The record-holder for most Band of The Year Titles is master designer, Wayne Berkeley! Known as the bandleader responsible for bringing fantasy mas to Carnival, Berkeley’s costumes resonated with masqueraders who had known only historical presentations during the 1950s-1960s. His intricate and creative designs heralded a new form of mas, which brought a degree of imagination and variety to Carnival that continues to live on.
Born in 1940, Berkeley grew up in Belmont, opposite the mas camp of Harold Saldenah. During the 1950s, he attended St. Mary’s College while studying Art under one of Trinidad’s leading artists, M. P. Alladin, and his artistry flourished. Upon graduating, he moved to London for a few years where he continued studying art while working for the BBC as a set designer.
He soon returned to Trinidad, bringing with him all that he had learned and became a professional designer, working on movie productions, and art exhibitions. In 1965 he was asked to design his first Carnival band, and also designed his first Carnival Queen costume for Pauline Figueroa, which won the 1965 Jaycees' Carnival Queen contest and catapulted Berkeley to nationwide fame.
Berkeley’s designs were professional, meticulous and resourceful, utilising local items like cocoyea sticks, straws, shells and old casks to create his costume pieces. Over his 50-year career he produced eighteen bands, with nine of them winning Band of The Year. In addition to mas, he also designed Carnival Queens, with his presentations winning twelve times.
In 1974 he was awarded the Humming Bird Medal (Gold) for his contributions to Carnival, as well as the 2004 Cacique Lifetime Award for his contributions to Theatre, as he was constantly in-demand abroad in Europe and the United States as a theatrical designer for Vegas musicals, and art exhibitions.
Photo 1 shows Johnny Boos as “Jewel of Ceylon” in Wayne Berkeley’s “Kaleidoscope,” the 1974 Band of the Year, courtesy of the Trinidad Carnival Magazine, Special BWIA Souvenir Edition, 1974.
These magazines are part of the The National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Magazine Collection.
References: Lindo, Paula. “Berkeley Mas Re-Enters Carnival with Tradition Reimagined.” Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 5 Feb. 2023.
Jacob, Debbie. “Wayne Berkeley: Trinidad’s King Carnival.” Caribbean Beat, 1992.
(Source: National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago, Feb 17, 2023)

​Did you know that the * CUARTRO " is the National Musical Instrument of Venezuela?
My sister Rosemarie’s favourite musical instrument when she was alive was the cuatro. In fact on our very first trip to Margarita she bought herself an authentic Venezuelan Cuartro which she became quite versatile in playing .It was her cuatro hanging on her bedroom wall and the photo of little Angelo playing his cuatro at age four which inspired me write this article.
The predecessor of the Venezuelan cuatro was the four-string Spanish renaissance guitar which was brought to South America by the Spanish conquerors. From the guitars brought to the New World by the Spanish "conquistadores"emerged the 4-stringed cuatro invented in Venezuela in the early 19th century .Since then the cuatro has become Venezuela's national instrument, lending its distinctively highly pitched sound to every style of music such as the joropo, castellan and merengue.
This four string musical instrument found its way to Trinidad in late 1800s when hundreds of peons from neighbouring Venezuela were brought to Trinidad to serve as seasonal workers on our cocoa estates. These Venezuelans brought with them several Spanish traditions one of which was Parang Music.
The term Paring is derived from the Spanish word parranda, which means a spree or a fête. Initially it meant a group of four or more men who went to give a parranda at an event - a christening or a birthday celebration.
At Christmas Time the parranda navideña, group would go from house to house entertaining members of the communities such as Paramin, Lopinot, and Arima where they settled. These visits involved singing while strumming their cuatros and dancing as a form of celebration of the birth of the Christ child. The traditional lyrics of parang which was sung in Spanish were mainly Religious and Christian songs.
Today Parang music, mixed with a calypso flavour has found itself deeply rooted in the culture and landscape of Trinidad and Tobago.
While the cuatro continues to be the prominent musical instrument used by Parang Bands,, over the years other musical instruments have been added to the mix resulting in a whole new revolution to parang music.
