MOUNT UNIACKE’S HISTORY – DON CUNNINGHAM

Published on March 2017

My family started going to Mount Uniacke in 1946. We built our first cottage in what was then called Old Mines Road. I see the sign now says Old Gold Mines Road. Our first cottage was a renovated chicken coup located in the first field on the left about a mile past Little West Lake. Little West Lake was about one quarter of a mile past the top of Cockscomb Hill.We lived in Halifax and Dad worked at the Nova Scotia Light and Power Company as shift foreman at the car barn. As kids we spent the entire summer each year in the old mines road. It was a great place for a kid to explore, as long as you knew where all the open mine shafts were located.We were a family of seven kids so always had companions to play with. Our summers were spent swimming in the surrounding lakes and exploring the many buildings that were still standing. We of course had no electricity and nights were spent around the oil lamps playing cards (45′s and rummy).We had an old wind up record player and about one hundred and fifty 78 rpm records. I listened to those old records so many times, I still remember the lyrics and the tunes. We also had a battery radio which we listened to for a short period each night.