Montserrat, 23 September 2016

.

On the main road, out of the exclusion zone, just north of Plymouth.

.

.

.

This is the tower of St Anthony’s Church.  Had I known about it at the time, I would have asked to visit.  It has been rebuilt no less than six times on the same site.  It was first built in 1635 when the colony was only a few years old by the first Governor, Anthony Brisket.  In 1666 it was burnt down by French and Caribs; on Christmas Day 1672 it was levelled by an earthquake; in 1712 it was destroyed by the French after they had used it as a barracks; in 1899 and 1928 it was destroyed by hurricanes; in 1989 it was damaged by a hurricane and in 1995 it was damaged by the volcano.

.

Nearby, this is what is left of Air Studios, an international recording studio founded by George Martin, the Beatles manager.

.

In the 70s and 80s, many artists recorded there including Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, Paul McCartney, Police, Dire Straits, Climax Blues Band and Jimmy Buffett.  Here is a link to a video of the Stones recording there.

.

What closed the studio though was not the eruptions, it was Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which destroyed villages, killed ten people, and had sustained winds of 220km/hr and gusts up to 385km/hr.

.

The interior was stripped in 2012 in preparation for a renovation but George Martin died and the renovation never happened.

.

.

.

Back on the main road…

.

.

.

The weather is clear and the volcano simmers away.

.

This is Waterworks Estate, where we had dinner.

.

And later, a sunset over the sea from our balcony.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Milky Way over Montserrat.

.