(Source: Patricia Bissessar, Angelo Bissessarsingh Virtual Museum of T&T, Nov 9, 2022)

In November, the Holy Name Convent Secondary School in Port of Spain celebrates 120 years since its founding!
According to archival records, Holy Name Convent traces its history back to November 1902, when a volcanic eruption of Mount Peleé in Martinique (Photo 3) led to the arrival in Trinidad of an orphaned Martiniquan child, Leonie Marie Raynaud, who the French Dominican nuns in Trinidad decided to care for.
These nuns had first arrived in Trinidad on March 26th, 1898 to manage patients at the Leprosarium which was located in Cocorite at that time, before its relocation to Chacachacare in May 1922.
Upon their arrival, they lived at the “Maison Bolivar College” (Photo 1) which consisted of a convent and small chapel around the Queen’s Park Savannah, next to the Colonial Hospital. This location was eventually renamed “Holy Name Convent” in 1889. Here, the nuns began their private tutoring of the Martiniquan child, Leonie Raynaud, which soon got the attention of parents in Port of Spain.
These parents petitioned the nuns to provide a French education to their daughters, and consequently, a private school named “Holy Name Convent School” was formed next to the convent in a building named “Pavillon Notre Dame”. Over the years, the high standard of education offered by the school led the government to award it the certificate of “Approved Secondary School” on June 27th 1949 (Photo 2) followed by the status of “Government Assisted Secondary School” in 1957.
The foundations for the school as it is today were laid in the late-1930s by former principals Sister Jeanne Emmanuel and Sister Bernadette Robert. In 1954, the Notre Dame building was replaced with the “Marian Hall” - named after the fact that 1954 was a “Marian Year” in the Catholic calendar - while the Northern and Southern wings were also constructed. They also started the annual Christmas Bazaars in 1946 to raise funds for the school, which lent to the reputation of Holy Name as being one of “self-help, dedication and hard work”.
To commemorate this milestone, the Holy Name Convent Past Pupils Association is having a reunion event, “An Evening of Light” on November 26th!
Photo 1 showing the original buildings of Holy Name Convent and its Chapel (right) is courtesy of the book, “Called to Serve” by author and archivist Sister Marie Thérèse Rétout. This book is part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Reference Collection.
Photo 2 is courtesy of the Port of Spain Gazette Newspaper, June 28th 1949 and Photo 3 is courtesy of the Catholic News, December 12th 1902. These newspapers are part of the National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago Newspaper Collection.
References: “Echoes of Mount Pelee.” The Catholic News, 12 Dec. 1902.
“Holy Name Approved For ‘A’ Certificate.” The Port of Spain Gazette, 28 June 1949.
Rétout, Marie Thérèse. Called to Serve: A History of the Dominican Sisters in Trinidad & Tobago, 1868-1988: Congregation of Saint Catherine of Siena O.P., Etrépagny, France. Paria Pub. Co., 1988. (Source: National Archives of Trinidad & Tobago, Nov 25, 2022 and the Virtual Museum of T&T)

Her Majesty’s Order in Council of November 17, 1888, which abolished the government of Tobago at the end of 1888, cleared the way for the union of Trinidad and Tobago, which took effect from January 1, 1889.
The explanation for the state of affairs which prompted this change resided with the decline of the island’s economy, which caused its penurious state.
This situation was not unique to the late nineteenth century, for since the beginning of the century it had been evident that the island was on a path of economic decline.
The tug of war between Britain and France for ownership Tobago played out at its worst during the period of the American wars of independence. That provided France with the opportunity to attack its arch-rival when it was faced with a major distraction. France became an ally of the revolting American colonies and launched an attack on Tobago, grabbing it from the British, and instituted a 12-year administration.
French rule was ushered in by a series of negative developments: destruction of estates and disruption of plantations' operations; new and onerous taxes; a ban on trade with Britain and new trading arrangements with France; confusion over mortgage payments to British investors; and uncertainty about property ownership.
Seven years after the island reverted to British ownership, it again fell into French hands, at the start of the 19th century, only to be reclaimed by the British by 1802.
From that time onwards, Tobago was unable to attain any importance as a sugar producer. The uncertainties of the past led to properties being advertised for sale on the London market, and operating planters encountered difficulty in obtaining credit from investors in Britain.
