Message from the Executive Director

Yes, the Walkabout is on this year!

We’ve been inundated with queries about the Christmas Walkabout both from locals and from overseas visitors over the past month. So we are delighted to confirm that this magical BNT event in the World Heritage Site of St George’s is indeed going ahead on Friday 2 December from 6pm to 9pm. Please join us to kick off the holiday season.

As usual, Bermuda National Trust properties in the town will be beautifully decorated and open free to all during the evening, with a sip of Christmas cheer on offer in several houses. Other locations, including St Peter’s Church, Mitchell House, the Town Hall and State House, will also be open to visitors.

The town will be alive with entertainment of all kinds. Young dancers and musicians will delight the audience in King’s Square and the Menuhin Foundation will be playing on Water Street. Many of the local shops will be open for the evening, and this year there will be a food court on Ordnance Island so you can choose from a range of delicious dinner and snack options when you get hungry.

Many thanks to our generous sponsors for this year’s Walkabout: HSBC, Gosling’s and Butterfield & Vallis, and for the support of Belco.

Unfortunately, Government was not able to supply a ferry from Hamilton to St. George’s this year. However, BNT members will be offered priority opportunity to purchase pre-paid parking vouchers to secure a spot at Penno’s Wharf. We are also working on shuttle options from Kindley Field or Marginal Wharf to ease parking and traffic congestion. Look out for more information in the coming weeks in your inbox and at bnt.bm.

Sustainable Christmas Trees are back too

On the subject of Christmas, why buy a cut, imported tree when there is a much more sustainable local option?

We are pleased to announce that BNT’s popular cedar tree rental programme piloted last year is back again, sponsored by Butterfield Bank. From 4 November, you can register and pay for your tree online via our website and collect it on Saturday 26 November. We will refund your deposit when you return the tree in good condition in January, and then it will be planted in one of our nature reserves during 2023. These beautiful, healthy Bermuda cedars stand just under 4 feet high including the pot (slightly bigger than last year’s trees).

Karen Border

Executive Director

International Inspiration

There’s nothing like connecting with others in the heritage sector from all over the world to provide fresh ideas and insights into solutions for shared challenges. BNT is a member of the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO). Executive Director Karen Border had the pleasure of attending the INTO Dundee conference in October, with the theme of Heritage Now: Relevance & Community, where she co-led a workshop entitled “Arms Wide Open”. Dr Charlotte Andrews, Head of Cultural Heritage, attended the World Heritage UK's conference remotely as a virtual delegate.

The V & A Dundee, site of the INTO conference, with the historic RRS Discovery alongside.

Natural Heritage Updates

Myles Darrell, Head of Natural Heritage

Eco Club goes from strength to strength

The Trust Eco Club has started up again and we are excited to have students back working with us. The Club has grown organically from humble beginnings at Waterville in 2019, when three or four regulars joined us after school on Fridays. In 2021, the programme expanded to include Government House grounds and Waterville on alternate weeks. Last season we had between nine and 12 regulars.

It’s a great win-win – the students get their community hours while making significant improvements to the gardens at Waterville, and now Government House. It’s also the opportunity for them to learn about their environment and specifically, Bermuda’s own natural resources and food systems.

Over the past academic year, the focus has been on sustainability. We planted seeds, native and endemic, and fruiting trees. We also planted pumpkin seeds and placed the resulting plants as an understorey to the native and endemic forest. This serves to keep moisture in and weeds down through the summer. The pumpkins grew and were delivered to charities that supply food to those in need. It was rewarding to be part of providing for our community.

We monitored the Bluebird boxes at Government House and gathered data using the Cornell Ornithology lab’s Nest Watch app (a citizen-science project that tracks nesting birds). It was awesome to watch as these beautiful birds transitioned from egg to fledgling, then out into the world. The Bluebird parents were so protective, and it was clear they were watching us as closely as we watched them.

If you are over the age of 12 and would like to join us on Fridays, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm, please contact Myles Darrell our Head of Natural Heritage at myles.darrell@bnt.bm or find out more on our website.

