Barbados National Trust - Open House No.4

Hopefield Manor is a fine classically designed Barbadian house built in 1831 and filled with artwork and well preserved antiques.  It is now the home to Sir David Seale and Lady Anne Seale who, not only are well known for their business' they also own the nearby Foursquare Rum Distillery and Heritage Park.

Hopefield is much more than its plantation house. Its hundred acres of rolling countryside encompass a working plantation, a rum blending and bottling plant and a renowned racing stud farm.

Any one who has visited Barbados would of tasted Foursquare rum at some point, I'm sure.
The gardens are expansive and beautiful, and the stables are more than a little impressive, with colts and yearlings running around paddocks.  There is even a pool for the horses to exercise and a mini race-track.  The Hopefield horses have won at least 5 Cockspur Golf Cups!!  Sir David is also President of the Barbados Turf Club.
The structureof the house is classically Barbadian, with its two storeys, its enclosed verandas, its pedimented east porch and the grand portico on the north side with its Doric columns. 

Barbados National Trust

(I'm sorry to say no pictures with this piece, still trying to work it our with the Blogsite)

For 12 weeks  between January and March the Barbados National Trust conduct a programme of 'Open House'.  This is where 12 properties on the island are open to view by the public, for one specific Wednesday afternoon each week.

I, along with others, become volunteer guides (or spotters), where we are stationed within a particular room of the open house.  Our job is to watch the visitors, help and impart any information as possible.
Yesterday was house number 3 on the programme.

House No. 1 was 'Elsewhere', once known as 'Dar es Salaam' meaning 'House of Peace'.
Built in the 1980's, its style is essentially Middle Eastern, white walls & red tiles with Moroccan domes, cool pools of water, courtyards and terraces, shady gardens and a dipping pool in a central courtyard surrounded by open corridors to exotic bedrooms and lounge areas with divans and Chaise longues'.

House No 2 was 'Ker Avel'.
This house sits upon Polo Ridge and was once planted in sugar canes.  The land was once part of the Black Rock Estate that stretched over a vast area to Holders.  The Holders were a prosperous family of Barbados landowners in the 17th & 18th centuries and the surname survives as a common Barbadian name today.  Holders sugar plantation was operative until the mid '60s and was owned by the Hon.Janet Kidd.  Her son, Jonny, became interested in polo and encouraged his mother to let the Barbados Polo Club have a field at Holders.  At first she leased it and then sold it to them for the nominal sum of Bds $24,000 with a covenant that the field to only have equestrian sport on it.  With the development of family homes the open house is the example you see today.
 With its atrium and open walls, Ker Avel blurs the line between indoor and outdoor living.  Avel means breath and here you almost feel the house inhaling the breeze coming off the Caribbean Sea.  Ker Avel was built using local coral stone, red clay roof tiles and pickled pine ceilings.

House No 3 was 'Fisherpond House'.
The origins of Fisherpond Plantation cannot be completely substantiated. The earliest map of 1635 has “Fisher’s Pond” marked in the same general area as 'Fisherpond House', where we are today.  It is speculated that the name refers to a large area of water that once covered the nearby valley.  According to records of 1666, the plantation comprised 350 acres, with 83 adult slaves and 18 children.  Over the centuries the property changed hands many times, through sale or legacy. For most of these years the owner was not resident, living either at another plantation or in England. The last resident owner died in 1749. 

   

By the 1800s, it was acquired by Thomas Hollingsworth, who left it in his will to several people: his brother's widow, his aunt, sister, "my illegitimate"child and her mother.  He also left an inheritance to his female slave "for the purpose of freeing her".  With all this, his executor must have had his hands full!

Built of rubble stone in Caribbean Georgian style, it was later extended with an enclosed gallery.  it is now filled with beautiful antiques, paintings and objets d'art.  With a magnificent dining table for 24, it is just right for planter's lunches and private dinners.  The current owner restores and electrifies gorgeous 17th &  18^th century crystal chandeliers, which are shown all around the house.

Drugs in Paradise

Standing at a bus stop on Monday morning at 8.45, not 200 yards from my house, people going to work, kids going to school, we're all waiting for the bus.  Along comes a young guy, maybe mid to late 20's, making so much loud noise, being the rapper, being the gang boy, gold chains hanging all over his neck, gold rings on every finger, being the big man.This 'big man' starts showing and selling his wares (drugs, charlie) from a computer carry case, but selling them to the young school kids, 1st & 2nd graders, and college students.  Still making lots of noise, not going about his business quietly.  Most people at the bus stop turned away, minding their own business.  The seller was standing about 8 feet away from me so of course I was watching to see what was going on and you can't ignore all the noise this guy was making.  Bajan men seem to have an inherent desire to show what 'real men' they are, by making lots of noise they are hiding inadequacies in other areas such as a lack of intelligence, aptitude, whatever...
He saw me looking "What you looking at, white bitch"
As I was the only white person within a mile of this guy, I guessed he was talking to me.
My reply "I'm looking at a drug dealer, selling to kids"
This was most upsetting to him, he carried on making more noise, shouting about the place.
"You can't say that, that's racist" !?!
My reply "No, when I say you're a dimwitted, BLACK, fu..*?!er, that's racist""When I say you're drug dealer, that's the truth"

Its a poor world out there....There are drug dealers in every country, but you don't expect to see it on your own doorstep.