The situation worsened as the century wore on, with the termination of the trade in captive and enslaved Africans and the advent of Emancipation, which caused the price of labour and production costs to increase.
The Tobago sugar industry floundered in the face of increased competition on the international market; low prices for the poor-quality sugar the island produced; negative British policies; and an administration which remained wedded to sugar production at the exclusion even of consideration of alternative economic pursuits. Despite various measures to reduce its operation costs, the Tobago House of Assembly failed in its bid to address the island’s financial woes, and at the behest of the imperial government, reduced the cost of administration by removing the office of governor and replacing with a more lowly paid official, the commissioner, as the most senior on the island.
The first appointee was Commissioner Lorraine Geddes Hay, who had previously served as Tobago’s treasurer from 1879-1885. Hay was fully aware of the parlous state of the island’s finances, but the situation worsened during his administration.
Revenue had been falling incessantly since 1880. Only three out of the original 32 distilleries remained in operation and the challenges faced by large landowners caused a decline of plantations which left owners unable to pay their taxes. The decline in trade caused a reduction of customs duties on import and exports and excise duties.
During the Hay administration, revenue continued to decline, because every source of revenue had been reduced. Hay negotiated and obtained a loan to repair the Tobago jetty, which was repaid by October 1890, and other loans were approved for the repair of public buildings. While Hay was in favour of the establishment of a land-based peasantry, he had developed neither policy nor programme which w
ould allow the larger section of the population to contribute meaningfully to the overall development of the island.
By 1892, the island’s indebtedness had escalated to £7,000 and its financial straits caused Governor Napier Broome to visit. He found it in a very bad state, with worsening economic decline. Tobago was heavily in debt and the salaries of public officers had not been paid for some time.
In addition Hay was virtually useless as an administrator because of his alcohol consumption.
Broome reported that the island was bankrupt and capable neither of meeting its commitments nor paying its debts. Broome took over the administration and made firm decisions about the island’s finances. He paid for essential services and those services provided under legal contracts, while public offices were put on half their salaries and all other payments were suspended. Broome declared the existing operating system in the unified colony unworkable and suggested Tobago should be completely integrated with Trinidad and governed as a ward, or a cost-cutting exercise should abolish some posts and combine some offices.
Supporting the governor’s findings, the Colonial Office blamed Hay for the island’s degeneratione. It was argued that that its problems could have been resolved with effective leadership, but because Hay was incapacitated, he had ceased to function effectively. Hay was forced to resign and an acting commissioner, in the person of David Barnes Horsford, the acting auditor general of Trinidad, was appointed. Horsford investigated the island's accounts and reported what was already apparent: revenue was decreasing and expenditure increasing. The island’s debt stood at over £8,000, with no internal means of resolution. But the Colonial Office was adamant: the administration must find a solution, for neither loans nor aid of any type would be forthcoming from the imperial government.
Governance was clearly an important factor in the fiscal crisis Tobago faced, Not enough consideration was given to the calibre of those appointed to the highest offices, because the major consideration was to cut costs rather than to select capable individuals. (Source:  September 29, 2022)

August 20th marked 206 years since the largest group of Merikins arrived in Trinidad on August 20th 1816.
From 1815 to the 1820s, Trinidad became home to over seven hundred formerly enslaved Black people from the American South who had served in the British Colonial Marines during the War of 1812 in the US.
In exchange for their service, they were freed from slavery in the US and given land on which to settle in Trinidad. Known as the Merikins—an abbreviated version of the word, “Americans”—they settled mainly in six Company Villages in isolated forested areas in South Trinidad during a time when slavery was still being practiced.
The cultural heritage of the Merikins is kept alive today by descendents of the Merikins both in and out of the Company Villages. Organizations like the Merikin Commission, Merikin Inc. and the Merikin Heritage Foundation, which were formed by members from the community, work to educate the public on the rich history of these freedom fighters.
Our exhibition, “Celebrating the Merikins” provides some history on the Merikins and their cultural heritage. Follow this link to view or download the exhibition: https://natt.gov.tt/.../pdfs/Celebrating-the-Merikins.pdf
At the National Archives, we have a Merikin Collection, which includes colonial correspondence and records pertaining to the arrival of the Merikins in Trinidad.



