Bermuda's Sandys Parish

Not open at this time. October 2010-submitted Plans to redevelop the Lantana resort were approved by the Development Application Board (DAB) after changes were made to protect agricultural reserve. While the plans were praised for protecting the nearby Railway Trail, it also included a croquet lawn and a hotel residence built on what was labelled agricultural reserve in the 2008 Bermuda Plan. At the October 27, 2010 meeting of the Board, the DAB expressed concern about the intrusion onto the agricultural reserve and deferred making a final decision at that time. However modified plans were resubmitted on November 2, and approved on November 3. According to the minutes of the November 3 meeting, the developers removed the offending hotel residence. The minutes read: "They are also prepared to include the reserve land within the proposed Conservation Management Plan to ensure long term protection of the soils within that area, and that this would be included within a recommended condition." Lantana closed its doors in 1998, but in March developer Kevin Petty said he was confident a new $100 million resort would be built on the 9.4 acre site in the next three years. Plans for the refurbished resort, featuring 13 hotel residences and 28 fractional units, were submitted in October but drew criticism from the Department of Conservation Services over use of both coastal and agricultural reserve property.

Lefroy House

Named after a famous British Government-appointed Governor of Bermuda. Now a Bermuda government-supported senior citizen's residence but the building, now substantially renovated and added to and with an ocean view, has a fascinating history. From about 1825 it was the first-ever purpose-built hospital in Bermuda, built specifically as a Royal Navy hospital serving the Dockyard. It had its own Royal Navy doctors, nurses and staff. It remained in operation as such until 1953 when the Dockyard officially closed as a Royal Navy base. 

2019. March 20. Lefroy House, the seniors home in Sandys, is not expected to be relocated “in the near future”, according to the Ministry of Health. The move, which came up in the House of Assembly last week, will go to its design and requirements phase in the 2019-20 fiscal year, but building is expected to take four to five years, a spokeswoman said. She added: “The Government has identified an available and suitable parcel of land in Southampton in the Rockaway / Morgan’s Point area close to public transport, ferry and bus routes and removed from traffic noise and pollution. The site is government-owned and adequately zoned. The site has proximity to the established safe neighborhoods of Rockaway and Dr Cann Park and there are other shops and facilities including a community physician’s office and the fire station in the neighborhood.” The site offers better protection from storms than the present location, where the listed historic building, built as a hospital by the Royal Navy in 1890, has suffered hurricane damage. The ministry has scheduled a meeting with family members of Lefroy House regarding its plans

Lodge Point Park and Nature Reserve

Craddock Road. Created as such in 2012. A 4.2 acre plot of land in Dockyard. Was once a Royal Navy residential are until the 1950s, then a civilian one, then deteriorated as an illegal dumping ground once those properties were demolished.  Now restored as an open space. An initiative of the West End Development Corporation Bermuda Government owned quango which is also working to preserve an additional 6.5 acres south of Craddock Road through to Lagoon Bridge.

Mangrove Bay

Picturesque and sheltered beach and bay near Somerset Village. Well worth seeing on its own, or on the way to or from the Dockyard area. Until 2016, on the Sunday after Cup Match long public holiday weekend the long-established Non-Mariners Race, organized by the Society of Non-Mariners, was held here. It first began in August 1964 in Hamilton, by amateur non-sailors deliberately launching non-seaworthy and distinctly non-nautical home-made floating in often hilarious unsea-worthy crafts of any type and design as a joke against the well-established and prim sailing clubs of Bermuda and their 1960s sailing correctness. It no longer functions.

Mangrove Bay, by Keith A. Forbes

Bermuda Tourism photo

Malabar Island

See Islands.

Messina House 

Not for tourists, except with official permission from the Bermuda Government's Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation and with lots of advance notice directly from it. Only campsite on the mainland, between Somerset and Dockyard. Only one group of 30 campers is accommodated at any one time. It has a number of rooms at ground level and several bedrooms with bunk beds, in a dormitory. There is a dock for campers, as well as a small gym behind the main house with washroom and showers; open area on waterfront; with restaurant, shops and ferry service within easy walking distance.

Middle King's Point Island

See Islands.

Moresby House

Dockyard, Somerset. An historic Bermuda Government owned property. Bermuda's West End Development Company (Wedco) quango totally refurbished this historic once Royal Navy property in 2017. The landmark building overlooking the Great Sound has approximately 5,500 square feet of space with parking for ten cars. The property is now rentable by companies. The building was constructed in 1899 as the residence of the Office-in-Charge of Works. Later called HMS Malabar, it had remained empty since the Royal Navy left Dockyard in 1995. Wedco received a $3 million grant from the Government for the project. Mr Dias, who previously told The Royal Gazette that the project would be completed by April 20, said he was “delighted” with the final product. The building was rented as a commercial space after the completion of the America’s Cup.

Moresby Playing Fields

Now an area for sports including cricket, but once a quarry from where much of the limestone that created the Royal Navy Dockyard and its fortifications originated. They included, after 1847, the stone for the Clocktower Building, (once the "Great Eastern Storehouse" and the other buildings. All that rock had to be blasted out of the ground, broken into smaller pieces, then chiseled into the stone blocks that account for the grandeur of the Dockyard buildings today. Slaves and British convicts did all the work.

National Museum of Bermuda

Formerly Bermuda Maritime Museum. Old Royal Naval Dockyard. Regular mail: P.O. Box MA 133, Mangrove Bay MA BX, Bermuda. Courier: 1, The Keep, Sandys MA 01, Bermuda. Admission information: 1-441-234-1418. Museum offices: 1-441-234-1333. Fax: 1-441-234-1735. Email: marmuse@logic.bm. Web: www.bmm.bm.

Old Watch House

Historically important Somerset building, restored. In the early 1800s, it was used as a 'lock -up' for slaves found wandering in Sandys Parish. The Bermuda National Trust, Bermuda Maritime Museum and Ministry of the Environment secured a grant under the Ministry's Environmental Grants Fall 2004 Scheme for restoration.

Pitman's Pond

A nice nature reserve, known affectionately by this name, next to the Government Park at Somerset Long Bay, near Cambridge Beaches, and has been visited by hundreds of people, including lots of tourists. 

Railway Trail

Part of it goes through this Parish

Restaurants in the Parish

See under Bermuda Cuisine and Restaurants.

Royal Naval Cemetery

Ireland Island South. On Malabar Road, approaching the former RN Dockyard. Bus Routes: 7, 8.  Admission is free. This large naval cemetery, 2.73 acres at the side of the road leading into Dockyard, was once known as the Glade. All of Ireland Island was bought by the Admiralty for the Royal Navy in 1809 and the cemetery was consecrated in 1812. The first burial ground was a narrow strip which is now the central portion of the cemetery; it was enlarged several times, notably after three yellow fever epidemics in 1837, 1843 and 1853. It is estimated that over 1,000 graves rest here. As the cemetery filled up, the categories of people who could be buried there were reduced, starting with the exclusion of convicts in 1849. By 1853 only Royal Naval personnel and residents of Ireland Island could be interred there. January 3rd, 1854 was marked as a day of thanksgiving in Bermuda for those who survived the dreadful scourge. However, it was not the last yellow fever epidemic and it took another thirty years to completely eradicate the mosquito-borne disease in Bermuda. 

Some of the many buried here, with their names, dates and ships. See https://wrecksite.eu/refPosView.aspx?180318. 

The cemetery lies in a depression, with the earliest graves at the lower centre, and the later graves on the rising ground around them. Five admirals are buried here, as well as children and sailors. The oldest gravestone now legible is that of Sergeant John Kitchener, late Royal Marines, who died in 1816, with its cautionary verse urging the onlooker to prepare to meet his God. At least one Royal Navy admiral is buried here. Several of the older headstones have poetic inscriptions, some personal and others supplied by stonemasons as far afield as Nova Scotia and England. In contrast are the Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones which stand out in their stark simplicity. The cemetery contains the graves of servicemen from the Second World War, when Bermuda was a transit point in the Battle of the Atlantic, and memorials to some of those who were buried at sea. Overlooking the whole cemetery is the Oration Stand, a reproduction of the original structure from which the funeral oration, or formal speech at a funeral, was given.

Royal Naval Dockyard

The area is now a major historic, tourist and sightseeing attraction.

Top left Dockyard Train. Introduced in 1997, it is not really a train but a diesel-fuel road vehicle. (It is not the reincarnation of the train service Bermuda had from 1931 to 1946). It is a miniature frontier replica working train with two passenger coaches and capacity for 40 people. It runs on the road, not on tracks. But it has a train-like whistle. Its engine and two carriages were imported from Florida. There is a fare tariff. But you can walk the whole area easily. At top right, a new ferry boat provides an interesting contrast to a cruise ship (bottom left). Other ways for tourists to see Dockyard include cycle (pushbike), bus, local miniature train or Segway. 

