FORT GRANBYYou get to Fort Granby from Scarborough by going east. There is no sign saying when you are at Studley Park. You will know you're there when you get to quarrying operations on the left hand side of the Windward Road. The fort is on the turnoff to the right. If you see "The First Historical Cafe and Bar" on your right, that means you have gone just a bit too far too far.
If that happens, before you backtrack to Fort Granby, look in on the First Historical Cafe and Bar. It is just that. On the walls, as you sip your beer, enjoying the cool, you can read a detailed history of the island. It's on the walls. The "First" does not mean there is a second. It is unique.
There is a Tobago Trust sign at the entrance identifying the fort. Besides the sign and unless someone told you, you would never guess the place had anything to do with the military. No old buildings. No six-pounder cannon. None of the mortars. No earthen ramparts. The two companies of the Surrey Regiment are long gone. Nothing remains but a solitary tomb with an inscription to says that "Beneath This Stone Lies Interred the Body of Mr.James Clark Who Departed this Life on the Sixth of July 1772, Aged 30 Years."
Today the headland is covered with a tree called Black Jessie. or botanically, Pitchcellobium Ungius Cati. Though not a particularly tall tree, the foliage begins about 6 feet up, so there is almost complete shade but no undergrowth and no gloom. I notice that quite a few parents choose this spot to bring their children, especially during school holidays. There are proper garbage containers and two gazebos constructed at public expense. At the same time, the lack of undergrowth allows the promontary to be constantly washed by the cooling tradewinds.
You can go back from Fort Granby to Places to See
Return from Granby to Home Page
|
Fort Granby was named in honour of John Manners, the Marquis of Granby and a hero of the Seven Year War. When you see the sweep of the Atlantic Ocean that it commands, you will understand why it was chosen to protect the proposed capital of Georgetown on nearby Hillsborough Bay. However, the capital never materialized. It was moved to Fort Castries - now Scarborough- before the troops arrived at Fort Granby, and so started the demise of the Fort.
Who Mr. James Clark was is not clear, nor is there anything to indicate by which route he departed this life. It could have been a musket shot. It could have been malaria or some other tropical disease, or just a so-called "natural" illness.The "Mr" and the solid tomb seems to suggest he may have been an officer, and probably not a junior one.
