Message from the Executive Director

With the cooler October evenings, it’s beginning to feel like autumn and the leaf-litter caused by passing storms has made the island look autumnal too.

At BNT we are looking forward to our Verdmont Open House this month. Mark your calendar for Saturday 14 October between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm and come along to enjoy some fun activities and Bermuda heritage experiences at the historic home and gardens! (More information below.)

We are also already planning for the annual Christmas Walkabout in St George’s on Friday 1 December, so don’t forget put that on the calendar as well.

On the topic of Christmas, I am sorry to say that we are not able to run our Sustainable Christmas Tree programme this year. There are just not enough cedar saplings available in Bermuda to rent out! Happily, the reason is positive: interest in planting endemic and native trees is very high and specimens have been snapped up from nurseries for planting in the BAMZ micro forests, private gardens and on our own BNT nature reserves. It takes about three years for cedars to reach a good ‘mini-Christmas tree’ height. We have some on order and we are growing our own, so we hope to bring the programme back in future years.

However, we hope to partner with local Christmas tree vendors to invite purchasers to make a donation to BNT for our tree growing and planting programme, to offset the carbon footprint of imported Christmas trees. We will share more information in the November newsletter.

Karen Border

Executive Director

Natural Heritage Updates

Myles Darrell, Head of Natural Heritage

Weathering the Storms

The 2023 hurricane season is living up to earlier predictions of a lively and intense period. But we have been fortunate and so far have not suffered as much damage as anticipated. The aftermath, however, provides a valuable lesson and a persuasive argument for preserving and protecting our native and endemic species.

During the past month, what some call natural pruning has occurred. But look around at the Cedars, Palmettos and Olivewoods; they have weathered the storm way better than introduced species. Even the juvenile trees we have been planting across the islands have fared well with only a few losses. The few that did succumb were mostly a result of fiddlewood and other invasive species branches falling on them. In fact, they may still prove viable trees albeit they will not show ideal form.

Planting native and endemic species in the landscape at home will help to ensure your garden is looking good all the time, even in the face of the predicted increasingly strong and more frequent hurricanes. There are many other reasons to include native and endemic flora in your landscape at home including:

Saves water
Reduces the need for fertiliser and pesticides
Minimises erosion, stabilising the soil
Preserves biodiversity
Saves time and money

Their resistance to local climate conditions through centuries of adaptation means they have evolved to fit perfectly in Bermuda. Other species like birds, insects and even people depend on the functions and ecosystem services they provide. In some cases, without them the creatures that co-evolved alongside them cannot survive at all.

At the Trust we are focused on preserving and protecting Bermuda’s native and endemic plant life, the ecological foundation we all depend on. It is going to ‘take a village’ to achieve the scale of success we need. Planting native and endemic flora in your landscape at home is just another way you can give back to your community and help to address the impacts of climate change we are already facing.

Check out the free online version of Bermuda Indigenous and Invasive plants and I am sure you will find some beautiful native plants that will make your landscape look great and better the environment at the same time.

If you would like to learn more and or get involved in preserving and protecting our natural heritage for everyone, forever sign up for our next tour and community volunteer day at Gilbert Nature Reserve in Somerset on Saturday 7 October, 2023. It’s easy to find but just in case use this map to ensure you can find us.

Thank you Athene for joining us at Sherwin Nature Reserve for a volunteer clean up on Thursday, 21 September!

Cultural Heritage Updates

Dr. Charlotte Andrews, Head of Cultural Heritage

All welcome to the Verdmont Open House!

For the second year in a row, we are holding a free open house at Verdmont Museum. We are curating an array of heritage experiences relating to Verdmont as a place of Bermudian memory and African Diaspora Heritage Trail site. Our aim is to make everyone feel welcome, whether you have been to Verdmont before or have never been, as is the case for most people!

So, come on over, and bring your family and friends along with you! Smith’s and Collector’s Hill residents and retailers are especially encouraged to come up the hill to visit your neighbourhood and parish museum. Given that many of your homes and businesses would have been part of the original 90-acre property that stretched from North to South Shore, you’re already part of Verdmont’s heritage.