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​Did you know that the guppy fish (Poecilia reticulata) was named after a British born naturist by the name of Robert Guppy who migrated to Trinidad?
Robert John Lechmere Guppy was born on 15th August, 1836 in London, England . In 1859 he came to Trinidad to join his parents and brother who had migrated to Trinidad some years before . Robert John Lechmere Guppy contributed much to the geology, palaeontology and zoology of the West Indian region, in particular Trinidad.
During one of his field surveys, he noticed a fish, which was called the “millions fish” at the time, but would later be named the “guppy’”. Intrigued by the small creature, he sent samples in 1866 to the curator of the British Museum, the legendary ichthyologist, Dr Albert Carl Ludwig Gotthilf Guenther.
Guppy was also the founder of the Victoria Institute (now renamed the National Museum) in Port-of-Spain at the time of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887, and he served as the Institute’s president for years.
Angelo took the last photo in 2015 and was saddened by the state of neglect and disrepair of Robert Guppy's burial site in San Fernando , a man considered as one of the Icons of T&T. (Source: Patricia Bissessar, Aug 7, 2022)

Growing-up in Belmont in the 1940s was a pleasurable and memorable experience.
At the end of World War II, Belmont,like other parts of Port-of-Spain experienced the resurgence of Steelbands. After an absence of more than five years ,Steelbands took to the streets on VE Day, May 8th,1945 and later on VJ Day and the Celebrations of the end of World War II. on August 14th ,1945
The early Belmont Steelbands were Rising Sun and Sunland,and later Stepyard, Dem Boys ,Dem Fortunates, Dixieland,Tropitones,Stromboli,Chetniks from Gonzales and Bataan from Olton Road. There were other smaller Steelbands.
Rising Sun ,was under the leadership of champion soloist Dudley Smith, a member of TASPO,with Flagman“Arthur Tramcar”Andrews. In later years , Prior Drakes a “Belmont boy” became the flagman for Invaders and in the 1970’s ,Dr. Ashton Parris another “Belmont boy” became the Manager of Invaders and arranged for Invaders Steelband to visit Washington D,C.
The first popular flagwomen were Yvonne “Bubulups”Smith and Mayfield Camps, both from the “Hell Yard” Steelband of 102 Charlotte Street. “Hellyard Steelband” in later years was named “Neal and Massy All Stars” Steel Orchestra.
Home of the Tropitones Steelband,which included many St.Mary’s College students,was the Thompson’s backyard in Darceuil Lane. Tropitones caused quite a stir when “dem white boys” first appeared on the streets one Carnival Monday. Four of the Thompson boys became Captains with BWIA, and five of their sons are qualified pilots.
I remember the J’ourvert morning when the revellers in Rising Sun, many waving small tree branches, were chanting an African Song (possibly an Orisha chant) as the band proceeded to down-town Port-of-Spain,as was the tradition.
On Carnival Monday nights,the Belmont boys travelled to Woodbrook to “jump-up”in Invaders, where the girls were. The girls were always chaperoned by an adult family member.
Mas men from Belmont included Harry Basilon, Harold Saldenha, Jack Brathwaite, and later Wayne Berkeley, celebrated metal crafstman Ken Morris, Fancy Sailor Band leaders Jim Harding ,and his protoge Jason Griffith. Popular Old Mas Bands were William “Sheppy” Shepherd, Keto Rodriguez, John Mollenthiel ,the Darceuils with Carl Blackman and Hugh Hill. Popular “Monday Mas Bands” were “Borroquites” of Bel Eau Road and the band led by John Mollentheil. I remember the occasion on which “Dem Boys” Steelband produced a well-received Costumed band , named “Viva Zapata”.
