Queen Elizabeth's procession moves up Broad Street on the way to open the Barbados Parliament, Silver Jubilee, 1977
Historic

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Barbados 1977

The tugs Barbados and Pelican bring HMY Britannia is brought into Bridgetown Deepwater Harbour, Silver Jubilee, 1977

Barbados was the last stop on Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee Tour.

She arrived on the Royal Yacht Britannia and left on her historic First Flight on Concorde


She had travelled extensively throughout the Commonwealth, had opened the Canadian Parliament and then enjoyed a holiday in the Grenadines before visiting Barbados.


Barbados dignitaries prepare to welcome Queen Elizabeth – GG Sir D. Ward, Bajan Equerry in waiting Capt. V.O. Springer, Lady Ward, PM Adams and Mrs Adams, Commissioner of Police Mr. A. Prescot, Acting Port Manager Mr. K.A. Hall and the Aide–de–Camp Oct 31, 1977 bgv5-14

Barbados dignitaries prepare to welcome Queen Elizabeth – GG Sir D. Ward, Bajan Equerry in waiting Capt. V.O. Springer, Lady Ward, PM Adams and Mrs Adams, Commissioner of Police Mr. A. Prescot, Acting Port Manager Mr. K.A. Hall and the Aide–de–Camp Oct 31, 1977 bgv5-14

Barbados Govenor General Sir Deighton Ward and his wife, Prime Minister Tom Adams and Mrs. Adams, Commissioner of Police Mr. A. Prescot, Acting Port Manager Mr. K.A. Hall, Aide–de–Camp

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Disembark HMY Britannia escorted by Barbados Equerry Capt. Springer in Barbados, Silver Jubilee, Oct 31 1977 bgv05-17

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Disembark HMY Britannia escorted by Barbados Equerry Capt. Springer in Barbados, Silver Jubilee, Oct 31 1977 bgv05-17

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip Disembark HM Yacht Britannia

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Fishing for mollies, Mt Wilton Plnt, 1971 mp17-711222-12
Lifestyle

The Hazards of Running Wild!

Bicycle Crashes, Nail Juks and other Misfortunes.

Who wore shoes?

You usually had two pairs – one were nice brown leather Clarks, with leather soles that were very slippery when wet, that were worn to school (and had to be kept perfectly polished to avoid a punishment of writing 'lines' from a prefect or school master or mistress) and the other pair were tennis shoes for sports.

The rest of the time you were barefoot!

Street Cricket in Sugar Hill

Feet get pretty tough and resilient after being barefoot for a year or ten! 

But the time would always come when you connected with 'a piece of Bubadus' and ended up with a nasty stubbed toe, or like when Roger Edgehill almost took off a big toe after an argument with an iron landmark hidden in the sand above the highwater mark.

A broken water pipe in the village - a long walk to fetch water from a downhill source

Nail juks were another common hazard

and sometimes it didn't even matter if you did have your shoes on – once while playing 'kick the can' I 'get juk' through the rubber sole of my tennis shoe and couldn't pull the nail out because the rubber held it too tightly – had to take the shoe off instead – I expect it hurt quite a bit, but I can't remember that now.

Boys play on a quite street in Bridgetown

Falling out of trees or colliding with objects was also common

 – my brother got a 2 stitch gash on the back of his head from going backwards out of one of the Peterkin's cordia trees onto hard McAdam driveway; another time he rounded a corner of Granny's house and hit up with the corner of an open shutter – more stitches!

Children follow a donkey cart as a cane fire erupts near a harvest area

Bicycles were our transportation and there was always room for trouble.


One of the benefits of having an older brother was that I got to tag along on adventures that were a bit beyond my years.


We used to go on rides all over the area and one of my first bigger ones when I was eight, on my brand new 26 inch Raleigh (too big for me at the time) was out to St. Barnabas Church beyond the Pine (7 mile ride) – this meant walking up the very steep  Rendezvous Hill.


And hills you went up you must come down – the big boys would only hold brakes for the first part down the hill and then reach awesome speed down the rest – well I thought I could do the same and picked up a nasty front wheel speed wobble and went airborn over the handlebars and landed on my chin and right arm – road rash fuh days!


When I stood up I couldn't find my bike – after what seemed an eternity I found it in the top of the dunk tree at the side of the road – the others had come back to see how I was and had to pull it out for me as I couldn't reach it. John swapped his smaller Raleigh with me and on the way back home a bus was stopped at the bus stop near Garden Gap #2 - I put my foot out to rest on the curb and slipped and upside down in the concrete open drainage ditch - shock was probably setting in! 


The next day in Prep 3 at Harrison's College I was telling the tale of my bandages.

