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This cache is an easy stop and grab in the beautiful community of Big Pond, on the shores of the Bras d’Or Lake. Parking is available close by. The cache contains a log and writing stick, and plenty of swag. Please trade fairly. There is also an FTF!! There is a lovely beach about 4 kms east of this cache if you care to swim or just relax. We are including some historical and interesting information to help you appreciate this area a little more. This is our very first cache, hope you enjoy.
Big Pond is situated along the southern side of the delightful Bras d'Or Lake, an inland saltwater sea of 450 square miles with a coast line of more than 440 nautical miles. Sailing on the Bras d'Or is exceptional, with numerous coves and natural moorings scattered throughout the basin.
The area was settled in the 1800’s by Scots who left the Western Isles and Highlands of Scotland for North America. Two settlements developed side by side here on the south shore of the east bay of the Bras d’Or, one forming around a brook to the east, the other alongside a big pond in the west, and they in time would grow together to form the community now known as Big Pond. The first settlers around the brook were MacNeil’s. The western community became known as Big Pond, and in time as Big Pond Center, and was named after the pond which lies along the lakeshore and extends eastward. Various forces, mainly social and political, caused a gradual breakdown of boundaries between the communities. The building of a consolidated school; and the birth of community wide organizations such as the Community Council and the Fire Department have virtually completed the unification process but, as one would expect in Cape Breton there is still a bit of the Brook in some and a bit of the Pond in others.
The history of this area is being collected and maintained by our local “The Sgurra Breac Society” (approximately "skoor ah brec"). Sgurra Breac is a well-known landmark on the northern edge of The Big Barren, between Rear Big Pond and Glengarry Valley. Some still call it by its historical Gaelic name, while others call it simply "The Big Rock." "Breac" here means "speckled", perhaps referring to the lichens growing on the rock. For another great caching adventure, we highly recommend you check out Sgurra Breac (GC750D)!!
Big Pond has spawned some famous names in the music industry, Rita MacNeil and Gordie Sampson to name names!
Gordie Sampson A prolific songwriter, broke onto the music scene sweeping single of the year, Video of the Year, and Songwriter of the Year at the 2000 East Coast Music Awards in Sydney. Gordie currently resides primarily in Nashville but returns to Cape Breton regularly. He has has written songs which have been recorded by the likes of Faith Hill, Great Big Sea, Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride and has co-written songs with stars like LeAnn Rimes, Keith Urban and Bon Jovi, to name a few! He was also a member of the house band on Rita MacNeil's weekly CBC show, Rita and Friends.
Rita MacNeil grew up in Big Pond, Cape Breton, not far from where her Tea Room now stands. Her career as a singer/songwriter began back in 1971, and her debut album BORN A WOMAN launched her into the folk music circuit in 1974.
"Whenever I sang I felt strong," she wrote. "Music…was really the best medicine for me."
She received an invitation to sing her song “Working Man” with the Men of the Deeps, an all-male choir of miners that had been singing since 1967; it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. "The song became like an anthem when the men sang with me," she wrote.
Her FLYING ON YOUR OWN album, released in 1987 soon went gold, and helped earn Rita her first Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist, at age 42.
Her REASON TO BELIEVE album went platinum in 1988, the same year it was produced. She went to Australia to sing with Andre-Philippe Gagnon. In 1989, at the Juno Awards, she and the Men of the Deeps performed Working Man and brought down the house.
In 1990, she sold more records in Canada than Garth Brooks. In 1991 she was invited to play at Royal Albert Hall in England.
There were honorary doctorates from five Canadian Universities and in 1992, she was inducted into the Order of Canada.
The Tea Room
Rita’s MacNeil’s love of Big Pond is a well known fact and her desire to stay here is no surprise. In 1982, she purchased a renovated one-room school house which was built in 1939.
“I lived there for a few years and was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery for which Cape Breton, Nova Scotia is famous for. Over the years of performing, I invited many people to drop by for tea - a well known Cape Breton tradition. Many took me up on my offer, so the idea to open a Tea Room came about.”
For more information check out this website:
www.bigpondns.ca
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Abar arrqrq