The open house will offer heritage experiences for all ages, with family-friendly displays and activities

Children's activities including a scavenger hunt, old-style games, quill writing and miniature goats to pet
Presentation on the construction of the house with Larry Mills, including special access to the cellar
Presentation on medicinal plants with Dr Kuni Frith, including herbal teas to sample
Palmetto weaving with Ronnie Chameau and Andrew Barber
Conservation Corner with Jenny Gosling and Paul Clinton, showing how we are conserving Verdmont's windows and other artefacts.

You can also learn about archaeology at Verdmont, its collections and descendant stories as you explore the house and grounds.

The Bermuda Rose Society will show old Bermuda roses and discuss their pruning and propagation and the Plein Air group will be painting in the grounds and selling their artwork.

Visit Verdmont from 11am-3pm on Saturday, 14 October for 300-years and counting of heritage making!

Please help us spread the word by reposting our social media posts or sharing our downloadable flyer with your networks.

Re-imagining Portuguese Rock

Spittal Pond combines natural and cultural heritage, with the cultural heritage sites including Jeffrey’s Cave and 16^th century Portuguese Rock. Both sites relate to the enslavement of people of African descent.

As part of the Trust’s work ‘Re-imagining Sites of Enslavement’ linked to our participation in the INTO RISE programme, we have already reinterpreted signage for Jeffrey’s Cave. This Fall we will focus on Portuguese Rock, which is now believed to be linked to the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Our reinterpretation of Jeffrey’s Cave involved rewriting the signage, based on close consultation with historians, curators and activists. With Portuguese Rock, we will continue that historical verification and interpreter engagement, but plan to take our community consultation a step further.

In November, we will be holding a professionally-facilitated focus group at Verdmont Museum in Smith’s, not far from Spittal Pond. We will be inviting Bermudians of African and Portuguese (or Madeiran or Azorean) descent to come together to discuss the known history of Portuguese Rock and the Trust’s existing interpretation, including current signage at Spittal Pond. We hope the group will offer insights and recommendations for reinterpretation, but also hope the facilitated discussion will provide a healing community conversation.

Participants will not be paid, but will be given a token of thanks from the Trust for their participation in the project. If you are interested in participating please email me on charlotte.andrews@bnt.bm or call 236-6483 x225.

Heritage Education

Anna Stevenson, Heritage Education Coordinator

The new academic year is underway, and we want to remind teachers, educators, and schools about the huge array of field trips and learning experiences the Bermuda National Trust offers. During the last academic year, the Trust provided over 3,500 learning experiences to students of all ages on themes such as early settlement, enslavement, archaeology, birds, habitats, heritage, forts, invasive species, mangroves, tourism, and many others. We can also provide bespoke opportunities to suit any school’s curriculum needs. Please visit our website for details.

In September, we were pleased to support Purvis Primary P3s and P4s in their first week back at school while their classrooms were still being prepared. The students visited Waterville to learn about the importance of mangroves. They explored the mangrove habitat, learned how mangroves survive in salt water and had great fun tasting the salt released through the leaves! Afterwards, they made models of spotted eagle rays to take home.

Properties Update

Sunflowers at Globe Museum

Newly painted Old Rectory

Reeve Court has also been newly painted

Heritage at Risk

Hurstholme with its verandah and lovely grounds was the home of the Maple Leaf Club in the 1940s. (Llewellyn/Paschal collection, Bermuda Archives)

Hurstholme

This is part of a series of architectural articles by the Bermuda National Trust to highlight some of Bermuda's endangered historic buildings.

by Linda Abend and Margie Lloyd

Nestled among tall office buildings on a little-known Hamilton street is Hurstholme. The land on which the house was built belonged to Elizabeth Pitt in 1789. Pitt owned a large tract of land in Pembroke adjoining the western boundary of the yet-to-be incorporated Town of Hamilton. In her will she left one acre to her granddaughter, Susanna George, who in turn left it to her niece, another Susanna, the wife of James Tuzo. The original house appears to have been built before Susanna George’s death in 1827. Sometime between 1835 and 1847 Tuzo added the imposing Georgian section decorated with corner pilasters and a fanlight and quoining around the front door. The rafter feet are hidden by stone moulding.

The house was inherited by Tuzo’s daughters, one of whom, Sarah Esther, had married Alphonso John Hurst of Antigua. By the time Sarah died in 1894 the house had become known as Hurstholme. It still enjoyed spacious grounds and Sarah’s daughter Minnie often loaned the property for various entertainments and children’s fairs, mostly to benefit the new Cottage Hospital as well as the Ministering Children’s League.

Read the full article.