All photos by the author

Sandys 360 Sports, Aquatic and Enrichment Centre (closed)

Off Broome Street. Now closed, having failed. See below. The island's first indoor sports, aquatic, fitness and community centre opened its doors to the public in September 2009. On the Sandys Middle School campus. Has a 25-metre indoor 6-lane swimming pool with a viewing platform with elevated bleachers; lifeguards and a swimming instructor; an NCAA regulation-sized basketball court, gymnasium, locker and shower rooms; fitness centre; aerobics suite and more. The $10-million centre can accommodate numerous local and international programmes for athletes. It has cardio and elliptical machines, bikes, free weights and nautilus equipment. The facility was built as an extension of Sandys Middle School but the board of trustees decided it could benefit a larger segment of the community. Designers used the American YMCA and YWCA model for the project.

2020. March 10. A Government bid to buy a shuttered sports centre may be scrapped, the House of Assembly has heard. Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, said the $1 million sale was still budgeted and approved by the House, but questions had come up about who would run the Sandys 360 centre. Speaking on Friday, Colonel Burch explained a legal opinion suggested the sports centre’s Board of Governors would still have a say in the future of the site even after a sale. He added: “If that is the case, and I will put you on notice, we ain’t buying it.” Colonel Burch said Government awaited a definitive answer from the Attorney-General’s Chambers. He added: ‘It adds to the challenge as it is deteriorating with each passing day. There was a request for us to do some work there, but we can’t do that because we are not allowed to invest public funds into buildings that are owned privately.” The Sandys 360 Sports, Aquatic and Enrichment Centre opened in September 2009 but closed in November 2013 because it was unable to make ends meet. A KPMG report into the failed centre revealed that almost $6 million of public money was ploughed into it before April 2014. Parliament approved a plan in March 2018 for taxpayers to bail out the trustees by buying the centre and surrounding land with another $1 million of public money. But it was reported last July that negotiations with HSBC, the mortgage lender, had stalled “as a result of a third party laying a claim to some indebtedness from the trustees of Sandys 360”. Colonel Burch also gave an update on the TN Tatem Middle School, which was closed permanently in February after it was hit with severe mould problems. He told the House of Assembly: “The reality is there were three classrooms that had serious issues with mould and the music room.” Colonel Burch said the problems with the classrooms had been dealt with, but the music room would take longer as wood flooring would need to be removed. He added that the Ministry has already been contacted by several parties interested in using the former school once work was carried out. Colonel Burch said: “We will get to the stage where the building will be straightened out and we will look at the recommendations for its future uses and make a decision.” He said the ministry had worked to teach Government employees about the causes of mould and its prevention. Colonel Burch said: “We started with the schools and we are having success there. The custodians now turn off the air conditioning by 7pm and open the windows in the schools to let fresh air come into the equation.” He added that the windows were closed and air conditioning turned back on before pupils arrived in the morning. Colonel Burch also told the House that the Department of Parks Headquarters will move to Marsh Folly in Pembroke after Government abandoned a plan to build a new maintenance yard at the Botanical Gardens in Paget. He added that the area at the gardens would instead used for extra parking.

2019. August 8. Two government agencies have been ordered to draw up a complete list of public grants handed to a failed sports centre. The checks by the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant-General’s Department must include the paper trail behind a double grant made to Sandys 360 by mistake. However, the decision issued by Gitanjali Gutierrez, the Information Commissioner, did not require the two offices to release the records. The commissioner has set a deadline of next month for both bodies to finish a “reasonable” search for the payment records. Each office must also issue their decision on whether or not to grant the public access to information request for the documents. The ruling came after a Pati request on payments from January 2007 to May 2016, when more than $5 million was poured into the West End sports complex. The Pati query included a request for records behind the double payment of $807,000 from the Government Reserve Fund, made in August 2011. Sandys 360 shut down in 2013, four years after it opened, because it could not pay its bills. The decision this week from Ms Gutierrez faulted the Accountant-General’s office for passing the Pati request over to the Ministry of Finance without first checking if it held the relevant records. The department also failed to notify the Pati applicant that the ministry might have held the Sandys 360 records. Ms Gutierrez’s decision, issued on Monday, ordered both offices to check for records and give a new decision on whether to grant access before September 9.

2019. July 29. A construction firm appealed to the Government to settle its unpaid bill topping $1 million for the Sandys 360 sports complex at the West End, an Opposition backbencher has revealed. Calling the failed gym a “black hole”, Trevor Moniz, a former public works minister, told the House of Assembly on Friday night that BCM McAlpine, which built the centre, approached him when he was minister in 2013 in a bid to recoup its money. Mr Moniz also told MPs that Walter Lister, the former Progressive Labour Party MP, had been paid $10,000 in connections with Sandys 360, which had been “flagged” in a report by the professional services firm KPMG. He added that “nobody knew what it was about”, but said the final version of the report stated there was “no pattern of anything they could see of any untoward payment”. Mr Lister told The Royal Gazette, when contacted on Saturday, that he “never received a penny from that institution”, adding that Mr Moniz “made this up”. Mr Lister was chairman of the Sandys Secondary School Foundation in 2002 when it launched its fundraising drive for the facility, which opened in September 2009. He added: “I’ve done a lot of work because I believed in it. It will one day return as a shining example in Sandys.” Crippling expenses and a lack of revenue ultimately scuppered the centre, which closed in late 2013. Mr Moniz said there had been “no business plan in place that would have made it sustainable”. He recalled viewing a preliminary copy of the KPMG report in 2013 during his tenure as minister. Patricia Gordon-Pamplin had taken over the portfolio when the final report was released in April 2014. Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, agreed on Thursday to release a redacted version of the report. Mr Moniz told MPs on Friday that Melvyn Bassett, formerly the managing director of Sandys 360, was “the only person paid on a full-time basis” and received “a six-figure sum”. Mr Moniz also said that as minister, he had told Sandys 360 trustees that he would not support any government funding to rescue the multimillion dollar facility “if I didn’t have this report”. But he called it “patently ridiculous” to suggest that he had given trustees a guarantee to bail out Sandys 360 “no matter what the report says”.

2019. July 18. A former public works minister said yesterday that it was he who commissioned the report into the finances of a struggling sports centre — not the trustees who ran it. Trevor Moniz, now a One Bermuda Alliance backbencher, explained that he asked for the independent review from professional services firm KPMG in 2013 because he was “under pressure” from high-ranking civil servants to release more public funds for the now-closed Sandys 360 Taxpayers had already forked out millions of dollars for the Sandys 360 Sports, Aquatic and Enrichment Centre, which opened in September 2009 and closed its doors in November 2013 because it was unable to make ends meet. More money had been promised in the form of a government grant, but Mr Moniz said he wanted to cancel the offer, against the wishes of some civil servants. Mr Moniz claimed civil servants “were saying ‘Government has made a promise and you have to abide by it.".  I was saying ‘it’s a different government, the conditions have not been met. I’m not going to pour money down a black hole.’ It was $30,000 to $40,000 a month on Belco. I was refusing to do that. I was trying to persuade Cabinet and the Civil Service to stop pumping money into this facility that was unsustainable.” Mr Moniz suggested some in government wanted the report kept secret because it was an “embarrassment to the Civil Service that all this money had flushed down the drain”. The Royal Gazette launched a bid to get a copy of the KPMG report under public access to information legislation in December 2015, soon after the Auditor-General revealed that the centre received a duplicate payment of $807,000 in 2011 that was never recovered by the Government. The report was kept secret by the One Bermuda Alliance administration and was kept under wraps by the ruling Progressive Labour Party. Sandys 360 chairman Stanley Lee said in December 2015 that The Royal Gazette should “approach Government for a copy of the report, since they initiated the process”. A Pati request was made to the Government, which asked for the report and for records showing all payments made from the public purse to Sandys 360 and all attempts to recover money owed by the centre to the Government. The request for the report was refused by the Department of Public Lands and Buildings, but Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez ordered its release in May this year. Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, now the Minister of Public Works, told Parliament this month that the Government would not release the report because “it was not commissioned by, nor is it the property of, the Department of Public Lands and Buildings”. Mr Moniz said: “In my view, all this nonsense about ‘it’s not a government report’ prompts a serious question: who paid for the report?” He said that those in charge of Sandys 360 — the trustees of Sandys Secondary Middle School — had to agree to take part in the review because they held all the information on the centre’s finances. But he added: “I would assume Government paid for it because they had no money. We were the ones who started the process.” Opposition leader Craig Cannonier agreed yesterday that the report was commissioned during Mr Moniz’s time as works minister. But he said he understood that HSBC bank, which was owed more than $9 million by the trustees, asked for the report and paid KPMG for it. Mr Cannonier added: “The trustees had nothing.” Mr Cannonier said: “When I became the public works minister in 2015, the report had already been commissioned. I’m almost sure that it did come out under me.” He added: “There were no hard, clear financials on Sandys 360 that made any particular sense. Every time we asked them for information it was difficult to get a complete picture of what was going on.” Mr Cannonier said that “people were trying to figure out exactly what it was we needed to do” to help the centre stay afloat. He added: “The bank was coming to us for help. We said we can’t seem to get any proper direction from those guys.” Mr Cannonier said Cabinet decided that the Government should buy the centre from the trustees. He added that the Government could not release the report to the public at the time because it needed to finish negotiations on a price for the centre. Mr Cannonier said he believed Sandys 360 was mismanaged by people with good intentions, which was why he told Parliament last year it was “completely unnecessary” to suggest the centre’s financials should be made public. But he added that the report should be released after Ms Gutierrez ordered it to be made public. Mr Cannonier asked: “What’s to hide?” KPMG told the Information Commissioner its clients were the trustees and that it agreed to conduct the report on the basis it would only be disclosed to HSBC and the Department of Public Lands and Buildings. The trustees told Ms Gutierrez the report was prepared for the trustees to help them resolve the “financial issues” surrounding the centre, including its potential sale to the Government. Charles Thresh, of KPMG, said yesterday: “We do not comment on client engagements and so I am unable to answer your questions.” An HSBC Bermuda spokeswoman said: “HSBC takes the issue of customer confidentiality very seriously and as such is not able to discuss any matters with respect to customers or purported customers.” The Ministry of Public Works did not respond to questions on who paid for the report and if Colonel Burch planned to challenge Ms Gutierrez’s order in court.

