| 11 - 19 May 2008 | ||
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Today the Windward and Leeward Islands of the Caribbean are politically settled and economically vibrant, and widely regarded as a sunny holiday playground. But in the 17th and 18th centuries, European nations fought a series of colonial wars to secure dominance of the islands of the West Indies. The pursuit of sugar, slavery and sea power threw Britain, France, Spain and other European nations into almost continuous conflict.
There remains much evidence of the sea and land battles that were fought across more than two centuries, and the people involved: soldiers and slaves, planters and pirates as well as naval heroes such as Hood, Rodney and Horatio Nelson. Holt's first West Indies tour visits islands prominently involved in those tropical wars, and well known to Horatio Nelson: Antigua, Nevis and St. Kitts. Lord Nelson was stationed in the West Indies between 1784 and 1787, latterly as Senior Naval Officer, Leeward Islands, based at English Harbour, Antigua. This was his safe anchorage in the hurricane season and the base from which Nelson (in command of HMS Boreas) sailed extensively amongst the British, Dutch and French islands. His relationship with the volatile Prince William Henry (then Nelson's fellow captain and later King William IV) and his rigid enforcement of the Navigation Acts against the interests of the colonial planters, characterised his West Indies command. In his personal life he met and married Nevis widow Fanny Nisbet. |
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The Nelson in the West Indies tour includes an escorted visit to Nelson's Dockyard, former base for the Royal Navy's Leeward Islands Station. There is an abundance of restored dockyard buildings together with nearby Great George Fort at the harbour entrance, and all evoking the era of war at sea in the age of sail. There is a separate visit to the former military barracks at Shirley Heights.
It was the institution of slavery that sustained the lucrative sugar industry until the early years of the nineteenth century. The connections between sugar, slavery and seapower will be explored and there will be a visit to the former Antigua sugar plantation of Betty's Hope, near the village of Pares, built by Sir Christopher Codrington in 1674. Nelson's visits to Nevis are well documented. He was a familiar figure at plantation houses such as Nisbet and Montpelier, both now elegant hotels. The tour includes the Nelson Museum, in the island's capital Charlestown, St. John's Fig Tree church (where Nelson's marriage certificate can be seen) and Saddle Hill, known as Nelson's Lookout. On the adjacent island of St. Kitts (properly St. Christopher) is the immense military jewel of Brimstone Hill, dating from 1690, built by Royal Engineers and slave labour and successfully besieged by the French in 1782. Brimstone Hill was thus already an important British military bastion when Nelson arrived on the Leeward Islands Station. It has been wonderfully restored and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, set 800 feet above the Caribbean Sea overlooking the neighbouring Dutch island of Saba and with a view to Nevis and across the waters in which Nelson so often sailed. On the way to Brimstone Hill there will be an opportunity to see important pre-Columbian carvings, a link with the original Carib population who were massacred in 1626. Nelson returned more briefly to the West Indies in June 1805 in HMS Victory, when in pursuit of the French fleet, just four months before Trafalgar. This Horatio Nelson in the West Indies tour will be led by John Harris who organises academic conferences on historical and maritime topics. He knows the Caribbean Islands well, having travelled extensivly in these waters during a career in the Merchant Navy and in small sailing craft. |
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| Day 1 | (Sunday): We begin with Titan's VIP Home Departure Service™ to the airport. Fly London - Antigua. Transfer to hotel for dinner and overnight (4 nights). Short introductory talk on the ethnography, colonisation and political development of the Caribbean. | |
| Day 2 | We visit English Harbour, Falmouth Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard. Dinner and introductory briefing on the fortifications at Shirley Heights. | |
| Day 3 | Visits to Shirley Heights, and Clarence House, both overlooking the naval dockyard. Dinner and evening talk on slavery and sugar. | |
| Day 4 | A visit to Betty's Hope plantation. Dinner and overnight. | |
| Day 5 | Transfer to the airport for the flight to Nevis and transfer to hotel (3 night stay). Dinner and evening briefing on Nelson in Nevis. | |
| Day 6 | Drive to Charlestown, and visit the Nelson Museum; visit St. John's Fig Tree Church and Saddle Hill. Return to hotel for dinner followed by evening briefing on Brimstone Hill. | |
| Day 7 | Cross the narrow strait to St. Kitts and drive to Brimstone Hill for a guided tour of the fortifications. Return to our hotel for dinner. | |
| Day 8 | Morning at leisure in the hotel before departure to Nevis airport and short return flight to Antigua. Transfer to return flight overnight to London. | |
| Day 9 | Arrive London Gatwick airport where Titan staff will greet you and transfer you to your Titan transport for the return journey to your front door. |
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