2011

Its been a long and very hectic month since my last blog, Christmas and New Year has come and gone and was a round of parties, receptions and fairs.  As it is too hot (for me anyway) to spend hours cooking in the kitchen, we decided to do what we did last year and had Christmas dinner at the Hilton Hotel.  That was 5 hours of eating, drinking and being entertained in a stunning setting, overlooking the Caribbean Sea and the yachts at anchor.Now it is 2011 and we have to get back to a semblance of order.I'm going to start the year by giving you an insight into produce that grows here on the island and what we do with it.  First up is the Golden Apple.  We have a miniture of this tree in our garden, as they can grow to very large proportions.  A mini tree is ideal.  We harvested most of the apples before they ripened to a golden colour, as our last crop were stolen by the indigenous green monkeys that live wild.  We spent an evening cutting up and pulping the fruit, then bottling it in flagons for storage.  Actually it doesn't stay in storage very long as M (husband) can't resist it and so it was drunk very quickly.As you can see by the photographs a G & T is vital to the procedure. (blog won't upload photos, will add later)

The Hash

Have you ever heard of the The Hash House Harriers? 
Barbados celebrated their 25th anniversary from 16th to 21st November 2010 but they started a lot earlier than that.....
The Hash House Harriers are a global outfit  humorously referred to as 'the drinking group with a running problem', the emphasis is on socializing just as much as it is on running.   In 1930's, in Indonesia, ex-pats would go from pub to pub (or bar to bar) and when they couldn't go any further would have a meal of corned beef hash, or any left overs from the kitchen put together as a 'hash',  hense the name Hash Harriers.

Every Saturday and Bank Holiday this group meets at different locations across the island.  At the sound of the horn, everyone moves in search of the correct trail which is designated by three dots of flour.  Once found, there is a loud shout of 'On on!' and the hash has begun.   The Hares, those who have set the run, keep the event interesting by throwing turns and other unexpected direction changes along the route.  The runners, otherwise known as the Hashers, must look out for the dots of flour to ensure that the group is on the right course.  The object of the run is for all involved to have a good time and to go at your own pace.
In my case that would be walk or not at all thanks.....

The Barbados Hash House Harriers certainly live up to the adege  'the drinking group with a running problem', with the ever present party atmosphere at the end of every hash meet.

What a way to spend a Saturday......

Barbados Independance Day

On 30th November 1966 Barbados was granted Independance from England with the Right Honorable Errol Barrow becoming the first Prime Minister.  Since then Independance celebrations take all forms starting at the beginning of November each year, including sports competitions, fairs, community events and religious services.  It culminates with a televised parade of armed services at Garrison Savannah (horse race track), and celebrations showcasing artistic talents on the island such as the National Independance Festival of Creative Arts, which encourage Barbadians of all ages to show their talents in the fields of music, dance, drama, fine art, photography and crafts.
It is also about having a good time and most beaches are packed with families pic- nicing, bars bursting with party goers drinking the local rum and beer, us included.  As 30th November is, not only St Andrew's Day, but my husbands birthday, we thought we would do something we have not done before on the island.  Everyone at some time in their life has done a 'pub crawl' in England, so we thought why not do the next best thing here and do a bar hop.  Unfortunately, or fortunately depending how you look at it, we are not much good at 'hopping' from bar to bar, and after 3 bars where abit fatigued with it all.  Michael & I decided to leave the partying to others and go home to watch a good movie - which is what we would of done on a winters evening in England.
I've posted the National flag of Barbados so here's a quick explanation of the symbolism; The flag is a representation of Independance from England, Neptune's Trident appeared on the Seal when the island was still a colony.  The broken Trident on the flag is representative of the break with the past and the step towards independance.  The blue panels are for the sea and sky, while the centre gold panel is for the sand of the beaches.  A beautiful flag, I think.

How slavery has affected todays culture in Barbados

Slave hut in Barbados

With the population now standing at 93% black, 3% white Bajan and others (without the tourist or visitors), there is a visible divide between these people.  White Bajans ie the 'old' families, still believe to a certain extent that they are superior to blacks.  Where they used to hold the economic wealth and power, this is now not so.  Slavery has now transformed into a modern power play of white employer, keeping the black worker within strong constraints.
This has changed since the high expectation in education here in Barbados and black people going to universities abroad such as Canada, USA and England, bringing back knowledge and expertise that has had a lasting influence on the employment power shift.  Government is all black, doctors, lawyers, lecturers, teachers and leading businessmen.

There is a stream of thought that slavery is part of a shameful past and should be put to one side, or forgotten.  There is also a way of thinking that (black) people are African still.  I disagree with both of these statements.  Slavery was a huge part of the Caribbean islands history and although morally wrong, was important in the development and industry of the time.  I would never say slavery was right, just that it did happen and to try and forget about it is wrong.  Also the people here are not African, they are Barbadian, by birth and short term (200 year ) history.   I could say I'm Anglo-Saxon, French Norman, Celtic even,  but the bottom line is I'm British.  How far back do people want to hang onto, or need to unless it to make a statement about there current situation or existance.

I've never come across so much day to day racism as I have in this country, from all sides.  If you are not black enough it can be an issue, white old guard families against white red leg descents ie white indentured labour, white against anything not white, black against anything not black, Guianese marginalised from all sides.  There are countless examples every time I go out my door but it is too sad to react to so I try to ignore it or let it go.