Message from the Executive Director

We are delighted to welcome two new members of staff to the Bermuda National Trust team.

Ronald Burchall joins us as Conservation Assistant and will help Myles Darrell, Head of Natural Heritage, care for our 280+ acres of open space. Ronald shares Myles’s passion for Bermuda’s natural environment and has extensive knowledge of our native and endemic flora and fauna. He studied Environmental Science at Dalhousie University. He has worked for BAMZ, as groundsman at Palm Grove where he carried out coastal and woodland restoration, and for various landscaping companies.

Jean Flath joins us in the part-time role of Volunteer Coordinator. She has extensive experience managing volunteers for the Bermuda International Film Festival for many years, and before that as event coordinator at WindReach. She used to run her own production company, Hyper Productions, and coordinated film, photoshoots and other events for clients including the Department of Tourism.

We wish Ronald and Jean every success in their important roles!

Karen Border

Executive Director

Bermuda National Trust Walkabout 2023

Be sure to mark your calendars for this year's Bermuda National Trust Walkabout in the World Heritage Site of St George’s! This years Walkabout will take place on Friday, 1 December from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm.

BNT members will be offered priority opportunity to purchase pre-paid parking vouchers to secure a spot at Penno’s Wharf. This is expected to go live next week - please stay tuned!

We are also providing a shuttle service between Kindley Field Road and Penno’s Wharf from 5:00 pm to 9:30 pm to ease parking and traffic congestion.

Look out for more information in the coming weeks in your inbox and at bnt.bm.

Natural Heritage Updates

Myles Darrell, Head of Natural Heritage

You are invited ... to start planting!

This time of year always brings a sense of relief as the hurricane season draws to an end. At the Trust it means getting ready for the Christmas rush of activity with the Walkabout, parties, planning and budgeting for the new year.

‘Tis also the season for safe planting of more native and endemic plants! We will be doing so in our nature reserves, and I encourage you to do the same at home.

As many of our native species come into flower and fruit right now their bounty provides

plentiful access to the seeds for planting
time to nurture the seedlings and ready them for a long hot summer of potential drought and hurricane threats
food for our incoming fall migrant birds.

On that last note, for Bermuda’s birders it has been a stellar migration this year with large numbers of species passing through, including some rarities.

It's amazing to think an average of 4 billion birds move south from North America to the tropics annually, over migration routes developed over thousands of years. Sadly, climate change and other human impacts have already decimated habitats crucial to the survival of many species. That is why it is so important we preserve and protect the limited and precious habitats we have here in Bermuda. Although birds have amazing digestive systems that adjust to meet the changes in energy requirements for the migration, they still need to eat and drink along the way. Beyond basic food and water, these winged visitors need cover, berries provided by trees or shrubs, and insects found in leaf litter.

The Trust is committed to caring for and preserving the habitat necessary to safeguard these annual visitors, but we need your help:

Join us for one of our monthly community days.
Encourage your company to consider taking part in a “corporate day of giving” with us.
Suggest your children commit their community service hours to protecting this vital part of our heritage for everyone, forever.

This month an exciting collaboration with Sandys Secondary Middle School will result in over 100 more native and endemic plants planted at Gilbert Nature Reserve in Sandys. In the process, the young people will learn more about natural heritage in an integrated contextualised approach and consequently build a stronger connection with their heritage. All of this is made possible thanks to the consistent sponsorship and adoption of the reserve by the Steinhoff family trust and we are also grateful to the Enstar group for a generous donation to cover the cost of the plants.

Gilbert Nature Reserve has been inundated with migratory birds of late, so I encourage you to take a walk on the Anita Wingate Trail and enjoy the sights and sounds of fall. If you can’t get there, check out this short video Andrew Barber, one of our volunteers, managed to capture on his last visit. It’s obvious our visitors are happy with the new plantings, especially the Turkey berry (Callicarpa americana). The video shows a rarely seen Black Throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) feeding, and its gentle chirps are so awesome to hear.

Cultural Heritage Updates

Dr. Charlotte Andrews, Head of Cultural Heritage

Thank you for a vibrant day at Verdmont!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Verdmont open house. We hope you had a terrific time connecting with your heritage and with family and friends! Several hundred people from the surrounding Collector’s Hill area, wider Smith’s Parish, and from across and beyond the island came out to explore Verdmont’s ever-unfolding natural and cultural heritage.