Sandys 360 timeline

• September 12, 2009: Sandys 360 officially opens
• August 2011: A payment of $807,000 from the public purse is made in “error” to Sandys 360 and never recovered
• December 20, 2012: Trevor Moniz becomes public works minister after the One Bermuda Alliance’s election victory
• November 2013: Sandys 360 closes its doors because of financial difficulties
• December 11, 2013: Mr Moniz is replaced at public works by Patricia Gordon-Pamplin
• March 2014: Sandys 360 board member Stanley Lee reveals that KPMG is conducting a financial review of the centre and says its report is expected by month end
• January 15, 2015: Craig Cannonier replaces Ms Gordon-Pamplin as works minister
• July 2015: Sandys 360 managing director Melvyn Bassett tells The Royal Gazette that KPMG has finished its review
• December 2, 2015: Asked for a copy of the KPMG report, Mr Lee tells the newspaper: “Maybe you should approach Government for a copy of the report, since they initiated the process.”
• December 10, 2015: The Royal Gazette submits a Pati request for the KPMG report to the Department of Public Lands and Buildings
• February 10, 2016: The department refuses the request. It says: “In respect of the KPMG report, you may wish to make the request directly to the trustees of Sandys 360, as they are the holder of the record. The KPMG report ... was commissioned by the trustees of Sandys 360. It was not commissioned by this department.”
• March 2016: Mr Cannonier announces $1 million has been allocated in the budget to buy Sandys 360
• April 5, 2016: Marva O’Brien, then the public works permanent secretary, upholds the refusal to disclose. She writes: “The report was prepared for KPMG’s client, the trustees of Sandys Secondary School.”
• April 19, 2016: The Royal Gazette asks the Information Commissioner’s Office to review the decision
• December 16, 2016: the Department of Public Lands and Buildings provides the ICO with a copy of the KPMG report
• July 18, 2017: The Progressive Labour Party wins the General Election.
• February 28, 2018: The Royal Gazette reveals that Sandys 360 cost taxpayers at least $5.3 million — $1 million towards its construction costs and $4.3 million in further payments
• March 2, 2018: The Royal Gazette reveals that BCM McAlpine is still owed more than $1 million from the Sandys 360 trustees. Mr Cannonier tells the House of Assembly “we don’t even need to get into all of that stuff” about how much public money was spent. He says of the KPMG report: “People were coming to me at the time saying ‘they are not giving up their financials’ and the likes. Completely unnecessary for people to carry on in that manner when we were seeking out an opportunity to save that area.”
• March 2018: Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, tells MPs that HSBC is prepared to take $1 million as “full and final settlement” of the $9.24 million it is still owed by the trustees of Sandys Secondary Middle School
• May 27, 2019: Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez orders the Department of Public Lands and Buildings to release the KPMG report and to make a decision on whether to release records showing all payments made from the public purse to Sandys 360 by July 8. The Government has six months to seek a judicial review of her order
• July 5, 2019: Colonel Burch tells Parliament the report will not be released.

2019. July 13. The decision to not release a report into a failed sports centre was based on advice from the Attorney-General's Chambers, the public works minister told MPs. Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch said: “I’m not making decisions of this nature on my own. The Attorney-General’s Chambers of this island are the ones who actually gave the advice not to release the report.” Gitanjali Gutierrez, the Information Commissioner, ordered the Department of Public Lands and Buildings to release the report on Sandys 360 by professional services firm KPMG into the project to The Royal Gazette by July 8. Colonel Burch told MPs last Friday that the Government disagreed with her decision and had advised her “that we will not release the KPMG report, as it was not commissioned by, nor is it the property of” the department. Trevor Moniz, a One Bermuda Alliance backbencher, criticized Colonel Burch over the decision during last Friday’s motion to adjourn debate. He accused Colonel Burch of a “scurrilous attack” on Ms Gutierrez and said that the public works minister got his “law entirely mixed up” and was not supposed to get involved with Pati requests. Colonel Burch last night highlighted a comment made by Mr Moniz, the works minister when Sandys 360 was shuttered, that Mr Moniz was “familiar with the content of the report”. He asked: “If the Honourable Member was aware of the contents of the report ... why didn’t he release it?” Colonel Burch said that he had not seen nor read the report. He added: “A report that was not commissioned or paid for by the Government of Bermuda, in my mind, doesn’t give us the authority to release it to anyone.” Taxpayers funded Sandys 360 to the tune of at least $5.3 million before it closed its doors because of financial problems in November 2013. Michael Scott, a Progressive Labour Party backbencher, said that he was concerned about “weaponising information” obtained through Pati laws. He added: “This is a deepening and frequent methodology being deployed across all media in the world, and we’re not exempt from it. And my major concern has been the misuse of information.” The Royal Gazette has also requested information through Pati that deals with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, the government body set up to compensate victims of crime. Mr Scott, who sits on the CICB, said that Pati “must not be used to inquire into sensitive information, that is concerned with the kinds of cases we deal with, in a legal context, about persons making applications for compensation”. He added that he and Puisne Judge Nicole Stoneham, the chairwoman of the CICB, “were not going to get caught up in bait on the part of the media for the release of all manner of inappropriate information related to CICB”. The Pati request from The Royal Gazette asked for the annual reports for the CICB for the years 2010 through 2018, and the annual notices listing the board members of the CICB for the same period.

2019. July 12. The Government’s refusal to release a financial report into a failed sports centre that cost taxpayers millions of dollars could end up in court. Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez told the Department of Public Lands and Buildings to disclose the report on Sandys 360 by audit firm KPMG to The Royal Gazette by July 8, but it did not comply with her order. Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, told Parliament last Friday that the Government disagreed with her decision and had advised her “that we will not release the KPMG report, as it was not commissioned by, nor is it the property of”, the department. Ms Gutierrez said this week that she would follow the normal procedures set out in the Information Commissioner’s Office Reviews Policy and Handbook to enforce her decision, as with any other case. The handbook states that if a public authority tells the ICO in writing it does not intend to comply with a decision, the commissioner “may move immediately to judicial proceedings to enforce the decision at the expiry of the deadline for compliance”. If the public authority does not give written notice, the ICO can send reminder letters to the head of the public authority, which in this case is the permanent secretary of public works, allowing a further 15 days to satisfy the order. “Where appropriate, the Information Commissioner may discuss the matter with the ICO’s legal counsel and instruct them to initiate judicial enforcement proceedings,” states the handbook. It adds that public authorities which object to a decision from the commissioner can seek a judicial review. Taxpayers funded Sandys 360 to the tune of at least $5.3 million, and possibly even more, before it closed its doors because of financial problems in November 2013. Although Colonel Burch referred to the KPMG document in the House of Assembly as the “2016 financial report” it was actually completed in 2014. The Royal Gazette asked Sandys 360 managing director Melvyn Bassett and chairman Stanley Lee on December 1, 2015 for the report’s conclusions. Mr Lee replied the next day: “Maybe you should approach Government for a copy of the report, since they initiated the process.” His suggestion prompted the newspaper’s Pati request for the report, submitted soon after to the Government. Ms Gutierrez issued her decision ordering the release of the KPMG report on May 27 this year. Opposition MP Trevor Moniz took Colonel Burch to task for his statement on Sandys 360 during last Friday’s motion to adjourn debate. He accused the minister of launching a “scurrilous attack” on Ms Gutierrez and said Colonel Burch had got his “law entirely mixed up” and was not supposed to get involved with Pati requests." If the Information Commissioner rules that a document be released, it must be released,” Mr Moniz said. “An order of the Information Commissioner … has the same weight as an order of the Supreme Court. Government is bound by that order.” Mr Moniz was works minister when Sandys 360 was shuttered. He told The Royal Gazette last year that the Government ceased all payments to the centre after the KPMG report showed the state of its finances. He told MPs on Friday: “If it’s a report that I commissioned, I see no reason why it can’t be released.”

