Today we wandered through Fort St. Catherine. I wasn't sure what to expect, and even my most expansive anticipations were blown away. This place is amazing. Some of you may have seen photos of it from the outside, brooding over a beach I have run on several times. It's bigger on the inside.
We spent much of the afternoon there. Victorian engineering in general interests me, as does various military hardware. What can I say, I'm a guy, and most guys are interest in things that can go Boom!
There are a lot of forts in Bermuda to defend against various threats over the centuries. Trying to take this one would take some doing. There's actually 3 forts close together, this one, and up on the hill above it, Fort St. Albert, and Fort Victoria. We walked past their ruins, and even that was impressive.
Bermuda has spent quite a bit of money restoring the fort. If you are interested in artillery and British imperial history, this a must visit. They have all sorts of cannon and other artillery pieces on display. There is a huge case full of various pre-WWI small arms. There are several displays of British crown jewelry on display.
You can walk through almost all the fort, from the gunpowder and shell rooms in the bowels, up to the top of the keep. The view is amazing. There is a ton of information about the life of people working in the fort, all extremely well presented. There are several models showing how the fort developed over the years.
I got a whole new appreciation for the engineering skills required to construct such a building given the materials and equipment at hand. Many of the history books talk about the various macro aspects of the empire. This fort makes it clear just how well organized it was. They talk about what people ate, how it was prepared, how they lived. Each barrel of gunpowder was numbered and tracked. There was a system, and rules to be followed.
We both thought our time today was very well spent. Here's a few photos of the day. These two keep following us around. That guy with the sunglasses looks pretty sinister, doesn't he?
A 360 degree shot. You'll have to embiggen it to make any sense of it.
A small part of the small arms display. Don't be put off by the paneling.
Linda exploring the depths. Surprisingly, this wasn't the least bit claustrophobic.
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Your day sounds like it was a lot more fun than mine. Unless you like obstetricians and buying cell phones?
ReplyDeleteThat stairway looks entirely too claustrophobic!
We've got yet another rainfall advisory here... over 70mm in the last 42 hours.