Message from the Executive Director

Spring is in the air, the Longtails are back, and we are feeling a great sense of regeneration and momentum here at the Trust.

We are delighted and grateful to have been chosen as a charity partner for this year’s Convex End-to-End Walk! The End-to-End organisers had noticed the work taking place – with the essential help of corporate and private volunteers – at the Rebecca Middleton, Sherwin, and Gilbert Nature Reserves that border the Railway Trail in Paget, Warwick and Sandys respectively. This is making a significant difference on the Trail followed by the End-to-End walkers, and they decided this was a change they wanted to support.

The $50,000 donation will allow us to carry out additional work in these areas. For example, a historic wall and rustic steps can be restored at Rebecca Middleton Nature Reserve and more plants added to increase its biodiversity. We will remove some huge invasive Ficus trees and install more benches at Gilbert Nature Reserve, so that our community can enjoy the peace and serenity.

The Trust will have a refreshment station at Sound View Road at the End-to-End on 7 May, and we look forward to cheering the walkers on their journey.

Our own Palm Sunday Walk is also back on Sunday 10 April, after a two-year hiatus, and we are excited that it will take place in the St. George’s World Heritage Site this year! We hope to see large numbers come out to enjoy the walk and to support the Old Town by spending some time in its restaurants and shops before or after. This would be a great warm-up for those planning to take part in the End-to-End.

We are asking walkers to register and donate this year, as a way to support the Trust’s work in the World Heritage Site and in our nature reserves around the island, which are open to the community for free 365 days of the year. All are welcome to join the walk, and no-one will be turned away on the day, but we hope that people understand our need for support. Delicious traditional hot cross buns will be available for a small donation and we will provide water stops along the route. We can’t wait to see you!

Finally, a heads up to families that the Children’s Nature Walk at Spittal Pond will take place during the Easter break on Tuesday 5 April, 9:30am to noon. Designed for children 5-12 years, the guided walk is free to all thanks to our sponsor Arch Re. It takes about 90 minutes, with stops along the way where experts talk about the natural features of the reserve and the stories of Portuguese Rock and Jeffrey’s Cave. Groups of more than three, please email BNT Heritage Education Manager, Anna Stevenson at anna.stevenson@bnt.bm to register.

Karen Border

Executive Director

BNT Partnership with Bermuda Education Network

The education department is excited to be partnering once again with the Bermuda Education Network (BEN) to provide learning experiences for students from primary 2, 4 and 5. The planning sessions with lead teachers and site visits are in full swing.

Primary 2 will be based at Vesey Nature Reserve looking at man-made versus natural environments, and visiting the quarry to learn about building methods. Primary 4 will be at Verdmont, learning about the property and practicing cardinal directions. Finally, Primary 5 are going to be absorbed into the Gunpowder Plot in St. George’s, meeting characters from the past and learning about Bermuda’s role in the American War for Independence.

A Month of Regeneration

Update from Myles Darrell, Head of Natural Heritage

BNT Eco Club - the Fun Goes On!

For the past year, a group of students have been working in the garden at Waterville after school on Fridays. As of September 2021, they officially became the BNT Eco Club – and what they have achieved is awesome. Activities are part educational, part documented community service hours and a whole lot of fun and camaraderie!

So far, the team of around eight regulars ranging in age from 12 to 16 have:

Built a butterfly garden
Planted more than 15 palmettos, four cedars, southern hackberry and examples of all the ground covers of Bermuda
Increased the diversity of native and endemics in this garden setting
Done the groundwork to eventually replace all invasive palms on the property with Bermuda Palmettos.

Now the BNT Eco Club is expanding in both membership and venues! As of 18 March, we began working at the Government House property, which we will continue to do every other Friday, alternating with Waterville.

Projects at Government House will include:

Propagating plants for sustainability
Planting a micro forest
Increasing knowledge of invasive, native, and endemic species of Bermuda.

The Club will still include community service hours and fun. For this we need to ramp up the numbers and posters are being distributed throughout the schools. If you know of a young person who would be interested, please sign up online or contact me directly at myles.darrell@bnt.bm. We are grateful to the Governor Rena Lalgie for inviting us to use the Government House grounds, and to her husband Jacob Hawkins, who is assiduously working on his own environmental improvement projects for Bermuda in the grounds of the property.

A new purpose for the Duke of Edinburgh 'journey'

Five young men completed their Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award ‘adventurous journey’ in March, trying out a whole new approach in conjunction with BNT that we hope will be the start of many more such collaborations. Over the course of three days, they walked over 15 kilometres, worked for 15 hours in our nature reserves (Rebecca Middleton, Paget Marsh and Sherwin), and planted over 15 trees. This approach adds purpose to the ‘journey’ and the young men said they loved knowing they had contributed to making these spaces better for everyone forever!

Volunteers at Vesey

Something remarkable is happening at the 8-acre Vesey Nature Reserve in Southampton: our endemics are starting to show their natural strength and fight back in force. As we were weeding in the quarry area, we found self-seeded Bermuda Cedar. The exciting message is that, as the emergent species, these endemics are stronger and more resilient than, say, a Mexican Pepper, and ultimately will triumph. It’s incredibly encouraging – but no reason to stop our work. Bermuda’s natural vegetation could eventually re-emerge without human help but it would take hundreds of years. Given that humanity played a major role in causing the invasive menace, we need to continue to give our natives and endemics a hand in fighting back.