Important Belmont personalities included Sir Ellis Clarke,who became the President of Trinidad and Tobago,Sir Hugh Wooding.Sir Alan Reece, Sir Lennox O’Reilly(born in St,Lucia), Politicians Albert Gomes,Francis Prevatt, Anthony Jacelon and Frank Stephens, Commissioner of Police, Jim Rodriguez, Dr.Steve Blizzard, Harold and Kwailan La Borde, Edric Connor, High Court Justices Monica Barnes, James Davis, and Gorge Collymore, Dr.Harry Collymore, Professor Ken Julien, Professor Harry Phelps,Dr.Ralph Phelps, Kathleen“Auntie Kay”Warner, Dancer/ Choreographer Jean Coggins, Julia Edwards the Limbo Dancing exponent, and Kenrick Barnes ,who became a Colonel in the Jamaica Regiment,and was posted to London as the Jamaican Government’s Military Attache.(not verified) . He was the father of John Barnes, who represented England at Soccer on numerous occasions.
The best known Sports Clubs were Everton F.C.(1929-1933), Colts F.C.,Dynamos, Summerville,Belmont Dodgers, Luton Town F.C., Riversdale, Siwel and Cricket Clubs Shannon and Stingo,the Belmont Orphanage Boxing Gym under J.M.Douglas, which produced Boswell St.Louis, Easy Boy Francis and the West Indies champion “Gentle Daniel” James.
Sport personalities and athletes included J.R.N.Cumberbatch ,Eric Pierre,and later Basil Ince and Edwin “Pee-Wee”Roberts(two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist),in athletics. Alfred Charles and Arthur Maynard ,the legendary Everton F.C. back-line. In 1937,Alfred Charles became the first Trinidadian soccer player to play as a professional in England, Shay Seymour of Colts F.C.who also played professionally in England for many years, Geoff Chambers of Maple Club and coach of Dynamos F.C., Alan Joseph,who played as a professional soccer player in Venexuela, Horace “Pepper-wine” Lovelace, and Conrad Brathwaithe, Matthew Nunes who also played for a brief period as a professional in England, and Pat Gomez, the latter three were members of the only West Indies Soccer Team which in 1959 toured in England. Pat Gomez was the Captain of the team.
In cricket Belmont had Arthur Maynard ( Full-back of Everton F.C.)who scored 200 n.o. in his only International Cricket match. The Captain of the Trinidad Team, Rolph Grant, had declared the Trinidad Inning closed and thus deprived Maynard ,then on 200 n.o.,of the opportunity to become the batsman with the highest run score at the Queens Park Oval, then held by Patsy Hendren of England ,with a score of 205.
Then we had Andy Ganteaume who scored a century on his maiden and only Test appearance for the West Indies, Brian Davis, Charles “Charlie”Davis ,who scored a Century at the Lords Cricket Ground in London, Kenneth “Kenny” Roberts, Andrew Clarke, and Simpson Guillen ,who represented both the West Indies and New Zealand at Test Cricket. I was unable to verify whether Clarence Skeete ,who represented Trinidad at Cricket, was a “Belmont boy”.
We had Professional Wrestler “Golden Ray Apollon”, soccer and boxing referee George Cumberbatch, Harrison Skeete, the World’s Masters Weightlifting Champion for 18 consecutive years, until his retirement at age 82 (inducted into the World’s Hall of Fame of Masters Weightlifting), Mervin “Pee-Wee” Wong, a celebrated Cricket statistician and “Kanaka” the grounds-man who prepared matting wickets on the Queens Park Savannah,( At that time ,Cricket was played on Matting Wickets . There were no Turf wickets in Trinidad at that time). In Cycling we had Cecil Phelps ,Leslie King , and Barlow (St.Vincent),in Rifle Shooting(Bisley) Charles and Frank Lassalle, Gerald Stewart and “Jackie” Wilson,in Amateur Boxing Louis Barradas,Stunt Cyclist Gregory, Carl Blackman in Basketball and James Jackson and Timothy “Timmy”Patino in Race Walking.
Netball playing ladies included, the Bernard sisters, Rita and Phyllis, the Williams sisters, Jessica Smith, Dulcie Bowen, and Eileen Clunis. In Hockey we had the Fernandes sisters, Joyce, Jean and Paddy,Nola Boisselle, Irma Davis, Vilma Spencer and the Richards sisters. There may have been “stars” in other sports whom I do not remember.