2019. July 5. Minister of Public Works Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch announced today that he will not release a report into the finances of the failed sports centre Sandys 360. The Government had been ordered by Gitanjali Gutierrez, the Information Commissioner, to release by Monday the report by audit firm KPMG into the project which cost taxpayers millions of dollars. But Colonel Burch told the House of Assembly that the Government did not agree with Ms Gutierrez’s decision. The minister — who referred to Ms Gutierrez by her married name — said: “I must say that it appears to me that the information commissioner Mrs Minors is going out of her way to provide all manner of support to the daily.” He added Ms Gutierrez had said: “Government has provided limited rational and factual information concerning its decision-making around Sandys 360, primarily provided during Parliamentary debate.” Colonel Burch said: “Such a cavalier dismissal of the proceedings of this House should be as offensive to the other 35 members as it is to me.” He said he had outlined Government’s decision to purchase the property in March last year. Colonel Burch added: “It was a comprehensive, fulsome and compelling rationale and reasoning for doing so, which is generally supported by the Opposition.” He said that Ms Gutierrez had been told that the report would not be released “as it was not commissioned by, nor is it the property of, the Department of Public Lands and Buildings”. Colonel Burch said that “a number of legal hurdles” had not allowed the sale of the property to take place. He added: “Once there is a final resolution I will report further to the House.” Taxpayers funded Sandys 360 to the tune of at least $5.3 million, and possibly more, before it closed its doors because of financial problems in November 2013. Ms Gutierrez said in May: “Disclosure of the KPMG report will undoubtedly close the knowledge gap in a number of areas for the public concerning the spending and decision-making related to Sandys 360.” The KPMG report was commissioned by the trustees of Sandys Secondary Middle School, who own the freehold of Sandys 360, after the short-lived West End sports centre closed down just four years after it opened. The Department of Public Lands and Buildings rejected a public access to information request from The Royal Gazette for the document in February 2016, when the One Bermuda Alliance was in power, on the ground that it was exempted from disclosure because it was provided in confidence. The Gazette appealed the decision to the information commissioner and, during her review, KPMG and the school trustees also objected to the report’s release. But Ms Gutierrez decided there was “no express communication or understanding that the report was given in confidence to, and would be kept confidential by, the department or Government”. She said: “With respect to the actions the Government may have taken, KPMG and the trustees reasonably could have expected any number of circumstances to have arisen which would have led to public disclosure of some or all of the KPMG report. This includes disclosure during public consultation on the options concerning Sandys 360, in connection with the parliamentary debate on a decision to purchase the land and buildings, and so on. Both KPMG and the trustees were aware they were negotiating with a public body, and that the processes applicable to a public body’s financial commitments of this nature may be subject to future consideration or inquiry.” The commissioner said release of the report would be in line with the reasons behind the Pati Act, which included the promotion of accountability for public spending and government decision-making. Ms Gutierrez also ordered the department to issue a decision on whether it would share records about payments made to Sandys 360 and the amount the centre owed the Government.

2019. June 3. The Government has been ordered to make public a report into the finances of a failed sports centre that cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Information commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez, in a decision due to be released today, told the Department of Public Lands and Buildings to provide The Royal Gazette with a copy of the report by audit firm KPMG by July 8. Taxpayers funded Sandys 360 to the tune of at least $5.3 million, and possibly even more, before it closed its doors because of financial problems in November 2013. Ms Gutierrez, noting that the Government is now in the process of buying the centre for $1 million from the trustees of Sandys Secondary Middle School, said: “The Government has provided limited rationale and factual information concerning its decision-making around Sandys 360, primarily provided during parliamentary debate. The public has not received, for example, an executive summary of any assessment, factual information provided in advance of a town [hall] meeting or consultation period, and so on Disclosure of the KPMG report will undoubtedly close the knowledge gap in a number of areas for the public concerning the spending and decision-making related to Sandys 360.” The KPMG report was commissioned by the trustees of the middle school, who own the freehold of Sandys 360, after the short-lived West End sports centre closed down just four years after opening. The report was passed to the Government but was never made public. The Department of Public Lands and Buildings rejected a public access to information request from The Royal Gazette for the document in February 2016, claiming it was exempt from disclosure because it was provided in confidence. The newspaper appealed the decision to the information commissioner and, during her review, KPMG and the school trustees also objected to the report’s release. But Ms Gutierrez concluded there was “no express communication or understanding that the report was given in confidence to, and would be kept confidential by, the department or Government”. She said: “With respect to the actions the Government may have taken, KPMG and the trustees reasonably could have expected any number of circumstances to have arisen which would have led to public disclosure of some or all of the KPMG report. This includes disclosure during public consultation on the options concerning Sandys 360, in connection with the parliamentary debate on a decision to purchase the land and buildings, and so on. Both KPMG and the trustees were aware they were negotiating with a public body, and that the processes applicable to a public body’s financial commitments of this nature may be subject to future consideration or inquiry.” The commissioner said releasing the report would further the purposes set out in part 2 of the Pati Act, which included promoting accountability for public spending and government decision-making. Ms Gutierrez also ordered the department to issue a decision on whether it would share records about payments made to Sandys 360 from the public purse and the amount the centre owes the Government.

2019. January 3. Taxpayers’ money was poured into the failed Sandys 360 sports centre even after its management stopped payment of social insurance contributions and land tax, The Royal Gazette can reveal. Gitanjali Gutierrez, the information commissioner, scrutinized documents that showed cash owed by the centre in a review of the Ministry of Finance’s refusal to release the records under the public access to information law. Ms Gutierrez said in a decision due to be made public today: “Weighty public interest considerations in this case favour disclosure of the social insurance contribution and land tax amounts owed.” She ordered the finance ministry to release the records by February 7. Ms Gutierrez said: “Public accountability concerning public spending and decision-making is a primary purpose set out in section 2 of the Pati Act. The information commissioner agrees with the position that in light of the substantial amount of public funding involved, disclosure would increase the accountability of the ministry. It would show that public funding was still being given to Sandys 360 when the Government was aware that the company and the Sandys 360 board of trustees were in arrears for social insurance contributions and land tax payments. Disclosure of the actual amounts will allow the public to make informed assessments of the spending decisions made with public funds.” At least $5.3 million of public money was given to Sandys 360 between 2007 and 2013. That included a duplicate payment of $807,000 made “in error” which was never paid back to the Government. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were also donated by the corporate sector and the public. The sports centre closed at the end of 2013 after it ran out of money. The Royal Gazette submitted a Pati request to the Ministry of Finance in February 2016 that asked for a list of Sandys 360’s debts to the Government, including a total figure and details of any attempts to recover the money. The ministry confirmed it was still owed the $807,000 and revealed that Sandys 360 was “in debt to Government for payroll taxes, land tax and social insurance contributions”. But it refused to release the amounts owed and insisted the information was exempt under Pati. A review of the decision by Anthony Manders, the financial secretary, agreed. He wrote: “It has been a longstanding policy of the ministry to not publicly disclose amounts owed to Government by entities.” Ms Gutierrez ruled that the Government could withhold information on payroll tax arrears because of a secrecy provision in the Taxes Management Act 1976. But the information commissioner said there was no reason to withhold the records on land tax and social insurance contributions. Ms Gutierrez wrote: “The ministry suggests that information that has been previously held secret as a matter of government custom, rather than as a legislative requirement, should remain secret even after the enactment of the Pati Act. The information commissioner cannot accept this claim. As part of the good governance reforms in the public service to promote transparency and improve accountability, information previously protected as a matter of policy or practice within government is precisely the type of information to which the Pati Act now provides the public access, unless it properly falls within a listed exemption.” The information commissioner said that “contrary to the assertion of a longstanding confidentiality policy concerning social insurance contributions”, the Government had encouraged people to check if their employers were up to date on payments with the Department of Social Insurance. She pointed out that the public had asked for the aggregate amount of these individual figures for Sandys 360. Ms Gutierrez highlighted a claim by the finance ministry that it held no records on its attempts to recover the funds owed and revealed that she had reviewed relevant documents, which had been withheld from The Royal Gazette. She quashed the ministry’s decision in relation to its attempts to recover the money owed and ordered it to issue a “new, accurate and complete” response to that part of the Pati request, also by February 7. A government spokeswoman said last night that it had seen Ms Gutierrez’s decision and would “take the appropriate actions as required by the Pati Act”.

