Welchman Hall Gully Barbados

After we had visited Harrison’s Cave we set off on foot to find Welchman Hall Gully. The gullies in Barbados have historically been used as transit routes as well as sources of food, medical plants, shelter, firewood and building materials, as well as potable water. Today they are very important because they contain the last examples of the trees and plants that used to cover the whole of the island before the flatter areas were cleared to make way for sugar cane plantations. The exit for the site was right beside our bus stop but we had to walk all the way around to the other side to find the entrance. Along the way we saw the typical Barbados signs pictured on the right….

… and also got some great views out over the eastern side of Barbados.

Bearded Fig tree   

Welchman Hall Gully was originally part of the Welchman Hall plantation set up over 200 years ago. During 1860, as was fashionable at the time, the owner introduced tropical plants from around the world which helped to create this tropical haven. It was bought by the National Trust for Barbados in 1962 and was their first property on the island. The Welchman Hall plantation has long gone and the only legacies of it are a family vault and this 1.25km long gully bearing the estate’s name.

Waving our Guernsey National Trust cards, we qualified for discounted entry, and then were able to wander freely around the site.

The first tree we saw was a Bearded Fig the type of tree which Barbados is reputedly named after. Los Barbados (the bearded ones) is thought to refer to the hanging beard-like roots of this once common tree.

About one third of the island’s flora can be found in the gullies. Of the 700 native flowering plants and fern, Welchman Hall Gully has examples of over 150.

Stalactite   

It was a peaceful and very special place to walk through albeit we had to take shelter under the trees during some impressively torrential rain showers. Consequently, not so many pictures were taken. The guidebook took us through many of the plant varieties found in the gully and even pointed out where we could see termite nests in the trees. As well as a huge variety of palms we saw Dog Dumpling (leaves used for abscesses, headaches, fever, gout and pains); Rubber Mango, Bay and Sandalwood trees; and the delightfully named Pop-a-Gun tree. Amongst others we also saw a prickly palm used for toothpicks and a Swizzle Stick tree. Cocktails, or swizzles, are a Caribbean innovation of the19^th century and the swizzle stick for mixing the cocktails was made from this tree.

Geologically the gully is connected to Harrison’s Caves and there used to be an entrance to the caves here. The gully is the remnants of a colossal cave but thousands of years ago the roof collapsed forming the depression. In the base of the gully are large boulders dating from this major collapse. Further clues to this part of the gully’s history are along the sides. Here we saw stalagmites, stalactites and columns where the two had connected, apparently left over from when they were underground and water dripped down from the roof and overhangs of the cave.

Walking through the gully neatly brought us to the southern entrance, right beside our bus stop. Or we thought that it did. No buses towards Bridgetown turned up for the best part of an hour and so we flagged down one (the only one we saw) going the other way and so discovered that the buses go in a loop. It appears that the bus stop we’d been waiting at was redundant. Hopping on to the bus, we were whisked back to Bridgetown at rally driving speeds; clearly the relaxed and gentler pace of life in the Caribbean doesn’t apply to their driving!

Bridgetown, Barbados