Doctor’s offices in Belmont were Dr.Sam Carter, Dr.Brown, Dr.Hayes and Dr.Cyril Joseph,the father of Champion wrestler“Golden Ray Apollon”. In those days ,doctors made “home visits”. There were no Dentist’s Offices in Belmont. The Lambie’s dentist was Dr. Farrell, with his office being located on Duke Street.
Churches and places of worship included, St.Francis R.C.,St.Margaret’s E.C.,Belmont Methodist, Gospel Hall, the Wesleyan Church, and the Rada Community on Belmont Valley Road.
Belmont Schools were : Belmont Boys’ Intermediate(de Four), Providence Girls’(Sister Aloysius) , Haig’s Girls High School (Miss Graham), Belmont Boys’R.C.(Caesar), Belmont Girls’ R.C.(Miss Pollard and later Miss Luke), St.Margaret’s Boys’ E.C.(Maynard), St.Margaret’s Girls’E.C.(Melville Memorial),Belmont Methodist(Collymore), Ideal High School ( Ellis),originally at Oxford Street before relocating to Jerningham Avenue in the 1970s,Modern Academy(Mitchell) and St.Thomas High School (Young).
Some of the Belmont “boys” and “girls” who became priests or nuns, and whom I remember, include Frank Caesar, who is a Canon of the Anglican Church , Raymond Reid, Michael “Mikey” Pascall, who left the Priesthood,got married and migrated to Canada sometime in the late 1970s. On an occasaion , Father Pascall brought his “Old Mas” Band from Cedros and Icacos to “play mas” in Port -of-Spain. Also remembered were Cyril “Hook”Ross, Albert Clarke and his brother Hillary Clarke, Rex de Four,Carlton Hoskins, Monsignor Christian Pereira, the R.C.Cathedral’s Administrator and Vicar General, his brother John Pereira, the Abbot of Mount St.Benedict Monastery, Maria Clarke, Sister Paul ,who is the sister of Albert and Hillary Clarke, and Aloysius Ashby, Sister Aloysius, who became the Principal of Providence Girls Catholic School. There may be others whose names I do not remember.
Boyhood activities included the traditional games of Football and Cricket, of pitching marbles, flying kite, and “spinning top”. There was roller skating on the streets, backyard table tennis ,and weightlifting. Some of the boys “ran jockey” in the Dry River. During the Rainy Season, bathing in the rain was a habitual and enjoyable practice.
Many boys kept tropical fishes, pigeons or rabbits which were fed with grass called “rabbit meat” and with vegetable skins from the kitchen. This was an inexpensive method of converting waste into edible protein.
Saturday morning activities included cycling to Blue Basin in Diego Martin or to Dean’s Bay in Carenage. During the “mango season” it was visiting upper Belmont Valley Road “for mango”. The land owners on whose lands the mango trees grew, were tolerant with the trespassers on their lands. Today these lands are all covered with houses and access roads. Another week-end activity was catching fresh water fishes ,Guppies “millions”,Coscorob, and Hart’s rivulus or“jumping guabines”, in the upper and then unpaved section of the St.Anns River. A Saturday alternative was the 9.30 am or the 1.30 pm.movie show at the Olympic Cinema on Erthig Road or at the Royal Cinema on Observatory Street, where the Admission fee was one penny.
During school vacations children were given a “clean-out”,using a “bitter-tasting”tisane made from senna leaves, “worm grass”, and other medicinal herbs.
Our Sunday mornings, after church, were often spent playing cricket, kicking ball or flying kite in the Queens Park Savannah. Sunday afternoons were for casual strolls on the“Pitch Walk” around the Savannah and in the Botanical Gardens, meeting with girl friends, purchasing peanuts from “Mile-a-Minute”or listening to music rendered by the Police Band, under the baton of the conductor Major Rupert Dennison. A tramcar ride around the Savannah or the purchase of an Ice Cream cone for your girlfriend at the Queens Park Cafe was a proud moment. A visit to the Trinidad Dairies on Phillips Street for a Banana Split or a Sundae was a great accomplishment.
Another enjoyable activity was attending the Police Band Concerts at the Botanical Gardens on moonlight nights. What a fun time for all teenagers,boys and the girls who were always chaperoned.
