Nelson's statue removed from Bridgetown, Barbados

 In Feb 2020 I was in Bridgetown, Barbados, and took photos of Nelson's statue in Trafalgar Square, opposite the Parliament buildings. I wrote "Statue of Admiral Lord Nelson. It was erected on 22 March 1813 in the area known as Trafalgar Square, opposite Parliament Buildings. The statue predates Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square in London by nearly 30 years. Bajans (Barbadians) are grateful to Nelson due to his victory at Cape Trafalgar in 1805. This meant Barbados would not become a French West Indian colony, which would have been the alternative if Nelson had not gained victory for the British off Cape Trafalgar on the southern coast of Spain. This battle was the most decisive naval victory of the wars. It was also important for trade routes from Britain to Barbados."

So I was really surprised to read in the news in Nov that Nelson's statue has been removed. Apparently in September Barbados announced plans to replace Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and move on from its colonial past. 

In 1999 Trafalgar Square was renamed National Heroes Square, although Nelson is not on the list of Barbados’ 10 National Heroes. 

In 2020 the Black Lives Matter campaign sprung up worldwide after a black man whilst being arrested by a white policemen in the US. Lots of statues in England were removed if they represented someone who had connections with the slave trade during colonial times. 

So Nelson's statue in Bridgetown was a particular target, as it was a vestige of colonial rule, made even more controversial because of Nelson’s defence of the slave trade upon which Barbados’ plantation economy was based.

The bronze statue was put up in 1813 to commemorate Nelson and the British Royal Navy’s victory over the French and Spanish in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The Caribbean was an important battleground in the Napoleonic Wars. There were 3 big colonisers, Britain, France and Spain.

The statue will be housed at the Barbados Museum in the Historic Garrison Area.

I wonder if anything will happen to Nelson's Dockyard on Antigua, which I visited in 2019. 

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UPDATE

I was in Barbados again in January 2022 and managed to take a photo of the empty plinth where Nelson's statue used to be.

Another change - In 2021, the name Barbados Police Service was selected to be the new name for the Royal Barbados Police Force and replaced the old name when Barbados became a republic on November 30, 2021.

Autumn colours 2020

Autumn 2020 in England has been particularly good for the colours. This is due to the weather over the preceding months. An article in the Guardian forecast this in early Oct : "UK set for burst of vivid autumn colours after sunny September. A spectacular and prolonged autumn display of colour is predicted for the UK’s parks and gardens thanks to good sunny spells in the spring and September and some nurturing dampness in the summer. The golds, reds, purples, russets and oranges that provide a burst of joy before the winter months are likely to be particularly vivid this year, the National Trust said."

It is the length of daylight hours that is the primary trigger for trees to begin the process of shutting down for the winter. The leaves change colours before they are shed. Weather conditions through the summer and early autumn affect the rate of leaf loss and intensity of colour. The clocks went back one hour on 25th Oct. 

The green chlorophyll pigments, which help the leaves produce sugars from sunlight, break down to reveal a dazzling rainbow of yellows, oranges, reds and russets. See more about the colours on this BBC blog.

These leaves had already fallen by 19 Oct and there were lots of berries:

I also saw an abundance of fungi in many places

The greatest variety and abundance of mushrooms is usually found in October. This abundance may be due to trees transferring sap and sugar reserves into their root systems for storage during winter dormancy.

As someone recently said on tv, autumn is the time when nature is having a party.

Hornimans Park had been growing pumpkins and gourds all summer and this was the result -

Some of the gourds before being harvested -

A swan family on Regent's Canal. The cygnets stay with the parents until next Spring -

A green woodpecker feeding on grapes (and my blog about this)

Hampton Court and Bushey Park -

Addington Hills -

One of my best times for autumn colours was when I was in New Hamphire in the USA. See my blog.