We have just been kindly provided with these five old photographs by Richard Lee, with the assistance of Martin Buckley who scanned them for us.
As you can see, they are old photos of "bobbies" directing traffic at Heyl's Corner on Front Street in Hamilton who were said to be the most photographed police officers in the world at the height of Bermuda's tourism days, These were all taken before the "Birdcage", designed by the aptly named then City Engineer, Mr. Geoffrey Bird" was installed at Heyl's Corner to provide some much needed shade. You can read more about the history of the birdcage in our article "Bobbies in the Birdcage) at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/articles/219-bobbiesinbirdcage
So why are we displaying these photos in our "Who, Where and When" column when we know there is almost no chance that any of our readers will be able to help us identify the individual officers, or tell us exactly when they were taken although an educated guess might be able to narrow down the timeframe?
There are two reasons for doing so:-
- We wonder how much information you can deduce from the photos. For example, can you pick out any of the buildings, including the tower-like structure way in the didtance in photos 1 and 2. Can you recall the time when No 1 Shed was a shed in the days before containerization? What are the dark marks on the street in several photos? and
- Did you ever direct traffic at the birdcage? If so, would you have any photos of yourself in action, and can you provide us with any of your own personal recollections of time spent answering endless questions from tourists. We have just added these five photos to our collection in "Bobbies in the Birdcage"
One police officer who will forever be associated with directing traffic at the birdcage is The Late Inspector Hubert Simmons (see article on Hubert in our Hall of Fame at http://expobermuda.com/index.php/hof2/342-hubertsimmons Hubert was said to direct traffic as though he was conducting an orchestra, and both visitors and resident would stop to admire his performances. One young lady was so impressed she married him! We are hoping that one of these we will uncover a first class photo of Hubert in action for our collection.