Bicycles were our means of transport - two youths in Sugar Hill village, St. Joseph
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1961-feb-rockley-beach
Lifestyle

The Sea in our Veins!

The Sea in our Veins!

Rockley Beach - My Childhood Playground

Today is the 12th Dec, 2019 – the last full moon of the decade and my 68th birthday! I don't know how time has flown so fast as I still feel like I'm about 19 or 20.

It gives me a chance to reflect on where I came from and where I'm going and I've decided it's time to start recording some of my history - I have a bunch of images sitting in photo albums and my photography files and like the tree that falls in the forest – if no one sees it or hears the stories did it really happen?

Rockley Beach, Christ Church parish - the place I lived from 1955 to 1965 - watched the roof of Torrington Guest House (in the far right distance in the top image) fly off into the sea during Hurricane Janet in Sept 1955!

Walked down this beach with Chris and Geoffrey Kieffer to go to school at Mrs. Smith's Primary School.

Going down to the swimming hole at the Hotel Royal and stopping in at Aunt Dos Brown's - getting juk with a nasty cobbler, Lois breaking her pinkie after slipping on the mossy steps at the Royal - ouch!

Skin diving for shells and sea fans, cruising along the coast in Peewee with John at the helm with the Seagull outboard and David and John-Mike Peterkin in their flat bottom dingy.

1961 Apr John, Craig and Lois Sandy Ways, Rockley x1566

Belly boarding on plywood and learning to stand-up surf on the red board that John built during easter holidays 1965

Memories of tree houses in the almond trees and almond battles with the Kieffers and Donald and Carlos Duncan; the beach boys hanging out - Erskine the ace fisherman and waterman of the area, going fishing sea eggs with David Peterkin and collecting huge bags for later cleaning.

Watching a huge sea turtle laying her eggs one night and the baby sea turtles hatching and running for the sea; moon light beach walks with my Mum on many a night.

Guy Fawlkes Night - Nov 5th - bon fires on the beach and burnt toes from sinking into soft roasting sand too close to the fire – running to be first to get the sticks falling from the rockets; man-o-war stings from small and large.

It sure was a fantastic place to grow up!

For More on Growing up in the Sea
Please Visit -

'The Genesis of Barbados Surfing'
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Norman Baker lifts the boom as Thor Heyerdahl and his international crew on Ra 2 arrives in Bridgetown, Barbados July 12th, 1970 ra2-arv-0014
Historic

Thor Heyerdahl & Ra II Arrive in Barbados July 12th, 1970

The Norwegian explorer had just proved that the ancients could have sailed from North Africa to the New World millennia before Columbus made the trip!

Bajans turned out in droves to welcome the explorers

Thor Heyerdahl and his International crew arrive at Bridgetown, Barbados after 57 days at sea on the Ra 2 - July 12th, 1969 ra2-arv-0004

Thor Heyerdahl and his International crew arrive at Bridgetown, Barbados after 57 days at sea on the Ra 2 - July 12th, 1970 ra2-arv-0004

Of course, before there was a Ra II there had to be a Ra I –

Heyerdahl had tried the trip the year before and had made it to within 600 miles of Barbados. 

They had to abandon their waterlogged craft and hitch a ride to the island.

During the Ra I journey we had been intently following them across the Atlantic as my dad Paul Burleigh was an avid ham radio opperator.

He and the other Bajan hams, including Alan Otway (8P6AH) and Pat Toppin (8P6AZ), had been talking with the members of the expedition all the way across.

Ra II Arrives at the Pierhead
Ra II Arrives Barbados July 12th, 1970 - Print with signatures

My dad had been in contact with a Norwegian ham called Christian and Heyerdahl wanted to send messages back after they arrived.

He and the Russian doctor Yuri Senkevich (lower center in photo) came up to our house at Lammings, St. Joseph and spent a few hours relaying messages to Christian and on from there to Russia.

Fast forward a year and the Ra II was on it's way – again the hams were communicating with them. My dad was out of the island so I kept up with Alan and Jill Otway on progress.

I made sure to be at the Pierhead to photograph their arrival

Reaching for a New World!
Thor Heyerdahl a few days later at the dry dock

The Ra II had almost the same crew from the original Ra –
this time it was –

Thor Heyerdahl - 

Norway

Norman Baker - 

United States

Yuri A.Senkevich-

Russia

Carlo Mauri - 

Italy

Santiago Genoves -

Mexico

Kei Ohara -

Japan

Madani AitOuhanni

Morocco

Click to View Photos "On Board Ra II After Arrival"

Bajan Things posts - https://www.bajanthings.com/the-ra-expeditions-thor-heyerdahl/

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/windsor-pilot-89-killed-in-crash-had-just-a-huge-sense-of-adventure,525556

http://scf-group.com/en/about/history/ship_naming/item1486.html

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