Who would have guessed that a 21-by-14-mile island could seem so large and varied? The meandering quality of the roads contributes to a perennial sense of discovery – and to the frequent experience of getting lost.
“Every road in Barbados leads to your destination – eventually,” Thomas Loftfield, an assistant director at the Barbados Museum, said reassuringly. The museum’s collection of early maps clarifies why this is so. By 1645, English settlers had almost completely deforested Barbados and replanted it with sugarcane, which would drive the economy for the next 350 years. Today’s roads and public rights of way are a web of those 17th-century cart paths and cane field intervals.
If there is a successor to Colin Hudson as the articulator of Barbadian byways, Adrian Loveridge might be it. “It’s almost painful to reveal the spectacular beaches encountered on this hike,” said Loveridge as we picked our way along five miles of the East Coast from Bottom Bay to Crane Beach in St. Philip Parish…
… from a staff-written major article in the Boston Globe Barbados – Measured By The Foot
Richard Goddard, Victor Cooke, George Medford, Carl Fenty, Thomas Loftfield Receive Honourable Mentions
“Pure air, pristine beaches, and miles of byways make hiking eye-opening…”
If I were freezing in Boston at this moment in January and read the article in the Boston Globe, I would quit my job, pick up the phone and call my travel agent for a Barbados trip.
You simply must read this major article and you will know who are our best ambassadors for tourism.
People come to Barbados for the experience and the people. They DON’T come to Barbados to see a wall of condos like you can see in hundreds of other places around the Caribbean – including (unfortunately) on our West coast. They call it the “Platinum Coast” of Barbados, but I call it the “Concrete Coast”.
What of Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary & National Park?
A damned shame that the article can’t mention the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary and National Park. Does anyone know anything different than the place is now well and truly dead?
15 Comments
January 6, 2009 at 7:40 pm
The recent funding by the EU of the Dominica trails upgrade was to no small degree assisted by Stuart Heaslet who was instrumental in putting the third National Park in Dominica ( Morne Diablotin ) together several years ago.
Stuart Heaslet was also responsible for completing Graeme Hall and bringing Barbadians a first class educational and eco-tourist site for all the world to see.
Here is an excellent opportunity between The Barbados National Trust which sponsors weekly walks, people like Adrian Loveridge, Richard Goddard and many others including the BTA and CZM to work together and prepare plans to bring an extra dimension to Barbados eco-tourism product.
What has happened with Richard Goddard’s Indian Trail issue and will golf courses and condos trump environmental and new tourism concerns?
January 6, 2009 at 10:31 pm
This is a fascinating story! I am retired and ill-equipped to walk because of arthritis. However, given the strength, I would be walking these paths (c.f. UK Footpath Association) and making sure they were kept free.
January 7, 2009 at 3:07 am
If there is a successor to Colin Hudson as the articulator of Barbadian byways, Adrian Loveridge might be it.
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No way my friend. Adrian ain’t know the the forgotten territories better known as the gullies like George, Victor or Carl. These guys can carve tracks from one area to another. Probably, Adrian might have taken this guy from the Boston Globe on a scenic beach walk from Bottom Bay to Crane Beach.
He need to go into Turner’s Hall Woods and get out the other side, then I will say he might be 10% knowledgeable like the Great Colin Hutson.
Check out the Sundays hikes. 6.00 a.m and the 3:00 pm and you will see the real hike leaders. The only Adrian I know who leads hikes is Adrian Coward who leads the 6.00 am hikes and he is real bajan.
January 7, 2009 at 3:16 pm
There you go in the last two words Tell Me Why gets to the real reason that he doesn’t like Adrian Loveridge. Loveridge is not a “real Bajan”.
Has Tell Me Why taken a walking hike with Adrian Loveridge to judge his knowledge or his love for Barbados? No.
No wonder foreigners say Barbados people is unfriendly. If Tell Me Why is the norm that is not very good for our country.
January 7, 2009 at 4:09 pm
The author of the Boston Globe article is Patti Borns longtime friend of Richard Goddard and myself,She stayed with us for six weeks at Bleak House last year and wrote an article on Morgan Lewis and another on the hiking trails.she is a very good friend of Barbados …we need more like her
January 7, 2009 at 11:32 pm
If there is a successor to Colin Hudson as the articulator of Barbadian byways, Adrian Loveridge might be it.
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TELL ME WHY IS ABSOLUTELY CORRECT
There is no way that Loveridge can be the successor to Colin Hudson as the articulator of Barbadian byways. What a load of bovine excrement. There is no way he can know the Bajan trails like folk like Adrian Coward who leads the 6.00 am hikes. Adrian and his dad has been attending and really participating in these hikes for several years – at least 15 years minimum.
A scenic beach walk from Bottom Bay to Crane Beach cannot compare with any of Colin’s favorite gully walks. One remembers with fondness walks when at 8 am one would seemingly at the end of a walk, as the starting point loomed ahead, and Colin would duck into a gully, and extend the walk for more than hour
The author of the Boston Globe article should have given credit where credit is due.
Of course no one could tell the stories on those walks like Colin did. Again one remembers with fondness, one Sunday afternoon Colin continued eloquently for a half hour speaking about an old village bakery which had been demolished within the year since we had last walked that plat.
At the end of the talk one regular on that walk punned “There goes Colin talking for a half hour about nothing.” Many may have led the walks in his absence, but none could tell the stories as he did. He was an Englishman who like MB Hutt knew Barbados better than most Bajans, and loved it dearly.
