THIS WEEK, Street Beat is going down Belleplaine.
Belleplaine, St Andrew is steeped in history and residents consider it the heart of the parish. After all, it has a song named after it.
“Belleplaine is the only village in Barbados that has a folk song named after it, named Going down Belleplaine – because of the train,” said Christine Toppin.
She and long-time resident Joyce Best of Lakes Village spoke about the good old days of Belleplaine.
“I knew about the train through my great grandparents. I remember as a little girl watching people taking away the iron from the tracks as the train stopped running before I was even a thought,” said Best, the owner of the East Coast Café.
Toppin said the train started in Bridgetown and ran through St Philip; Bath, St John and up to St Andrew where it turned around in Belleplaine.
The East Coast Road, [Ermy Bourne Highway] opened in 1966, was a major development linking Belleplaine with Cattlewash, St Joseph.
“Before you had to go all the way around as there wasno connection to Cattlewash [St Joseph],” Toppin said, adding there was a need to place a railway museum in Belleplaine.
Best lamented the loss of many of the old structures in Belleplaine, comparing it to the recent decision to incorporate the police station into District “F” in St Joseph.
“Where the police station is now is where the terminus was. There is no longer the almshouse, the social centre, the court, the original post office, the doctor’s house or the St Andrew’s Children’s Home. They all gone now and they want to take away the police station too. It’s killing St Andrew altogether,” she said.
Speaking of law enforcement, Best said she remembered when officers did not have vehicles and travelled solely on foot.
“I come along and find the police station there. The officers used to patrol on foot, they had nothing to drive about but they knew everyone in the village and everyone knew them. Those days are gone but today’s officers are still very good,” she said.
Both women managed to put their love of Belleplaine and St Andrew into words, although with some difficulty. Best said there was just something about the parish.
“St Andrew is the most beautiful parish in Barbados. The serenity draws you to it and you can’t get away from it, you just have to be here,” she said.
Toppin said St Andrew was where the real Barbados could be found and not the tourist product.
“You have to come here to find the real Barbados and that’s why even Barbadians come here for a holiday,” she said.
Gregory Branch also recalled the glory days of Belleplaine and mourned how time had washed away the past.
“You had to raise your own food as transportation to town was so demanding but what you raised or grew was the best. You used to be able to find the real white fat pork – not the ones with red skin – as well as wild cashews but not anymore. We used to play cricket with coconut bats and you had to beg the batsman to retire ’cause you couldn’t get he out, but children ain’t interested now. Belleplaine always used to carry the spirit of St Andrew,” he said.
Changed times
One of the oldest buildings in Belleplaine is the supermarket. A supervisor, who requested anonymity, said she had been working there for about two decades.
“This supermarket has been open for almost 40 years,” she said. We had some rough patches over the years but business is not too bad. When I first started, we used to do and sell a lot of things we don’t anymore like measuring oil and animal feed and we used to use the old time manual cash registers and scales but now it is much more modernised.”
The supervisor said modern technology had lessened the workload so things were easier now but added technology was not the only thing that had changed – so had the people.
“People used to trust [promise to pay later] before but these days all that done although some didn’t pay back then and you had to be asking for your money – in fact, some people may still have debts,” she said.
carlosatwell@nationnews.com