Thank you to the BNT staff and volunteers who made the day happen by preparing the museum, making floral arrangements, manning heritage stations, and baking treats for us. Donated performances by Justified Melodies Music Hope Camp, Joy T Barnham and the Warwick Gombeys filled the air with magical music and dance. Bermuda’s Plein Air Group, Orchid Society, Rose Society, Quilters Guild, artist Adrienne Smatt and photographer Meredith Andrews all came along to share their tips and talents, and even donated proceeds from their sales or their services to the Trust.

Heritage experts and tradition bearers Andrew Barber, Ronnie Chameau, Dianna Corday, John Cox, Dr. Kuni Frith, and Larry Mills joined our archaeological, museums and collections committee members Tiffany Banner, Meredith Ebbin, Jenny Gosling, Florence Laino, and Linda O’Shea to make different facets of Verdmont’s story shine during the 2023 solar eclipse. If you missed the open house or want to visit again, please check bnt.bm for our museum hours and then come on over!

RISE for Portuguese Rock

We still have spaces available for participants of African and Portuguese descent for a focus group at Verdmont facilitated by CURB’s Executive Director Stacey-Lee Williams to discuss the heritage and interpretation of Portuguese Rock. The nearby Spittal Pond Nature Reserve site is believed to be directly related to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. If you are interested in joining this community conversation that is part of the Trust’s commitment to re-imagine sites of enslavement, please contact me on charlotte.andrews@bnt.bm or 236-6483 x225. Participants will not be paid but will be given a token of thanks from the Trust.

Heritage Education Updates

Anna Stevenson

We are delighted to be partnering once again with the Ministry of Education to deliver classes on Bermuda history and heritage to all P4 and P5 students in government schools.

Primary 4 students will be taking the BNT Learning Journey "From Shipwreck Survivor to Settler Society". They explore evidence of pre-settlement human occupation and listen to the story of what happened to the Sea Venture and its attempted rescue of Jamestown. The children develop critical thinking skills by playing the Sea Venture Survival Game, and they virtually meet and interview Elizabeth Persons, a Sea Venture passenger. Finally, they learn about the work of the first three governors and the problems they faced.

Primary 5 students will take the BNT Learning Journey "From Slavery to Emancipation". This course spans two terms. In the first part, students learn about the system of slavery, particularly in the Americas. We explore how people of African descent arrived in Bermuda, and how their lives changed as a result. We use the BNT property Verdmont as a backdrop to explore the daily lives of enslaved people and we discover the ways in which enslaved people in Bermuda resisted their enslavers.

We are thrilled to be partnering once again with the Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning to deliver experiential classes at Waterville. Throughout the 2023/24 academic year, students of all ages will be learning about the history and development of forts. We will cover the changing architecture of forts and castles, daily life in medieval times, methods of castle attack, including constructing a model trebuchet, and the development of forts in Bermuda.

We also have numerous field trips booked to BNT sites, P2 visits to Verdmont to learn about the way we used to play, students undertaking historical tourism research in St George's, and middle school students at Spittal Pond to learn about the site's links to our cultural history.

Properties Update

Carpark Collaboration

If you have visited Waterville lately you will have seen that our car-park has recently been resurfaced and upgraded – and six spots have been reserved for Renaissance Re. This is a six-month arrangement to assist RenRe with additional parking capacity following an acquisition. The rent for the spaces from November to the end of April 2024 has helped BNT pay for much-needed resurfacing of the northern section of the carpark, which was prone to flooding in heavy rains and very high tides. A win-win for both of us!

We have also removed the row of invasive Chinese Fan Palms on the west side of the carpark. The Bermuda Palmettos planted to replace them are growing fast! The invasive Pride of India at the entrance to Waterville will also be removed in the next few months, as its trunk is rotten and it is in danger of coming down in a storm.

Built to Last

Manchester Unity Hall has been kept in immaculate condition.

Manchester Unity Hall,

71 Victoria Street, Hamilton

The sorry condition of lodge buildings in Bermuda has been highlighted in several past articles. It’s time to give credit to the trustees of Manchester Unity Hall who have nicely maintained their now 100-year-old building. The Greek Revival triangular gable end facing the street with decorative pilasters is typical of lodge buildings and halls of the period.

The laying of the corner stone of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows Hall in connection with the Loyal Flower of the Day Lodge No. 6347, I.O.O.F., M.U. Hamilton District was laid on 15th May 1905 with a huge crowd of spectators in attendance. Mr William Francis Wilson, a lay reader and Permanent Secretary of the Lodge, presented an inscribed silver trowel to the mayor of Hamilton. Because of the politics of the time the two city lots were purchased by Clarence O Darrell, a prominent Black businessman in Hamilton and Flatts, who then resold them to the lodge trustees for the same price he paid.

Read the full article.