by the Creignish Hills and the North Mountain. This low-lying area was periodically inundated by glacial lakes during the last ice age when highland glaciers advanced and retreated. The glacial lakes were higher extensions of the present day Bras d'Or Lakes, whose outlet at the Great Bras d'Or was dammed by Cape Breton Highland glaciers. Melt water had to find an alternate route to escape to the ocean, and the path of least resistance was around the remnant ice caps on the highlands.