2018. March 24. The Senate approved the purchase of the failed Sandys 360 sports centre for $1 million yesterday. The Purchase and Sale Agreement Between the Trustees of Sandys Secondary Middle School and the Government of Bermuda was passed with no objections. Andrew Simons, of the One Bermuda Alliance, and James Jardine, an independent, did raise questions about the future management of the centre and liability for unpaid wages. Mr Simons said there had been a “sad legacy of mismanagement”. He added that the building’s life span was also limited to as short as ten years because it is made of metal. Mr Simons also pointed out Sandys 360, which closed in 2013 after it was unable to pay its way, was within walking distance of another community centre. Anthony Richardson, Progressive Labour Party, said the Government had made no decision on who would manage or operate the centre. He agreed that there were other community centres in the area and that consolidation could be explored. Vance Campbell, also of the PLP, said a report on the financial state of the centre by professional services firm KPMG was not commissioned by the Government and therefore it did not have the authority to release it. The education ministry provided $1 million towards the centre’s construction costs and, according to disclosures made to The Royal Gazette by the Ministry of Finance under public access to information legislation, further payments from the public purse totaled $4.3 million.

Sandys Boat Club

In sheltered Mangrove Bay, at Mangrove Bay Road, Somerset. Accepts new members. Telephone 234 2248. With members club liquor license.

Sandys Community Centre

Springfield & Boaz Island, 29 Somerset Road, MA 03. Telephone 234-1275. Fax 234-5652. Bermuda Government's Youth, Sport and Recreation

Sandys Parish Council

Appointed under the Parish Councils Act 1971. See under "Parish Councils" in Bermuda Government Boards. Appointees are political and meetings are not open to the public, unlike in the United Kingdom, Canada and USA where parish or community councils always are.

Seafarers' Centre

Dockyard, behind Media Lounge Cinema, managed by its owners the Bermuda Sailors Home, Serpentine Road, Hamilton. Since August 2019. It was designed to give crews from visiting ships the chance to sit down, go online and communicate with their families overseas. Many of them leave home for long periods of time, most have wives, husbands and children. They miss important and significant milestones like anniversaries, birthdays and sometimes even the birth of their children. Having a facility where they can come ashore and feel a bit at home is important. More and more ports overseas offer a similar service. In  Bermuda during the summer season, there are many cruise ship crews on the island. 2020 is the first year of operation and Covid 19 has meant all cruise visits have been canceled until at least August. It is hoped that the centre can be funded for every cruise season. It is quite a financial commitment. The Mission to Seafarers, an international charity that serves merchant crews, financed it until October 2019.

Skeeters Bay and Skeeters Corner

Where  Daniel's Head Road meets Long Bay Lane. Where in October 1878  the notorious nineteenth-century murder of the 41-year old black woman Anna Skeeters took place. Her husband Edward James Skeeters was known as chronically unfaithful, one who reacted violently on the occasions when his long-suffering wife was driven to protest his philandering ways. When, after a church service, she disappeared, her friends and neighbours pointed the finger at him but he claimed he was innocent. But exactly a week after Anna's disappearance a small group of men, including Anna's brother, John Evans, a seaman on HMS Spitfire, gathered on the heights above the windswept bay near the cottage and noticed a curious phenomenon. White-tipped waves were racing across the bay, unsettling its surface, except in one spot on the reef, which was much calmer than the surrounding froth. The onlookers, seasoned sailors and fishermen, knew that something unusual in the depths of the Blue Channel was responsible for the eerie sight. On Wednesday, when the high winds finally subsided, a small group of men rowed out to the site of the slick. They brought nets and homemade grappling lines made of rope and fishhooks in order to drag the six-fathom-deep waters. 

After several laborious passes, they finally snagged and brought up a gruesome bundle: a skeleton to which still clung some slimy shards of stinking flesh, but that lacked the bones of head, arms and feet. The grisly remains had been anchored to the bottom with rope and an 80-pound stone, whose lack of barnacles indicated it came from land. Similar stones from an old wharf littered the nearby shore close to Edward Skeeters's mooring spot, and there had been a moon starting about 3:00 a.m. on the night of Anna's disappearance. There had been sufficient light for someone to row out and dump a body without a telltale lantern. Anna's sunken corpse was brought initially to the Skeeters cottage after being fished out. The authorities asked Captain Moresby, the British naval officer commanding the Dockyard, to send divers from HMS Terror to the site. One brought up underclothing, including a petticoat (later identified by its distinctive seaming as Anna's), as well as a large hank of her grey-sprinkled hair, still twisted into the knot she had worn that evening at church. Edward Skeeters was speedily charged with his wife's murder. By now, he was already in the Hamilton Gaol near Court and Church streets, shut up there for his protection after a mob, made up largely of indignant women, had besieged the Somerset lockup, threatening to lynch him. In 1879, on July 2, Edward Skeeters of Somerset, earlier found guilty earlier of the murder of his wife Anna, was hanged.  The trial, held in Hamilton, had been sensational. Skeeters, through his court-appointed attorney, Solicitor General R. D. (Richard) Darrell, who was aided by prominent young local lawyer Reginald Gray, initially pleaded not guilty. 

The sorry story of Anna Skeeters's married life soon emerged in testimony for the Crown, with Samuel Brownlow Gray, the colony's Attorney General, as prosecutor. Anna, who worked as a washerwoman for a Somerset family, had been married to Skeeters for eight years and had a mentally challenged daughter by a much earlier relationship. The girl did not live with the couple despite Anna's affection for and frequent visits to her, and she seldom visited the Skeeters house. On several occasions, especially in the year before her death, an agitated Anna had fled the house for the night, telling her sheltering friends little about why she had left, though marks on her person told the tale in at least one instance. Friends and even in-laws testified that Anna Evans Skeeters was above all a nice quiet woman; too quiet...not quarrelsome at all. Yet even the pacific Anna had been driven to appeal to Magistrate Fowle for help on one occasion, when Skeeters had allegedly blackened her eye. However, in a day when a man's home was considered his castle and domestic violence was considered a private affair, Magistrate Fowle felt he could do little. For his part, Skeeters's own father testified that Edward had once knocked his wife to the ground in front of him. When the elder Skeeters remonstrated with his son, Edward replied that Anna was "his wife and he could treat her as he liked." The all-white jury took just 25 minutes to bring in a guilty verdict. A few days before his execution, Skeeters made a complete confession to the editor of a Bermuda paper, The Colonist, having spent his months in prison writing his account of events. The judge, donning the traditional black head covering, sentenced Edward Skeeters to death by hanging, declaring that he could only hope for mercy in heaven as there could be none for him on earth. 

The condemned man had earlier protested his innocence and was led away. Skeeters was hanged in the Hamilton Gaol yard, the area of the gallows blanketed with canvas to conceal it from the large crowd gathered nearby. Skeeters went to the gallows calmly, even reciting a poem on the scaffold about his fate, which ended with a mawkish invocation of his heartbroken mother: "Tell her that her prayer is granted/God has pardoned her darling boy." A few days before his execution, Skeeters made a complete confession to the editor of the Bermuda paper, The Colonist, having spent his months in prison writing his account of events. He claimed the murder had been precipitated by the fact that he had thrown a lit oil lamp at Anna when she had reproached him and he was afraid that she would once again go the magistrate to show the burns on her forehead and scalp. Accordingly, he choked her to death. Skeeters chillingly added that he had reluctantly completed the murder some 10 minutes after the initial strangulation when he discovered Anna still breathing as he prepared to rid himself of her body. He admitted that he was astounded when her submerged remains were recovered after he had drowned her.  He had mistakenly thought  the sea would hide her "till the great day of judgment." When Edward Skeeters's hanged body was buried on Burt's Island in Hamilton Harbour (where several other executed criminals also lie), the stone that he had used to sink Anna's body was used as his headstone. The case had other Gothic overtones. During the search for Anna, neighbours had consulted a local witch for clues as the police investigation faltered. Fatefully, both Skeeters's sexual partner, Hannah Morris, and her infant died in childbirth the month after he was arrested. The night Edward was hanged, a group of arsonists torched the Skeeters cottage, burning it to the ground. 

