Chester, Nova Scotia

Less than an hour drive from Halifax, you can spend a day,a week or a lifetime in beautiful Chester Municipality. This vibrant community has something for everyone and the local,specialized shops that stock unique products made locally, are considered one of the area’s “best kept secrets.” The village of Chester was founded in 1759 by New Englanders. After more than 200 years it has become a place of pleasant cafes and restaurants, gracious homes, tree lined streets and a timeless air of gentility. Mansions and more humbler homes , spilling up
and down hillsides and out on “the peninsula.”

Chester looks out over the 360 islands of magnificent Mahone Bay, past the hump of Quaker Island to Big and Little Tancook and East Ironbound and beyond. It’s clear to see that this is a sailor’s paradise. There are plenty of places to run before the wind but also hundreds of sheltered coves and bays for idling and exploring. The community is well known for its annual summer sailing regatta, Chester Race Week, where keelboats from all over the eastern coast of North America compete during the second week of August.

Area Schools:
Chester District School
Chester Area Middle School
Forest Heights
Community School
Gold River-Western Shore School
Lunenburg Academy
South Shore Waldorf School & Kindergarden
Shatford Memorial Elementary School
Bayview Community School
Big Tancook Elementary School

Besides sailing, the village is home to the Chester Playhouse, one of the best-known community theatres on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. During the last weekend of July the ‘Chester Garden Show’ and the ‘House and Garden Tour’ are the main attraction. Tancook ferry dock and the yacht club are located on the front harbour, where there is always good food and good cheer. The Back Harbour is the site of the Lido, a salt water swimming pool, surrounded by some of the town’s most elegant homes.Visitors and residents to the area are also attracted by the stunning 18 hole golf course, with its own splendid views of the surrounding countryside, with its miles of unspoiled woodland hills. The Chester Connector, a municipal operated section of the previous rail line provides a wonderful trail for walkers and cyclists. It is shared with motorized vehicles.

Distance to:
Stanfield International Airport – 70mins
City of Halifax – 60mins

Canning, Nova Scotia

Canning is a small village of around 850 people near the base of theNorth Mountain. First settled by the Acadians it was later inhabited by the New England Planters and the Dutch. Canning was first known as Apple Tree Landing, a well known children centre in the community still bears that name.

Canning is also home to one of the most well known scenic areas in the Annapolis Valley, the Look Off. From an elevation of roughly 200 metres you can see amazing views of the Annapolis Valley as well as the Minas Basin.

Another well known landmark in Canning is the statue in memory of Harold Borden, who died in the Boer war, which is

believed to be the second oldest military monument in Nova Scotia.

The Borden Wharf Lighthouse which was built in 1904 was restored in 2004 and now resides behind the Canning library. The light was taken down in 1959, the light destroyed, and the base was used as a pig pen. It saw other uses along the way as well, for a while used as a tool shed and then a little more dignified use as a tourist bureau.

Medford Beach

Paddy’s Island on North Medford Beach was once tree-topped, but now barely maintains a tuft of grass atop the sandstone formation.Paddy’s Island was named for Patrick “Paddy” Burns, 1824-1882, a farmer who owned the property above the beach. He married Catherine Whalen of Chester. “Paddy” and his brother, John, were dairy farmers and neighbours.Many people do not realize that Paddy’s Island has also been the name given to the headlands at North Medford.

As recently as 1950, the Medford Women’s Institute reported this curiosity, so when people say they lived at Paddy’s Island they mean the land not the island. It is sometimes erroneously called Paddy Island.

Outdoor Activities

There are many great ways to spend some time outdoors in the Annapolis Valley. Check out one of the many hiking trails,go canoeing or kayaking, try horseback riding, or enjoy some cross-country or downhill skiing at nearby Ski Martock.

Local Schools:

Glooscap Elementary School
North East Kings Education Centre

Bedford, Nova Scotia

Part of Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Bedford, Nova Scotia is ideally situated on the Bedford Basin, only 15 minutes from Halifax,Dartmouth and Stanfield International Airport. With a population of about 18,000, Bedford is one of Atlantic Canada’s fastest growing communities.

It boasts a beautiful waterfront and boardwalk (dogs always welcome), a pirate ship playground and the Bedford Basin Yacht Club. Right in Bedford, in the midst of Papermill subdivision, is Papermill Lake. It offers swimming in the summer (with lifeguards on duty) and skating in the winter.

But this is not the only park available to residents of Bedford. Sandy Lake is close by, just off of Hammonds Plains Road, as well as Fish Hatchery Park and Admiral Cove. The many schools in Bedford are a reflection of the many families that choose to call Bedford home.

There is a popular walkway along much of the Bedford Basin waterfront that begins at DeWolf Park, and continues as the Bedford-Sackville Connector Greenway, a crushed gravel covered trail that meanders along the Sackville River.

There is an outdoor 25m pool and smaller splash pool located at the Lions Park on Shore Drive. In the summer there are numerou lake suitable for swimming. The topography of the area limits the possible locations for soccer and football fields. However, there are fields at Basinview Drive School, Sunnyside Elementary (Eaglewood location), Bedford Junior High, Charles P. Allen High School, and Range Park. The community is currently home to six ice surfaces, at the Lebrun Centre, Gary Martin Bubble Dome and the BMO Centre. Bedford is a well-established sailing community, and is home to the Bedford Basin Yacht Club and Marina.

Area Schools

Bedford South

Summit Academy (Private) (JP-9)

(PR-09) English & French Immersion (694m)
Charles P. Allen
(10-12) English & French Immersion