
William Burton
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June 1975 Barbados Rally is still the best
2025 has gone. On this first day of 2026, Happy New Year from BajanThings… This article originally appeared in the BAJAN in August 1975. This years June Rally was by far the smallest in terms of entries that the Barbados Rally Club has held since its inception in 1957. The 19th renewal of what has…

William Burton
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High Altitude Research Project (HARP) 1962 – 1967
The High Altitude Research Project (HARP) space gun was set up at Paragon just to the east of the runway of what was then Seawell Airport – the brainchild of Canadian ballistics scientist Dr. Gerald Bull and jointly funded by McGill University, Canada and the USA Army Research and Development Center. The HARP project was…

William Burton
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My Memories of Independence day – 30th November 1966
In November 1966 I was 13 years old and naturally still at school. I remember two events related to Barbados becoming independent. Firstly – a historical pageant at Kensington Oval on Thursday 1st December 1966 at 4.15pm in the presence of their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Kent There was a historical pageant…

William Burton
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Jean Agatha Forde
Jean Agatha Forde was born on the 22nd September 1942 at Triopaths in St. Andrew, Barbados. War was raging in Europe and the Pacific, but they were not affected by this. She grew up in a safe and hardworking environment. Very little food was imported into the island, and what was would not have reached her…

Peter Burton
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Operation Carlota – Cuba’s secret flights to Angola via Barbados
Fifty years ago on 7th November 1975, Cuba launch Operation Carlota using Seawell airport as the first refuelling stop on the long flight east from Cuba to Angola transporting elite Cuban troops in support of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which was facing external aggression aimed at thwarting independence. These flights…

Keith Mackie
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Barbados Blackwood Screwdock (dry dock)
In July 2025 PM Mia Mottley launched the Bridgetown Pierhead Project, a waterfront development project aimed at breathing new life into historic Bridgetown. Pierhead then (early 1960s) and now (2025) pre revitalisation. This new Pierhead development incorporates what used to be the Blackwood screwdock – which was a marvel of Victorian engineering. Like the HARP…

Mike Spence
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Mike Spence reminisces: The Origins of the GIN Club, Strathclyde
These memories are now more than 50 years old and are somewhat murky, so forgive any oversights or errors you may find. In fact any additions or corrections would be welcomed and much appreciated. In the early 1970s, a bunch of Strathclyde boys including James Carter, Geoffrey Parkinson, Andrew Rodriguez, Bernard (Buns) Corbin and myself…

Richard Rose
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Richard Rose reminisces: The Barbados Rally Scene in the 1960s and 1970s
The things that stand out in my mind about the Barbados Rally Scene in the 1960’s and 70’s were the enthusiasm and sense of fun that was there among the contestants and the dedication of the marshals. I was often amazed that we would go around a corner in somewhere desolate like Archers in St…

Peter Burton
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Lord Nelson’s statue – Bridgetown, Barbados
Lord Nelson’s statue – Bridgetown The statue of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson in Barbados was unveiled in Bridgetown on 22nd March 1813. It was sculpted from bronze by Sir Richard Westmacott. It is considered an excellent likeness of the British Admiral. Very soon after his victory and subsequent death at Cape Trafalgar in 1805, plans…

Peter Burton
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Barbados Film Unit – Cinemagazine 63
Cinemagazine 63 was a film by The Ministry of Education Barbados which was produced by the Barbados Film Unit highlighting five key events of 1963 in a cine magazine format. It can be found in The AP Archive (Associated Press Archive) which contains historical and contemporary film and video dating back to 1893. The AP Archive sister channel,…