Many hands actually…about a dozen people showed up at our February BNT Workday at Vesey. The diversity of the team was noteworthy: aged 15 to 90 years of age, from immensely varied backgrounds and levels of horticultural expertise – from almost no experience to professional level. The common thread: they all care deeply about our environment.

It was a joy to spend a sparkling sunny morning with them, and loquats provided seasonal refreshment! The sun was followed that night by rainfall, providing perfect conditions for the 24 Cedars and Olivewoods we planted to flourish. Thank you to all those who took part in the Trust’s first Sustainable Christmas Tree programme: the trees you sponsored are being planted and starting to green our island.

The new bridge at Vesey has been installed, providing access to breathtaking views as far as Port Royal Golf Course on one side and great views into the quarries. Visitors crossing the bridge will also enjoy the rare experience of being surrounded by Cedars.

This reserve is not only looking good, but the diversity of its flora and accompanying fauna is now much greater than it was when it was gifted to Buy Back Bermuda (the Bermuda National Trust and Bermuda Audubon Society) in 2013. Thank you to all who have made this happen.

Plantings at Eve's Pond

We have also been busy planting trees at Bermuda’s newest nature reserve, Eve’s Pond, ready for its official opening on Earth Day, 22 April, 2022. This 4-acre reserve near Shelly Bay in Hamilton Parish is another Buy Back Bermuda collaboration.

On 19 March 15 volunteers turned out and planted around 70 trees and shrubs – including some mature Cedars and Yellow Wood. Again, your sponsored “Christmas trees” were included in the planting – thank you!

Birds are responding to the call of the new pond and the increasingly lush plantings, showing up in droves and attracting both experienced and amateur birders. Recently numerous types of ducks were spotted on the pond, including a magnificent Blue-winged Teal.

As we prepare for Eve’s Pond to become a permanent addition to Bermuda’s “emerald necklace” of nature reserves, a major concern has arisen: someone has dumped a whole aquarium into the pond. This is a problem we have experienced at many ponds. Introduced plants and fish can swiftly destroy the natural ecosystem we have tried to revive. At Paget Marsh and Pitman’s Pond (Somerset Long Bay) the oxygen levels in the water have depleted significantly due to invasives being added. Please spread the word – never put aquarium fish or plants into our natural ponds!

The Eve’s Pond project is significant for Bermuda in terms of adding to our green space for public use. It could never have happened without the generosity of so many – most recently the Garden Club of Bermuda with a $10,000 gift. Together, we are achieving something wonderful for today – and tomorrow.

Heritage at Risk

Department of Fisheries Cottage,

1 Coney Island Road

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

Because of its recent use by the Department of Fisheries we’ve called this otherwise unnamed house Fisheries Cottage. Not only is the building’s early history unknown, there is also the discrepancy as to which parish it belongs, with one government department placing it in Hamilton Parish and another in St George’s.

Although the exact date of the cottage’s construction is uncertain it appears on the 1898/1901 ordinance survey map. The Grade 3 listed cottage has many decorative features such as raised gable ends, corner pilasters and a small parapet on the south end. An architrave over the front door helps to deflect rain water. There is a large tank built into the hillside.

As early as 1620 there was a little footbridge which led from the main island to Coney Island where there was a horse ferry that went across to Ferry Island where then a short wooden bridge led to St George's Island. Before the 1871 construction of the Causeway there was steady business transporting people, horses and carriages to Ferry Island. Located close to the Coney Island pier is the Old Ferry House (now also used by the Fisheries Department) which was rented out, presumably to the ferry master who was required to keep all the buildings in good repair and to paint them inside and out every year.

Click here to read the full article

Trust Teambuilding at Tucker House

The entire Bermuda National Trust staff came together for an all-day teambuilding exercise at Tucker House museum in St. George’s.

Annette Eve, Training & Policy Officer with Performance Solutions Limited, facilitated a morning session of staff teambuilding exercises and objectives setting for 2022. Executive Director Karen Border encouraged the team to reflect on the important role each person plays in achieving our mission for Bermuda’s natural and cultural heritage.

In the afternoon, after a delicious takeaway harbourside lunch from Wahoo's, the Trust team gave Tucker House a major spring cleaning. From clearing and sorting, to pruning and weeding, to dusting, wiping, polishing, and vacuuming, the team spruced the historic house up from top to bottom!

Tucker House is currently open Wednesdays 11:00 am - 3:00 pm thanks to volunteer museum guide Peter Frith. Globe Museum is open Wednesdays and Thursdays 11:00 am - 2:00 pm thanks to volunteer museum guides Tiffany Banner and David Walker. We hope to open our St. George’s museums on additional days soon!

Archives Appreciation

Archivist of the Bermuda Archives Mandellas Lightbourne recently welcomed Bermuda National Trust Executive Director Karen Border and Head of Cultural Heritage Dr. Charlotte Andrews to the Government-run repository. The Archivist highlighted the extensive BNT collection among the private collections of ‘enduring historical and cultural value’ that the Archives ‘collects, protects, and makes available’ alongside Government records.

The visit deepened the Trust’s appreciation of the facility’s exacting conditions and the cultural expertise and collections work of the Archives team, who include Karla Ingemann, Elizabeth Walter and Keith Ceasar. As a token of our appreciation, the Trust will complete the set of BNT publications in the Archives reading room. We are also giving extra 2022 BNT calendars featuring the Fay & Geoffrey Elliott Collection, a remarkable part of the wider collection the Archives holds for the Trust.