January 7, 2009 at 11:49 pm
The only Adrian I know who leads hikes is Adrian Coward who leads the 6.00 am hikes and he is real bajan.
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Come on RLL. How on earth can you jump to the conclusion of me not liking Adrian Loveridge. My language of ‘real bajan’ was due to the fact that the Adrian I know within the hiking fraternity is a gentleman by the name of Adrian Coward. Nothing to do with your assumption of not liking Adrian Loveridge. As a matter of fact, I admire A.L’s tenacity in exposing Tourism matters. So please, forget the politics in this equation.
However, I can speak with authority about hiking in Barbados. I lead many National Trust hikes after the death of the great Colin Hutson who assigned the said George, Victor and myself to take over the afternoon hikes whilst he was overseas prior to his death. I lead many hikes throughout the island and spoke with authority regarding the history of Barbados. I now rest my case.
So RLL, I am quite knowledgeable with the hiking fraternity to which I speak.
January 7, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Thanks Georgie Porgie for your intervention. I walked many a morning hikes with Adrian and his dad in order for me to use the same trail at 3 p.m. Remember we must be out of the gullies and back to civilisation by 6 p.m before darkest overcome us. That mean we cannot make any wrong turns whilst in the belly of these massive gullies. We must also bear in mind that with the dense forestation it would be difficult to pick up signal from either Digicel or C & W.
January 8, 2009 at 12:13 am
Tell me Why
You are a smart fellah. Walking the 6 o clock to lead the 3 o clock walk was also my ploy when I lead walks in colin’s absense between 94 and 98 when I stupidly quit and put on so much weight, that when I started back in 2000 I could not keep up.
Adrian’s dad used to provide yeoman’s service by walking at the back of the morning stop and stare walk, and keeping a count at all times, to ensure that the number that started the walk was the same that emerged from the gully.
Your point about knowing the trails in the densely forested areas is a good one. The first walk I led, I knew that we would go from St Thomas Post office down to Trio Path. And from Hillaby back to St Thomas Post Office. So in preparation I spent three hours in the bush unsucessfully looking for a trail to link Trio Path and Mount Hillaby. As I was about to give up a young lad showed me a trail from Trio Path to Hillaby
January 8, 2009 at 12:47 am
Georgie Porgie we might have crossed paths during our hikes, but we will keep our identity intact brother. Barbados really is poorer with the demise of the late Colin Hutson. I can remember whilst hiking in the Lancaster Gully, Colin told about fifteen hikers including ten tourists that they can keep travelling 5 minutes into the gully and see a beautiful cathedral whilst he and the other (about 40) will go to the top and wait.
Seeing that the 16 hikers were in-experienced, I accompanied them deeper into the gully and 25 minutes passed and I ain’t see no ‘cathedral’. We ducked under logs, climbed over logs, crawled through tight spaces while water traveled deeper in the gully. I realised that it was getting late and I telephoned my wife who was frantically awaiting us. She said that Colin was about to continued with the hike not knowing that the 15 others along with myself was still at the bottom of the gully. I told the others to turn around and whilst walking back the same path, we start smelling the excretion of something that we never encountered in our civilisation. Could you believe that the stool (excretion) we smelled was dragged over the rocks for over 20 feet. We ran pass the excretion with our hands to our nose ensuring the smell would’t kill us. However, when we reached Colin, he was smiling from ear to ear saying that we should have look for the Stalactites and Stalagmites and Barbados is too small to get lost. Colin had a fascination with nature that many people could not understand.
I can remember I was on my way to Roberts Manufacturing when we heard about the untimely passing of Barbados’ premiere hiker extraordinaire, the late Colin Hutson.
January 8, 2009 at 12:49 am
Opps.I used a word that caused moderation.
January 8, 2009 at 2:28 am
It would really cool if the collective knowledge of the historic trails in Barbados that TMW and Adrian and the others know so well could be put on a map. This is valuable historic knowledge!
January 8, 2009 at 3:06 am
Another interesting factor about hiking are the homes built in secluded areas among deep forestation. Maybe Minister Lashley will be surprised with these unauthorised housing solution.
January 8, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Guy
I agree with you 100%
Colin used to carry in his famous dingy white bag on each hike a map of the plat that we would walk that Sunday including the trails as I remember. There would also be historical and other info which he had researched that he would share. This is indeed valuable information.
But the truth is that Colin knew the island because of his deep and long association for over 40 years with the plantocracy and thier “farms” as he called them. ” Just think of Barbados back then as consisting of some 200-220 farms- some small and some large” he used to say.
Colin was famous also for his smarts. When he knew that we would obviously get back late on Sunday mornings, on those occasions when the stop and stare discussions had gone on too long he would say ” thats it for now lets carefully make our way back along this track.” Colin was the best!
February 5, 2009 at 4:33 pm
If the author may be allowed a word:
To suggest Mr. Loveridge as the succesor to Colin Hudson (who I too once hiked with) was unfortunate. My apologies if I misspoke, and thanks to all hikers and hike leaders who helped make the story. As you all rightly point out, there is no successor to Colin, but fortunately, many Hike Barbados leaders and supporters wo are keeping the trails open and alive.
Knowledge of obscure trails aside, I did find Mr. Loveridge to be an especially articulate story teller, a distinction I realize may be more important to Bostonian readers than to you who are on the ground. But my real goal was to showcase this rare, free opportunity you offer so that more people know about it, and more countries, perhaps including mine, emulate it.
I hope the article accomplished that.
Patricia Borns