Much later, Terry Tucker used the case to write her haunting 1972 historical novel "What's Become of Anna." Sadly, Tucker felt that she had to transform the middle-aged Anna into a more marketable twenty-something young wife, as if only young and pretty women were abused. Moreover, Tucker's dramatic account is disfigured with racial condescension toward blacks, especially black men. Nonetheless, Tucker penned a powerful tale. The Royal Gazette had earlier carried an account of the trial in the spring of 1879, and a copy of Skeeters's confession, "The Somerset Mystery", published in booklet form in 1879 by S. S. Toddings, editor of the Bermuda Colonist. 

St. James's Church

Somerset Road. The parish Anglican (Episcopalian) church, on the Somerset Road. with an interesting church history. Bus routes # 7 (Dockyard) and # 8 stop on Somerset Road, at the junction with Church Valley Lane (left) and Scotts Hill Road (right). You'll see the church's spire on the left, if you're traveling west. It was destroyed by a hurricane in 1780 and rebuilt. mostly in Bermuda limestone. Has a landmark graceful spire, sweeping driveway and imposing entrance. Was regularly attended by some US Navy sailors and airmen from the Navy base not far away until it closed in 1995. Also the place of burial of Bermuda-based US Navy aviators when their aircraft crashed off Bermuda in the 1940s and 1950s.

Somerset Bridge

Noted by the Guinness Book of Records as) the world's smallest drawbridge, officially designated under Bermuda law as an Historic Monument. Officially now a Grade HM, which refers to buildings which are of a level of historic significance and structural interest that makes them of historic importance. Such buildings are considered to be integral to Bermuda's history and to its cultural tourism, and so alterations are avoided and restoration is undertaken on a like-for-like basis. 

An iconic structure in Bermuda, emblematically Bermudian and appears on the back of a Bermudian $5 note. Its listing it as a Grade HM or Historic Monument Listed Building ensures the protection of the structure for years to come. A nice scenic Bermuda beauty spot. Of the three photographs above, the top one - from a 1950s post card - gives the best idea of the magnificent scenery behind and in front. The large middle photo indicates what it is like today, more built up but still charming and well worth a stop to admire it. The bridge connects Somerset Island to the westernmost part of main island. The bridge serves two purposes three purposes.  

It is where Middle Road ends and Somerset Road begins. It is the picturesque crossing for commuters and tourists to go by road or ferry to Somerset, Dockyard or City of Hamilton and beyond. Bus routes # 7 and # 8 and the ferry stop here. It is also the divide between the two bodies of open water, the Great Sound going east and lovely Ely's Harbour going north. Sections 1 and 2 of the Bermuda Railway Trail meet near here.  The bottom larger photo is on the bridge itself. This is an example of the simplest form of drawbridge, in which a timber panel is removed from the center of the bridge to allow the mast of a sailing vessel to pass through the 32-inch plank, with not much room to spare. The drawbridge was first built in 1620. When operators of small boats entered the channel, the drawbridge, the world's smallest, was cranked open by hand. 

The modern version, rebuilt only a few years ago, has two propped cantilever decks, which do not meet in the middle, with reinforced concrete internal props and timber external props. The cantilevered load is balanced by a reinforced concrete abutment slab which acts as a counterweight. The drawbridge is on the $20 Bermuda dollar bill. Look left for Cathedral Rocks, named for a medieval cathedral. In 1961, a silver charm of Somerset Bridge was issued by a local jeweler, as a tourist and visitor souvenir

Somerset Cricket Club

A prominent local and island-wide sporting club. One of the oldest Bermuda cricket clubs, one of the two (St. George's Cricket Club in the parish by that name is the other) that features in the annual Cup Match classic at the end of July or beginning of August. It is important to the local social scene that it marks and is the highlight of a 2-day Cup Match public holiday and involves huge crowds. It is played either here or in St. George's. 

Somerset Island Military Cemetery

Mangrove Bay road,  Sandy's Parish, Somerset, on the north side.  GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 32.30459. Longitude: -64.85993. Open to the public. On the right of the main road when traveling from Somerset Village to Dockyard, just before reaching Watford Bridge. This cemetery is a tranquil 2.24 acre spot looking out to Mangrove Bay. This so-called ‘new military cemetery at Somerset’ was consecrated in 1905. Nearby there is a monument to the memory of soldiers from the 4th Battalion British West Indies Regiment, who died in Bermuda of pneumonia in 1916; it used to be next to a small chapel which has since been demolished. There are only 21 visible graves but records indicate that many more people are buried at this site. The The earliest remaining memorial is dated 1904 and the most recent is shown as 1918. Of the 21 visible graves, 13 of the headstones are the British Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstones commemorating soldiers who died in service during the First World War, 1914-1918. The Bermuda National Trust erected a small wall around the cemetery in 1986 which helps to mark the area. 

Somerset Long Bay 

Superb beach. 

Somerset Long Bay East 

Somerset Long Bay Nature Reserve. Officially opened on April 22, 2007 by then-Deputy Premier and Minister of Finance, the Hon Paula Cox, JP, MP. It includes Pitman's Pond. It is adjacent to Somerset Long Bay Beach (see under "Beaches"). Parking is available at Somerset Long Bay parking lot on Cambridge Road between Cambridge Beaches and Nine Beaches. The first property brought by Buy Back Bermuda. A freshwater pond, a prime place for many migratory birds. In March 2020 this West nature reserve scheduled a makeover. The Bermuda Audubon Society said a “major restoration project” was launched to tackle vines and cow cane that had overrun the reserve. The vines had completely smothered and killed a number of mature trees on the south side of the reserve including black mangrove, red mulberry and hackberry. In phase one of the project, the vines and dead trees were removed, surviving trees have been cleared of vines and the cow cane has been cut down. A number of other invasive species such as Chinese fan palms and Pride of India, have also been removed. A maintenance programme will be put in place to ensure the invasive species do not take over again if funding can be found. The reserve will remain a wildlife refuge, with restricted access, but the pond can be viewed from the perimeter fence. The Somerset Long Bay Nature Reserve was taken over by the Audubon Society in the early 1970s. The organisation restored a marsh on the site that was filled in with garbage in the early 20th century. The society re-excavated the pond, leaving islands where healthy stands of mangrove had survived. After the pond was deepened in 1979 to prevent it being choked by Sheathed Paspalum grass, it developed a rich freshwater marsh community. Because of its location on the north-west tip of Bermuda, newly arrived migrants, including rarities, are often first spotted here. Moorhens, coots, pied-billed grebes and yellow-crowned night herons have all nested in the reserve and purple gallinule are often seen in the area.

Somerset Long Bay Pond

A large pond in the Somerset Long Bay area. As a wetland area, it has been the cause of concern. There is a potential threat of pollution from rain runoff, from Long Bay Lane, for pollutants such as diesel, transmission oil, etc. Also because of former use of pond area as a garbage dump, metal pollutants such as lead and iron may be present as leachate in the pond. Increased residential and tourism development in area poses potential for cesspit seepage of nutrients into the pond, although there is no significant evidence for this at this time. This pond is separated from the ocean only by low sand dunes therefore the storm or tidal surge experienced during hurricanes, such as that experienced during hurricane  “Emily” in 1987, can flood it with sea water, destroying or disrupting the freshwater ecosystem of the pond for many moths. The sea flooding experienced during Emily disrupted the breeding of water birds such as gallinules and American coots. It was many months before the salt water seeped out of the pond. Recently, illegal activities such as long-term camping and motor cycle/ motor-cross “scrambling” have taken place on the reserve in close proximity to the pond. Trash  has occasionally been blown or dumped into the pond in small quantities from the camping while the motor-cross usage carries the potential for fuel or oil leaks or spill that could pollute the pond. Stolen motorcycles have also been occasionally dumped in the pond resulting in small spills of gasoline; however these normally disperse quickly. 

Somerset Village

A key village in the Parish. Facilities include shopping from branch stores of several local merchants, some nice restaurants and coastal scenes. It takes its name from the county of Somerset in England (as does the area called Somerset near Johnstown in Pennsylvania, USA). In 1962, Cary Grant and Doris Day filmed a small part of "That Touch of Mink" here. But they were wrong when they said that only Bermuda has pink peaches (Scotland and the Bahamas have them also). Scenic parts of Mangrove Bay are a short walk.

