Whale Bay Surprise

Just as I was getting ready to leave Whale Bay, I heard the screech of a longtail and noticed a little path in the grass going up the hill and into the trees.  I decided to follow the little path and see if it would take me over top of some cliffs where I might finally get a good longtail picture.  What I came across when I got to the top of the path was instead this.

The walls of the old Fort at Whale Bay

"I found a new fort!!!"  I texted to a friend overseas that I had been "chatting" with all morning.  OK, it wasn't exactly new as it has been there since 1867 and I immediately remembered seeing a chart that lists Bermuda's many old military forts had one called the Whale Bay Battery.  But it was new to me as I had never before seen it and explored its walls.  Bermuda's oldest fort is Fort St. Catherine, which has been around for closer to 400 years, so this is relatively new in fort time as well.

I love old buildings and sites.  I quite enjoy looking around places like this and seeing how much has changed.  I could not imagine the cramped quarters of the barracks, and get a little giggle here again at how short people were a couple of hundred years ago.  For example, by one of the inner walls which i could have easily hopped up onto, I notice a stone staircase with 5 stairs so that they could climb onto the wall.  There are holes in the wall which they could shoot their rifles from while ducking beneath the wall that would have much of us hunched over to use nowadays without being to move around efficiently.

Not the short staircase I mentioned, but little narrow staircases running up the outer walls to defensive positions

short people stairs

Today the site was abandoned almost completely.  No other tourists, no locals, no ghosts that I could tell off (Bermuda's Forts didn't see any military action, in fact none of the numerous canons that surrounded her shores were ever fired with intent in the 400 years that Bermuda has been inhabited.)  Nope, the only ghosts that could be would be the soldiers who succumbed to yellow fever in the epidemic of the 1800's, or a few who had mishaps that are laid out on their tombstones at the Royal Naval Dockyards Cemetery -- which detail a few grisly deaths, and a few unfortunate ones like falling off the mast and drowning in the harbour.  However, these poor souls don't haunt Bermuda, if they were still here they would be happily enjoying the view like the rest of us.  The only other living thing on the site on this day was a little fellow who clearly considered himself Master and Commander of the Fort.

The Commander of Whale Bay Battery

He was not intimidated by my presence, and gave me the steely one-eyed stare of him as I got closer with the camera, never one leaving his command post.  I saw a few of his minions on he outer walls a little later as well.

Bermuda's defensive hopes lie on this one bird

Aside from the teeny tiny outdoor oven and the narrow little outposts in the fort, the other thing I marvel about is the officer's view.  They are always facing the ocean, and on this day the waters were stunning.

The view from Whale Bay Battery

A walk around the outer wall showed, as always, that the fort is larger than it looks at first.  I got a nice view of Port Royal Golf  Course.

Port Royal golf course, where the PGA Masters comes

And thought this neat old tree along the wall  might just be the Great Wall of Bermuda.

A successful day of random adventures completed, I went home with a smile and another load of photos.