The Cocorite Swamp was not too far away to cycle when “crabs were running”. In 1972 reclamation of the Cocorite Swamp was commenced, houses were constructed and the area was named Westmoorings.
Belmont was a true community which had developed over many generations. There was respect and love for each other and assistance was always available whenever needed. Before 1941 and the arrival of “Small Islanders”, mainly from Grenada, and St.Vincent and the Grenadines, to work on the construction of the US Bases at Chaguaramas, at Cumuto (Fort Read and its Waller Field Air Force Base) and smaller Airstrips in Central Trinidad( Edinburgh, Camden and Carlsen ) , there were few newcomers to Belmont.
Published in the Trinidad Newsday Newspapers
in May 2014 . Revised on 10th July,2022 Ian Lambie
Please appreciate that the above has been written from a rusty 89- year old memory. With most of my potential resource persons having already departed and with no one to assist me, I am hereby requesting that you forgive any omissions and inaccuracies which you may detect. (Source: Ian Lambie, July 26, 2022)

I spent my first twenty-three years resident in Belmont with my parents and siblings before relocating to Woodbrook in 1956. Nevertheless ,today, more than fifty-seven years later ,I still have a special affinity for Belmont.
Belmont has always been a residential area with the majority of residents being middle income Public Servants, office and store clerks and low income blue collar workers,with a smattering of upper middle income households in the north of Belmont.
Up to that time the majority of houses were mainly wooden structures with a Main House on pillars and a detached kitchen at ground level . It was only in the 1940s that running water,water closets and wash basins,were installed in new houses with the Main House, kitchen and occasionally a laundry room being built on the same level.. Most fireplaces were wood burning while some persons used coal-pots for cooking and baking. Kerosene stoves first appeared in Trinidad in the 1940s and cooking with electricity and LPG was introduced much later. Household refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and electrical kitchen appliances had not yet arrived. Tap water was not available in the Main House and the shower was often an enclosed cubicle in the backyard enclosed using galvanise-sheeting. There were no water closets. The facility was a pit latrine located some distance from the other buildings and there was no toilet paper. Discarded newspapers were used. In some living rooms of many Roman Catholics, hung a photograph of the Sacred Heart, Pope Pius XII, Jesse Owens, Joe Louis ,Haile Selassie and occasionally of Learie Constantine.
Without household refrigerators,the matriarch ensured that there were not much “left-overs”, and whatever there was,it was placed in a “safe” enclosed with fine meshed wire. Occasionally, for preservation, meats were smoked and fish salted and dried,“taza sale”.
The washing of clothes was manually performed using a wooden tub, cut from a pickled meat barrel,and placed in the back-yard,with a “jooking board”,and with blue,brown or Sunlight soap was used. There were no powdered detergents,or liquid bleach. The addition of Keens oxford blue made the white clothes whiter. In the backyard there was a mound of stones for “bleaching” the white clothes and a line for sun –drying.
Many backyards had one or more mango, zaboca, breadfruit, guava,sugar- apple,sour-sop, lime or plum trees,the fruit of which was shared with the neighbours. Occasionally there was a large tambran (tamarind) or chenette tree in the yard. There were “yardie” fowls.”clean-neck”, or “frizzle”, and Muscovy or “canal” ducks. Frozen chickens were yet unknown. It was not unusual to see an old chamber pot (pozee) containing an aloe plant on the dog house,if there was one.
In the 1940s the primary mode of transportation was walking, riding a bicycle or using the Tramcar which was in service until 1954. From 1941 to 1958, Trolley-buses ran the Belmont-South Quay route.
At the Transfer Station,located at the corner of Park and Frederick Streets, a commuter could transfer to a tramcar going to Four Roads,Diego Martin, or to a Woodbrook/St.James Trolley-bus. Around 1945 the “six-cents taxi” emerged ,and one of the popular drivers on the Belmont/St.Vincent Street route was Eugene Ducurew ,with his blue Ford Consul,Registration No. P 666. Another six-cents taxi driver was Boland Amar, who later became a successful businessman and agent for Toyota Vehicles.
Lunches were conveyed on foot, by pipe-smoking“Lillian”,from homes in Belmont,to reach the “breadwinners” at work “down-town”, before noon.