Photograph left by Keith A. Forbes

Springfield and Gilbert Nature Reserve

Somerset Road, Somerset. These are adjacent attractions. Springfield, an historic Bermuda mansion an early 17th century architectural treasure, dates back to the 1740s when it was owned by the Gilbert family. When it was constructed by Ephraim and Mary Gilbert it consisted of a range of three rooms in the wing that is now fronted by the long veranda, a hall, an entrance passage, Bermuda cedar porch and a chamber. Under the front three rooms was a large cellar. Mr Gilbert died in about 1769 and Springfield was inherited by his eldest son Thomas. He followed in his father’s footsteps as Captain of the Sandys Militia and in 1788 the property was valued at £500, the second highest in the parish. The house was passed down from one generation to the next and slowly expanded to become a much more substantial property. In 1966 the Bermuda Historical Monuments Trust bought the house and it later passed to its successor, the Bermuda National Trust (BNT). The Bermuda Government leased it and It went on to serve as a library, a nursery school and a community centre before being returned to the trust in 2013.  It is in the process of being spruced up by the BNT, with both the main house and adjacent cottages slated to be rented out by the BNT. It is an early 18th century architectural treasure. A main house, courtyard, slave quarters and large buttery indicate it was once a large plantation. The Gilbert Nature Reserve is over nine acres of unspoiled woodland, open space and planting land, originally part of the Springfield property. Reforestation is ongoing at this site and semi mature specimens of Bermuda cedar, olive wood and palmetto are easily observed. Bus routes # 7 ("Dockyard") and # 8 stop on Somerset Road at the entrance to the Gilbert Nature Reserve.

Supermarkets in the Parish

Main one is Market Place, Somerset Road. 

Bus route 7 which will drop you nearby, not as frequently on a Sunday. Most supermarkets are open every day, Sunday 1 pm to 6 pm. 

Unlike in the UK and USA, liquor cannot be bought on Sunday. 

Be prepared and budget in advance for Bermuda food and other prices. Store prices are very high compared to USA. 

The Star of India

Dockyard. A Bermuda Government owned historic property built by the Royal Navy in the mid-1930s originally as a bowling alley ror ratings, turned into a club for navy families in 1970. Wedco has refurbished the building, adding a new kitchen, bathrooms, air conditioning, new windows and doors. It has 1,630 square feet of open space and made it available to commercial entities.

Virginia Park

Added to the Bermuda National Parks system in the latter part of the year 2000. It has 3.00 hectares or 7.43 acres.

Visitors Information Centres  (VIC)

• Formerly the Visitors Service Bureau. Phone (441) 296-9400. Three centres, when cruise ships are docked, one each at
•  Heritage Wharf pier; 
• just outside King's Wharf pier; 
• and at the ferry dock. Offer a friendly, free, quite comprehensive tourist brochures, information services, maps and more to walk-in visitors. Hours: 9 am to 4 pm Monday-Saturday. Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, Good Friday.

Watford Bridge & ferry dock

1903. September 24. The formal opening of the first Watford Island Bridge, begun in 1901, completed in 1902, in heavy rain. Many Bermudian families of today in Somerset first came to Bermuda to be employed on the construction of the South Yard and the bridge. The structure had been started in August 1901 and eventually spanned the 450 feet of the channel. Great cast-iron cylinders were sunk into bedrock and filled with concrete. Some 3,000 tons of local stone, 200 tons of cement and 55 tons of granite were required for the works, along with 433 tons of steel for the bridgework and central swinging span. Before that, a horse ferry, a flat-bottomed boat that could accommodate a horse and carriage had been the only way to cross the channel. “The bright smart-looking khaki of the soldiers quickly assumed the appearance of brown paper; many pretty dresses became limp and bedraggled, and clung affectionately to their fair owners.” But the weather cleared for the opening of what was considered the crowning structure in the work of providing continuous overland communication throughout Bermuda following the completion of the Causeway at St. George’s Parish in 1871. The people of Somerset had constructed a triumphal arch at their end of bridge and a great crowd gathered. The Governor, Sir Henry LeGuay Geary, KCB, pressed an electric bell and the swing span opened to allow a procession of boats, including as passengers all the schoolchildren of Somerset, to enter Mangrove Bay. This particular Watford Island Bridge lasted for 54 years.

This bridge, now the third, was named after Watford, Ireland, not the English town in Hertfordshire as has long been claimed. It connects Somerset Island with Watford Island, Boaz Island, Ireland Island and the Royal Naval Dockyard. Sea views are marvelous. Bus routes # 7 ("Dockyard") and # 8 stop in the immediate area. There's also the Watford Bridge ferry stop, on the Royal Naval Dockyard to city of Hamilton route. See a British historic military cemetery on nearby Watford Island and another one near this bridge. In 1958 the bridge was rebuilt to provide fishing and pleasure boats a shorter trip to and from the West End. The first bridge was conceived in 1887 after a great storm cut communication between Somerset and the Royal Naval islands of Watford, Boaz and Ireland Islands. It accentuated the need for a bridge. In 1902, a bridge to the mainland, begin in 1901 and formally opened in September 1903, finally spanned the Watford gap. Prior to 1900, a “horse ferry”, being a small flat-bottomed boat that could accommodate a horse and carriage, traversed the channel. It eventually spanned the 450 feet of the channel. Great cast-iron cylinders were sunk into bedrock and filled with concrete. Some 3,000 tons of local stone, 200 tons of cement and 55 tons of granite were required for the works, along with 433 tons of steel for the bridgework and central swinging span. The original bridge lasted for 54 years; its replacement from 1957, a mere 23 years. The present Watford Bridge, minus the Island, was built in 1982, and claims to be “one of the most successful tributes to the use of galvanizing in civil engineering.” It is supposed to have a “design life” of 120 years.

Watford Bridge Ferry Dock. Watford Bridge, Mangrove May Road, Sandys. Serves residents and visitors. On the Dockyard to Hamilton Route. 

Watford Island Military Cemetery

Malabar road, Sandys. A small military cemetery created on Watford Island in 1887 as a graveyard for soldiers and their families. Earlier in the century the whole island had been used as a burial ground for the dead of the army of convict labour that built Dockyard between 1824 and 1863. They lived in rotting hulks of ships moored just offshore, in crowded and filthy conditions; the mortality rate from dysentery and yellow fever was high. Convicts were buried in the Glade, Ireland Island until 1849 when it seemed to be filling up. Then Watford Island was used to bury dead convicts and convict officers. In 1855 it was reported that the island had received 458 bodies and was almost full. For the remaining years of convict labour those who died were buried on Long Island. Perhaps because their graves were usually marked with wooden crosses, tablets commemorating individual convicts are rare. In 1925 the remaining few memorials were taken from other parts of the island and placed together along the north-eastern wall of the military cemetery. On November 5th, 2004 the remains of five men, found exposed after Hurricane Fabian, were reburied in a single grave within the walled cemetery. The military memorials date from 1888 to 1899, with the addition in 1980 of the Queen’s Regiment monument of 1866, relocated from Boaz Island. The burials included several children and four young Grenadier guardsmen who died in 1890 or 1891 during the 2nd Battalion’s year-long stay.

West End Development Corporation (Wedco)

See http://www.thewestend.bm. A government quango, formed to redevelop the former Royal Navy Dockyard). P. O. Box 415, Somerset, Mangrove Bay MA BX. Phone (441) 234-1709. Fax 234-3411. E-mail marketing@wedco.bm. Dockyard. Established in 1982 to manage and develop 214 acres of Government-owned land in the West End, including Watford Island, Boaz Island, Ireland Island South and North, the small islands forming the Crawl off Ireland South and the North and South basins and breakwaters. Revenue is generated from residential and commercial tenants plus berthing fees from the commercial and cruise ship docks. Mega cruise ships now dock near there. Recent work carried out by Wedco at Dockyard includes the installation of a reverse osmosis plant, the relocation of the marina and the development of ten residential units. Future planned developments include the Victualling Yard, Casemates, the South Basin and the Parsonage.  

Westgate Correctional Facility

Dockyard. Not a tourist attraction, instead Bermuda's main prison, built on former Royal Navy land. It replaced Casemates. Here is where Bermuda's criminals are imprisoned, including US, Canadian, Bermudian, British/UK and other nationals convicted of drug-related and other offences.

