What's It All About, eh?

Cape Breton evokes deep memories and strong emotions for me as well as a deep appreciation for the beauty of my adopted island. My hopes are that you too might find the photos evocative - maybe a view you've not enjoyed before, or an 'Oh I've been there', or if from away that you may be encouraged to visit this fair isle so that you might come to love and breathe Cape Breton as I do. One word about place names that I use - some are completely local usage while others are from maps of Cape Breton that I've purchased over the years. I frequently post travel and other photos that are of interest to me - and hopefully you.

On the right hand side bar find my take on Single Malt whiskey - from how to best enjoy this noble drink to reviews (in a most non-professional manner) of ones that I have tried and liked - or not. Also musings, mine and others, on life in general.

Photographs are roughly 98%+ my own and copy-righted. For the occasional photo that is borrowed, credit is given where possible - recently I have started posting unusual net photographs that seem unique. Feel free to borrow any of my photos for non-commercial use, otherwise contact me. Starting late in 2013 I have tried to be consistent in identifying my photographs using ©smck on all out of camera photos I personally captured - (I often do minor computer changes such as 'crop' or 'shadow' etc but usually nothing major), and using
©norvellhimself on all photos that I have played around with in case it might not be obvious. Lately I have dropped the ©smck and have watermarked them with the blog name.

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Good Friends of Mine


Quintessential Cape Breton Day


They Don't Miss The Old Rolling Mill Bank Bridge



Minor Mystery of the Day


In the first photo of 'Rolling Mill Bank Road'  you can see the beginning of a guard-rail on the right in the distance. By photo number three I had walked to the missing bridge area and continued poking around taking photographs of ducks, leaves and such.  As I was returning to the truck, walking along the verge between the guard-rail and the waters of North East Creek the walking area narrowed so that I was forced closer to the inside of the guard rail where at its beginning I noticed a folded bit of paper stuffed inside (photo one).  Photograph two is obviously the unfolded paper and its' message - "Item has been removed n you are trespassing".  I'm guessing that some item, probably marijuana or pills, maybe just cigarettes or even some innocuous object secreted therein was removed for some reason and the 'secreter' was sending a warning to whomever they thought was going to take it.  Then I noticed someone - dressed in camouflage-fatigues but doubtfully army personnel - not too far away in the bushes and obviously trying to look as though they were not watching me.  It made me uncomfortable enough that I just got into my truck and drove away.



Chew More Gum Factory - Circa 1920


Sometime in the late '30s early 40's while walking this particular stretch of Rolling Mill Bank Road with my dad, he told me about working for the Chew More Gum Factory as a kid of about 12 to 14 years old at this very spot where the race from the dam farther up the North East Creek flowed here -second photo -under the road to re-merge with the down stream creek.  I think it was located where the cement base is just visible in the first photograph.  His job was to take a metal hammer and beat away at the hard candy encrusted walls of a large tumbler machine that had worked all week tumbling thousands upon thousands of layered candies commonly called 'Jawbreakers'.  His pay had been minimal he said but he could take home bags of the broken away pieces of the hard candy that he had pounded away from the metal walls of the huge tumbler.  Even then, when we walked there, the building was gone and no one else I knew then - or since - remembered that long ago Chew-More Gum factory.  And other water powered businesses that gave the road its' name are long forgotten.   If the road remains unbridged this whole stretch of town road will revert to nature and haunt of homeless people dreaming away their existance.