These teams have great values

More and more corporate groups are coming out to work in Trust nature reserves. Their hands-on labours are a tremendous contribution, removing invasive species and planting and nurturing the native and endemic species.

The rise in corporate giving days is largely attributable to corporate ESG (environmental, social and governance) programmes. More than ever, stakeholders want to invest in and work for companies with solid values and a focus on sustainability. The teams we meet are committed to contributing to Bermuda and making it a better place.

Bermuda has been considered an urban environment since the 1960s (World Bank, 2021) and for this reason I always emphasise to the teams that as they help realise conservation goals, they are having a social impact through the conservation of our urban green space. Studies have shown that these spaces “can promote mental and physical health and reduce morbidity and mortality in urban residents by providing psychological relaxation and stress alleviation, stimulating social cohesion, supporting physical activity, and reducing exposure to air pollutants, noise and excessive heat.” (Agarwal, Rekha, 2019).

The Trust can’t realise its mission – to protect and promote our natural and cultural heritage for everyone, forever – without help. But volunteer help can only go so far. Drafting and overseeing conservation management plans requires professional knowledge and experience, as do some conservation tasks. That’s why we are also thankful to our corporate sponsors who support us not just physically but financially. Their contributions pay for our own expertise at the Trust and also enable us to outsource some jobs that require professional help.

Thank you to all our corporate volunteers. We value the partnership and we are making a better Bermuda with your hard work and generosity.

Try growing the brilliant Turkey Berry

Turkey Berry (Callicarpa americana) is one of the most alluring of our native plants and while the flower is not big and showy, the berries that follow are a vivid shade of violet, one of the Bermuda woodland’s brightest colours.

Turkey Berry has become rare in the wild but can be seen in some woodland and marsh habitats. We have recently been reintroducing it in many BNT properties. Its serrulate, light green leaves are distinct and unusual, making the shrub stand out even when not in bloom. The flowers grow in clusters, spring through summer, and are a lavender colour. They are followed by violet berries at each nodal point, ripening in autumn to provide a rich food source for local and migratory birds.

Turkey Berry prefers full sun but can manage a light shade and well drained soils. It does not do well in windy, salty conditions and should be pruned annually in the fall to encourage fresh growth and longevity. Although Turkey Berry is its common name in Bermuda it is also known, appropriately, as Beauty Bush. This native should be considered for all gardens and while it is rare, it can be purchased at garden centres around the island.

Cultural Heritage Updates

Dr. Charlotte Andrews, Head of Cultural Heritage

Collections Connections

Collections are a key part of the Trust’ heritage mission. Whether tangible or intangible, collections of places, things and knowledge are catalysts that people use to create heritage meaning. Every day, we see the way collections connect people with heritage and with each other. We see it when our visitors and volunteers share connections to community stories, museum objects and cultural sites.

New acquisitions give us a chance to tell the story differently, to breathe new life into our historic house museums and other cultural heritage spaces. The return of a wedding ring has added a new page to the Verdmont story. The Fubler family’s washbasin has added charm to Globe’s bathroom. Anne Hyde’s hurricane lamp replaces a broken one on display. Such gifts and finds add to the constellation of collections heritage at the Trust. Yet, the BNT collection is but a sliver of the surviving past.

October’s Trust Talk entitled ‘Cartography of Loss’ highlighted the gaps in our cultural memory. Speakers Kristin White and Yesha Townsend unpacked their research on cultural resources, including on how collections or their absence may represent social inequity and injustice. We thus must continue to collect, but must also ‘recreate’ historical truths and collections that may not exist.

This reimagining involves shifting curatorial power to descendant communities, as we are attempting to do through our RISE programme to ‘Re-Imagine International (or our island’s) Sites of Enslavement’. Historic African textiles and quilts recently offered to BNT by Mark and Tina Nash are one example of objects that may be used to reinterpret Trust sites of enslavement, determining their use in partnership with community curators.

