During my time as a building contractor, I had the privilege of doing restoration work on a few of our classic old buildings. At other times I visited a few of these and so appreciated the craftsmanship which went into the finishes of these wonderful old structures. My most challenging, and therefore best work, went into the restoration of parts of the Anglican Church, Trinity Cathedral.
Part of the slate tile roof was leaking and this caused the huge, carved “Hammer Beams” supporting the roof to suffer water damage. These curved beams had been mahogany trees in the savannah, felled and sent to England to be carved into the beautifully shaped beams. The rainwater gutters and downpipes were clogged with leaves and dead pigeons, damaging the beams and walls. Ancient slate tiles had to be replaced so the carved beams were propped and then the water-damaged portions carefully carved out and a stainless steel beam had to be placed in each “cut-out” like a splint being set in a broken limb. Then new mahogany boards had to be inserted to hide the “splints” and to match the existing old mahogany.
And all the “filigree” masonry patterns around the cathedral’s windows had cracked and was falling off, and needed to be replaced, “to match if possible,” said the consultants, “but just do it smoothly if not.” Three ancient tradesmen, with old hand tools, had come to our office the day before, not seeking work, but announcing that they had come to do the job! When the consultants said that smooth mortar would be okay, an old voice in the background asked: “Mr Peter, why the architeck (sic) don’t want us to match the original?” The consultant showed his surprise, caught himself and then instructed, formally, that “all of the masonry patterns are to match the originals!” And we did it! Or rather, those old craftsmen did it, proudly matching the original work. Leadership from the ranks! Today, if you visit the Cathedral, you will not be able to tell the restored work from the original! Restoration was achieved, thanks mainly to those old craftsmen.
Years ago I had the privilege of dining a few times in Milles Fleurs, another of our Grand Old Ladies, and one could feel the comfort of the old grandeur in the building. Sadly subsequent owners allowed it to deteriorate to its current shabbiness, which is now, thankfully, being restored.
I have not yet been into newly-restored Stollmeyers’ Castle (hope to soon!) but had visited the President’s House and Whitehall back in the 1980s. Actually dined and danced at the President’s House way back in the days of the Federation, at a Ball for Lord Hailes’ son, but those are other stories! My visit to Whitehall, in the late 1980s, was “official.” The local construction industry was being undermined by our government spending our petrodollars by awarding major projects to foreign contractors via something our government called “Government-to-Government” contracts. Our construction industry had requested a meeting with the government so that we could show that the unsupervised foreign designs and construction efforts which England, France and others were foisting upon us were more costly and less practical than our own design and construction capabilities. While I did not get to appreciate the decaying finishes at Whitehall at the time, our meeting was beneficial to us all, as those government-to-government arrangements were wrapped up and abandoned.
After so many years of neglect and abandonment, our historic buildings are, at last, being restored, and thankfully, it appears that we are “restoring.” not modernizing. The Red House, President’s House, and those stately old buildings on the Savannah will all stand proudly again, in testament to our history and our capabilities which we had hidden for so long, while they decayed!
Remember, people, we cannot build from the top down. We need to set secure foundations among ourselves, our local, even informal institutions. From there, from what we set, stronger communities will grow. Up to now all of our “politics,” all of our “leadership’ has been imposed from the top, with some orator or charlatan, the birth of a political party for us to join and follow, and lift the charlatan into “Leadership.” And remember, there is no leadership in this land. Supervision may be, even a flicker of management, but no leadership coming out of our population’s need to go forward. Remember, Leadership is bestowed by the people, not from announcements of the politically ambitious.
We cannot wait for any government to start improving. They are our anchors, not our sails,
Just as the old craftsman asked of the consultant: why do you not want perfection? I ask, why don’t you want to excel? Who or what is holding you back? Bypass them and do it anyway. Our leaders will follow us when we build.