Drone flights ban: A 150 metre circle around Westgate Facility, with the centre being 32°19’28.8”N 64°50’17.4”W

2019. April 30. Westgate Correctional Facility has gone on “indefinite” lockdown, staffed by “a skeleton crew” after officers decided to work to rule in protest against conditions, the Minister of National Security said last night. Wayne Caines said the industrial action came after the Prison Officers Association met yesterday to discuss “working conditions and outstanding issues with reference to the prison service”. Prison officers imposed a lockdown last Friday after three officers were attacked by a group of prisoners. Now they have backed a work-to-rule, with no overtime — which means that prisoners will have limited recreation and visits. Education classes at Westgate will also be suspended. Mr Caines said the prison service would be supplemented by 18 police officers, who will transport prisoners to and from court appearances and for medical treatment outside the prison. About 20 soldiers from the Royal Bermuda Regiment are on standby to assist the police if needed. Mr Caines admitted: “This is not an ideal situation — that is why we want to get both sides to the table as quickly as possible.” He said: “Our hope is that, as soon as possible, clear heads prevail.” Mr Caines declined to give details of the assault and added that a file was being prepared for the Department of Public Prosecutions. He said prisoners “will not be able to leave their cells as freely as they were before the work-to- rule was implemented”. Mr Caines hoped that the association would “immediately” accept the invitation of the labour relations manager to hold talks to resolve their concerns. Thad Hollis, lead negotiator for the Prison Officers Association, told The Royal Gazette last month that officers at Westgate were under stress because of low staff numbers, and the lack of adequate training to deal with violent or mentally ill prisoners.

2019. April 27. Westgate prison was on lockdown yesterday after three officers, one of them a woman, were attacked by inmates, it was revealed last night. Prison officers locked inmates in their cells and took away visiting and recreation privileges after their colleagues were attacked yesterday morning. Wayne Caines, the national security minister, said: “The inmates involved in this incident have been put in segregation.” Mr Caines said one officer suffered minor facial injuries and had since returned to work. Another officer sustained a back injury and the third injured a knee. Both were treated at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital “as a precautionary measure”. Mr Caines said he was unable to say if a weapon was used in the attacks or how many prisoners were involved in the disturbance. He added that an investigation into the incident had been launched. Mr Caines said that extra security measures would be imposed at the prison if needed. He added: “This matter is under control. We have a contingency plan if things escalate. We do not believe they will escalate.” Mr Caines added that the safety and security of prison staff was a priority for his ministry. He said: “We believe that the protection of all of our officers in all of our facilities is paramount.” Mr Caines added: “We want to make sure that the officers involved in this are not only getting the support through treatment this afternoon, but making sure they are getting the necessary psychological help that they need directly after.” He admitted that the ageing Westgate facility had problems but that options were limited by budget constraints. He said: “We value our correctional officers. We understand that they work generally in a stressful environment. We will do whatever is necessary to make sure that they are safe and that the facilities they work in are put in their best state.” However, he admitted that upgrades were a work in progress and would not happen “overnight”. He said the prison’s alert system and CCTV coverage had been improved. Mr Caines added: “If there are any breakdowns in any of the security elements, we will look at it and it will remain our priority to make sure that our officers are covered and that their safety is paramount.” He said that he had met the Prison Officers Association six times and heard their concerns and that a plan was to be implemented to address them. Mr Caines added that acting Commissioner of Corrections Keeva-Mae Joell-Benjamin had drawn up a plan to tackle problems with the ageing buildings, security and how to deal with prisoners with mental health difficulties. He said national security officials were in talks with the Ministry of Health and the Bermuda Hospitals Board to try and set up a forensic mental health unit. Prison officers met last night after the attacks and the acting commissioner is expected to meet the Prison Officers Association on Monday. Officers from the prison system are also expected to hold a meeting next Friday, which was scheduled before yesterday’s attacks.

Willowbank Hotel & Conference Facility

126 Somerset Road, Sandys Parish MA 06, Bermuda. Established in 1960. 2017. March 24. Six years after it closed its doors, the Willowbank Hotel reopened in May. The 56-year-old hotel enjoys stunning ocean views in Sandys. The 64-room hotel closed in November 2011 during the economic downturn. It is a family-run Christian hotel, also a conference centre.  Has several beach areas.

Wreck Bay, Wreck Hill, Wreck House

So-named after a Flemish or Dutch ship went aground and sank off here in 1618. It created the original name of Flemish Hill. The captain of the ship had the English name of Powell and was a notorious Caribbean pirate. The buccaneer ship then had legal status as a privateer. It had sailed against the Spanish under a Letter of Marque by the Dutch prince Maurice of Orange, so was technically not a Flemish ship but a Dutch one. The British Government did not like the presence of Powell in Bermuda so Governor Miles Kendall banished him to a western Bermuda island now called Ireland Island. It was from there that Powell and his men tried to build a new ship. 

In 1777, Bermuda was invaded briefly by the USA. During the American Revolution, British militia soldiers manned the isolated 17th century battery near Wreck Hill.  The old fort had a strategic position protecting the West End Channel. It was one of the few passages through the dangerous ring of reefs for sailing ships. The soldiers at the fort had the presence of mind to exchange gunfire with two armed brigs that advanced in a threatening manner although they then flew British colors. The brigs, thought to include Bermudian expatriates familiar with local waters, answered with broadsides from their cannon, lowered their Union Jack flags, hoisted the red, white and blue striped ensign of the United States of America and proceeded to invade Bermuda with landing parties. To avoid meeting this much bigger force, the Bermuda based militia men retreated from the battery. The Americans spiked their guns and destroyed the walls of the fort but were forced to retreat themselves when more local soldiers and a Royal Navy detachment responded to the alarm. The Americans escaped on their ships in what became only the second time in the history of Bermuda that it was invaded.

In 1795, Wreck Hill was bought by the Admiralty's Royal Navy which considered the site an ideal one for a lighthouse. It was never built. The lighthouse built from 1840 at Gibb's Hill in Southampton Parish caused the Admiralty plans to be scrapped. In the later 19th century, there was a grocery and general store at the bottom of the hill which could be accessed only by boat. American painter Andrew Wyeth - see our http://www.bermuda-online.org/forart.htm - is said to have painted a marine scene from the property as a young man in about 1938.

The entire headland of this hill on the northernmost tip of Main Island is now incorporated into Wreck House, an exclusive 26-acre estate with spectacular gardens, private beach, tennis court and more, once owned by multi millionaire Robert Stigwood who was responsible for the successes of John Travolta, Andrew Lloyd Webber and others and whose guests included Michael Jackson. Australian Bruce Gordon bought the property from Stigwood. The latter, an international music, theatre and film impresario, often hosted parties on board his yachts, seen moored alongside The Flagpole on Front Street. Mr Stigwood left his native Australia for London in the 1950s to pursue a career promoting pop acts. His transition from a rock band manager and producer to multimedia entertainment magnate started in the late ’60s when he saw the musical Hair on Broadway and decided to produce it in London’s West End. He went on to produce the stage and movie versions of Jesus Christ Superstar, a film adaptation of The Who’s rock opera Tommy and brokered the deals which repackaged British TV shows Til Death Do Us Part and Steptoe & Son as All In The Family and Sandford & Son on American television in the early 1970s. A 1976 Rolling Stone magazine profile described Mr Stigwood “as constant traveller, a bachelor with homes in Los Angeles, New York and Bermuda … a peripatetic power broker with a penchant for style and a fondness for life in the grand manner.” And the New York Times once called the self-made tycoon “a combination of PT Barnum, Mike Todd and Jay Gatsby” — a description which delighted Mr Stigwood and one he often quoted. In 1976 he was planning a slate of new movies when he first arrived. One of those films was a low-budget production based on a New York magazine article about the disco subculture called Tribal Rites Of The New Saturday Night; the film’s title was later changed to Saturday Night Fever. Starring a relatively unknown John Travolta, the film told the story of a Brooklyn paint store clerk who escapes his dead-end existence on the disco dance floor. A massive commercial and critical success when it was released in 1977, the film became an international pop cultural phenomenon. It popularized disco music around the world, spawned trends in everything from dancing to fashion to hairstyles and turned Mr Travolta into a superstar. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album, released by Mr Stigwood’s RSO recording label, featuring four new songs by the Bee Gees and two previously released hits, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Some Bee Gees songs from the soundtrack — How Deep Is Your Love, Night Fever and More Than A Woman — were sketched out in Bermuda when the band stayed with Mr Stigwood at Palm Grove in the summer of 1976. And the infectious theme song Stayin’ Alive — which topped the US singles charts for a month and was once famously described as “a kind of national anthem for the ’70s” — was largely completed here. Speaking to a Netherlands radio interviewer in 2002, the late Bee Gee Maurice Gibb said Stayin’ Alive was “really born, I think, more in Bermuda than anywhere else. We finished it off in France.” Also while in Bermuda Mr Stigwood produced the ’50s-era rock’n’roll movie musical Grease, which co-starred John Travolta and Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, and the West End and Broadway versions of the stage show Evita along with a later film adaptation starring Madonna. He hosted such visiting luminaries as the Duchess of York, Mr Travolta, film director Ken Russell and pop star Cyndi Lauper at his Wreck Road mansion before moving to the Isle of Wight in the 1990s. He died in London in January 2016.

Authored, researched, compiled and website-managed by Keith A. Forbes.
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