We must collect carefully, since everything has ongoing conservation needs, which cost time and money. None of the cultural heritage we conserve was made to last ‘forever’, but that’s our conservation goal. It can be wiser to decline a donation, so we can focus on existing collections. We may even deaccession a piece if it is beyond repair, is difficult to display, or has slim relevance to the Bermuda story. This was the case with the 3^rd Earl of Pembroke portrait that has now raised funds for other collections purposes.

The Trust is fortunate to have professional museum and conservation expertise on our committees and in the wider community. Partners like the Bermuda Archives care long-term and at the highest professional standards for a major part of the Trust’s collection. International experts like Keith Adams who just spoke about Bermuda cedar furniture, or Dr. Michael Jarvis who gives a Trust Talk next month on archaeological collections that his team excavated, bring in-depth knowledge to our understanding of the collections we hold for Bermuda.

BNT’s collections at Government House have long been curated by a volunteer committee, with Penne Leseur and Lionel Thompson doing much recent work. There are BNT collections in some of our rental properties with our tenants entrusted as caretakers. Much as we rely on volunteers, we are bound by museums and collections ethics, which are reflected in our collections policy. Those ethics reflect in the everyday choices we make about how we care for and share our collections. We are not simply preserving collections for their own sake but are striving to expand the meaning they hold, both for and with the community.

Police Lend a Helping Hand at Prospect

BNT would like to thank the Bermuda Police Service, and especially Police Constable Simon Joseph, for getting abandoned vehicles and other dumped debris removed from the entrance to Garrison Cemetery at Prospect, which BNT manages for the Government of Bermuda. Following months of BNT efforts to see action by other means, the Police cleared the unsightly garbage and restored dignity to the cemetery which abuts a residential neighbourhood. With military headstones dating to the 1860s, a modern burial ground for police officers who are commemorated every year, and a Jewish burial ground (bet kevarot in Hebrew), the cemetery is both historic and in active use.

Cedarbridge Students Visit Verdmont

Education Update from Anna Stevenson, Heritage Education Coordinator

This month we were delighted to welcome S3 students from Cedarbridge Academy to Verdmont. The focus of the field trip was heritage, with the aim of learning more about the work of the Trust. As we walked around the property, we discussed examples of tangible and intangible heritage that can be found on the site, and the Trust’s involvement in the protection and promotion of Bermuda’s natural and cultural heritage. Our reflection activity saw students debating challenging statements about the island’s past and future approach to the preservation and celebration of heritage.

Maintenance Update

Springfield has been painted with the historic colour chosen by popular vote, with the winning name of "Loquat".

Buckingham has been painted by contractor Dean Spencer with woodwork repairs carried out by Foggo's Carpentry and Home Maintenance.

Duane Symonds fixing loose floor boards at The Old Rectory.

The Globe Museum bathroom received a fresh coat of paint by Jeremy Smith.

Punts and Kayaks for Sale

We have seven punts and two kayaks for sale that have been abandoned on BNT property. They can be viewed in the Waterville carpark and each is numbered.

If you are interested in buying a punt or kayak, please email palmetto@bnt.bm with the number of the vessel you want to buy and your bid price.

Heritage at Risk

Temperance Hall

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

The Hamilton Parish Friendly Temperance Society was founded in 1846 and its first meetings were held in a building opposite Burchall’s Cove. On August 13, 1850 the corner stone was laid for a new building which was to be erected a little further north and across from Davis’ Pond. The land was conveyed by the Hon John William Foggo for the token sum of one shilling. Members of the Atlantic Phoenix Lodge No. 271 joined in the ceremony. The Society’s trustees were six dedicated Hamilton Parish men: Benjamin Hill Sr, George Burgess, Daniel Bascome, Thomas Smith, Richard Augustus Burrows and Benjamin Hill Jr.

In May 1851 the building had reached to the wallplate when the Society’s funds ran low and it was necessary to appeal to the community. Among those who came forward was Governor Charles Elliot with the very generous donation of £20.

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