Christmas was the most significant season of family togetherness, feasting and merriment. The house had to be thoroughly cleaned. The exterior house walls and the fence “white washed”, using coloured ochres for colour and the woodwork painted. The furniture had to be polished and floors had to be scrubbed or polished using “Mansion” Floor Polish and shined manually. New curtains had to be sewn and hung, and linoleum purchased for the kitchen floor. Occasionally an imported Christmas Tree, cut from a live tree, was purchased from Grell and Company. These trees imparted the “Christmas smell” to the house. Residents ,and visitors to the neighbourhood, extended “Merry Christmas” Greetings to everyone and not the recently “copied” “Happy Holidays” Greetings from the USA. To us in Trinidad ,Christmas was and continues to be about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. We erected our creches at home and in later years a Public Creche was erected on “the greens” at the junction of St.Anns Road and Circular Road during the Christmas Season.
The Christmas ham was a dried and smoked pork leg or shoulder, encased in a tar jacket. After removing the jacket it was boiled in a “Pitch oil tin” placed on three bricks,over a wood burning fire in the backyard. It was then decorated with cloves. Another meat was often baked chicken or turkey, and a baked leg of pork,when affordable. The Christmas cake,was always a black fruit cake, made with fruit steeped in rum for many months,and baked in a galvanise “box” placed over a coal pot fire. In country districts, mud ovens were still used for baking. Making pastelles was a Christmas tradition, as it continues to be, and all members of the family participated in its preparation. Today many caterers prepare pastelles for sale. Today, pastelles are available from Trini caterers in those parts of the USA and in Canada where there is the demand from Trini residents.
Christmas beverages were sorrel, ginger beer, ponche-de-creme, cherry brandy, falurnum, vermouth rum, beer, with gin and whisky, when affordable.(Vodka was yet unknown in Trinidad). Apples, pears,and grapes were luxury items available only at Christmastime.(No Air Freight as yet) I cannot recall whether other exotic imported fruit were available.
Danish biscuits,chocolates,walnuts,brazil nuts and almonds were served. A block of Ice was often stored for use in an “Ice –box”outside of the building.
A traditional early Christmas Morning function was the opening of the Christmas gifts by the children of the house onthe return home after attending “Mid-night Mass”.
Boxing Day was a big day,with horse-racing at the Queens Park Savannah. It was a day for picnicking with family and friends from the country, who had travelled to Port-of-Spain, by bus or by train, for the occasion. They did not own vehicles in the 1940s. There were games of chance which included : “Alipang in de bag”, “Over and under the Lucky Seven”, throwing hoops over bottled beverages and the “Three Card” game. Occasionally there was a “Merry-go-round”,and a “Ferris Wheel” erected on the nearby Princes Building grounds.
Everyone enjoyed this annual “get-together” of camaraderie and fun. I am confident that the “Senior Citizens” who read this will have happy memories of these wonderful occasions which they enjoyed,with family members and friends, as I have. (Source: Ian Lambie, Juy 24, 2022)

​ this country’s first World boxing champion!!! Claude is now 74 years old!
Claude Noel (born 25 July 1948) in Roxborough, Tobago) is a former Tobagonian professional boxer.
Former 3 time Commonwealth and World Champion Claude Noel, 31-10, 15 KO’s, had a career span from 1973-1984.
His rise from selling fruit as a teenager to making waves in boxing is as simple and as recognizable as any outside of the Caribbean.
Noel’s fighting career began when at school he seemed to always be fighting with other boys. Because he was spotted at an early age, he was advised to get some lessons – he did and then channeled that aggression in a more positive direction.
Noel shot to world acclaim when he defeated Mexican Elgato Gonzales in 1982 for the World Title in the lightweight division. Following his victory, he was later honoured with the Chaconia Gold Medal and had a highway named after him in his native Tobago. Noel now resides in Trinidad.
He has been undergoing severe health challenges but is continuing to keep the fight.
For his last birthday, a post was dedicated to Claude celebrating his birthday on August 22nd, 1949 but was corrected by family as being July 25, 1948. The latter date is widely published online as the boxers birth date. (Source: Vitrual Museum of TT, July 26, 2022)