Benches of reflection and gratitude

Peaceful spot: the memorial bench for Geoffrey Burns,
at Cooper's Island in Bermuda

Each bench tells a story. On them are the names of people now departed, who have been honoured with words of remembrance by those who knew them.

In weekly wanderings around these quite nature reserves and parks I've grown familiar with the benches and the names. On each there are usually a few more words that conjure a thought and a moment of reflection.

Curiosity led me to find out a little about who these people were. It creates a small connection and an appreciation for their lives and how fondly they are remembered in these peaceful surroundings.

On the far eastern edge of Bermuda, in the nature reserve known as Cooper's Island, there are three personalised benches.

One is at an area known as "Geoff's Point". It is a tucked away spot of solitude, where the soothing sound of waves washing upon the long sandy beach can be heard. Nature envelops this bench, and two non-personalised benches nearby.

The bench is in memory of Geoffrey Martin Burns. It has his dates, 1990 - 2010, and the message: "To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die." Geoff was a student and a lifeguard. His friends, including fellow beach lifeguards, on hearing of his passing gathered that day in 2010 to place tributes to the popular young man who had been about to resume his overseas studies.

Ocean outlook: the bench for Adam Godwin
features a quote by Bob Marley

The other two benches in the Cooper's Island reserve that feature names are less than a mile away. One remembers Brenda Mattingly, and the other Adam Goodwin.

Adam died at 22, in 2010. He had a love for the ocean and was a key figure on the Spirit of Bermuda sloop, a training ship that introduced young students to the art of sailing and the adventure of travel.

On his bench is a quote attributed to singer Bob Marley. It reads: "Live for yourself and you will live in vain; live for others and you will live again."

Nearby is Brenda's seat, which a small brass plaque declares is also known as Gigi's Bench. It carries her dates 1954-2016. Brenda was a teacher, and head of geography at the Bermuda High School for Girls.  The seat overlooks a peaceful inlet and faces back towards Bermuda and the north shore where the Ferry Reach national park can be found.

In loving memory: the bench for Brenda Mattingly
is also known as Gigi's bench

Like Cooper's Island, Ferry Reach is another large expanse of tranquility and peace. It is a tract of undeveloped land where nature flourishes mostly unimpeded. A bench at the western end of the park is inscribed in memory of Donna De Silva. It features her dates, 1962 - 2012, along with a quote that has been attributed to actress Judy Garland. It reads: "The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye, but found by the heart."

I do not know much about Donna, but I appreciate the thought-provoking words on her bench, which looks out from atop a 200-year-old fort at Ferry Point Island.

All these benches are well positioned and serving as quiet spots for reflection on the world, and perhaps a moment to imagine the people who meant so much to their loved ones, who in turn placed a bench in their memory for the benefit of all.

End of the line for old railway building

All that remains: only the chimney wall side of the old railway building
 stands after the three other sides and roof collapsed.

For 86 years it stood at a windswept spot on one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land in Bermuda. It was the old engine shed for a small, private railway that allowed its wealthy owner to travel from his sprawling home across a stretch of wilderness to disembark at his halt and from there transfer onto the short-lived Bermuda Railway system.

Now the depot building has succumb to the ravages of time, its roof collapsed along with three walls. Exactly when the building gave way I am not sure, though I suspect this year's hurricane season, which included a direct hit from Hurricane Paulette in September, is a plausible answer.

The small structure was an evocative sight to come upon while walking the quiet, undeveloped expanse of Ferry Reach Park on the eastern side of the island. The stone building had long ago fallen into obsolesce. The last time the private 24-inch gauge train had operated on the single-track line was 1971, when it had briefly been brought back into working order by a new owner.

Evocative sight: the building as seen on December 23, 2006
 as the sun set on Ferry Reach Park, Bermuda

After that, the building became a relic in the corner of the wilderness. I came across it in 2006, and was struck by its lonely location and the way it seemed to symbolise as era that had passed. Two days before Christmas that year I took a photograph of the setting sun, capturing also the building and its wild setting.

Vincent Astor was the man who in 1934 created the private railway and the depot building. He was a member of America's wealthy Astor family, and the son of John Jacob Astor IV, a businessman, inventor and one of the richest men in the world, who was among those onboard when the Titanic sank in 1912.

Mr Astor came to Bermuda and owned a sprawling home called Ferry Reach House on the far side of Ferry Reach. He had the small gauge railway built, linking a boat jetty and his home to what was named Ferry Reach Junction, the terminus of his short railway line (less than a mile) and the meeting place with the Bermuda Railway which ran across the island on a single route from 1931 until 1948.

Mr Astor's private train was a scaled down replica of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad's 2-6-2 Mainliner locomotive, specially built by the company of which Mr Astor was chairman. Near to the depot building is a small stone shelter which would have been used as the waiting spot to board the Bermuda Railway service.

The private railway, which also featured a small tunnel beneath Ferry Road, fell into disrepair after Mr Astor sold the estate.

However, in 1967 the estate was purchased by Herbert Bierman, who restored the train to full running order. He died in 1971, and that was the last year of the Ferry Reach Railway.

From then on, the building became a part of the quiet landscape, with nature encroaching and smothering all signs of the rail track. Meanwhile, the Bermuda Railway mainline had also long since vanished, and in 1984 most of the old route was designated a right of way trail for recreational use.

Collapsed: the roof beams resembled picked clean fishbones

It was while walking along the railway trail that I first encountered the old depot building, and it has remained a landmark point on subsequent strolls through the unspoilt and thinly visited, but beautiful oasis of wilderness. 

So it was a shock when I saw what had happened. The timbers of the collapsed roof jutted upwards, half-covered in the remains of slates, and looking like picked clean fishbones. The last remnants of the track, fragmenting and crumbling parallel lines of iron, were visible beneath the "chimney" stack - which is destined to be the last visible sign of the structure in years to come.

If you wander this way, look for the ruins of the old engine depot building and soak-in its quirky history that belongs to a bygone era.