RECENT NEWS
Sun over the Caribbean by Gill Pitman
The Glories of Trinidad and Tobago
A real legacy -not a holiday !
17/10/2025
Valued NRPS member, Gill Pitman hosted our latest members' evening with an intriguing talk entitled “The Glories of Trinidad and Tobago”, inspired by ancestral links though her mother to these Caribbean islands off the coast of Venezuela.
After some brief locational and historical information, we were whisked off on a breathtaking, visual journey which was laced with a host of childhood memories, fading photos and family anecdotes, that only an interest in family trees can yield. Gill’s great- grandfather went to Tobago as a missionary in 1902 and founded a legacy of relatives, some descendants of whom migrated to Canada, USA and Bristol, whilst others remained on the islands to influence the development, and to preach in the churches of these colourful islands.
Close as they are to S America, and the associated, drug associated high crime rates, the islands can be a dangerous place to live or to visit , but with their unique histories and innate beauty they are destinations that Gill has visited many times, and to which she remains inexorably linked.
She skilfully led us on the tour with stories of aunts and uncles, her cousins and their children. A journey on which we marvelled at the architecture- from the ornately colonial mansions, decorated and ventilated with iron fretwork, to the ramshackle, wooden shanty dwellings where the only metal work is rusting, corrugated iron that still abound.
We tasted with her the recipes of her aunt- a veritable legend in the kitchen and danced to the music and the colour of the annual Carnival. We partied with the uncle and mourned with him the demise of a church founded by a relative so many years ago. Through Gill’s eyes and camera, we saw the bays and beaches of Trinidad, savoured the bougainvillea and hibiscus of the lavish gardens, and appreciated the bird and wildlife that is so colourful and thrives there.
It was a truly magical evening in which we almost got to taste the rum and savour the crab stew. It was certainly very different and one we will find hard to follow! Thank you, Gill!
Jenny Short
17.10.2025
Next week Peter Weaver will be judging our Open Print Competition.
After some brief locational and historical information, we were whisked off on a breathtaking, visual journey which was laced with a host of childhood memories, fading photos and family anecdotes, that only an interest in family trees can yield. Gill’s great- grandfather went to Tobago as a missionary in 1902 and founded a legacy of relatives, some descendants of whom migrated to Canada, USA and Bristol, whilst others remained on the islands to influence the development, and to preach in the churches of these colourful islands.
Close as they are to S America, and the associated, drug associated high crime rates, the islands can be a dangerous place to live or to visit , but with their unique histories and innate beauty they are destinations that Gill has visited many times, and to which she remains inexorably linked.
She skilfully led us on the tour with stories of aunts and uncles, her cousins and their children. A journey on which we marvelled at the architecture- from the ornately colonial mansions, decorated and ventilated with iron fretwork, to the ramshackle, wooden shanty dwellings where the only metal work is rusting, corrugated iron that still abound.
We tasted with her the recipes of her aunt- a veritable legend in the kitchen and danced to the music and the colour of the annual Carnival. We partied with the uncle and mourned with him the demise of a church founded by a relative so many years ago. Through Gill’s eyes and camera, we saw the bays and beaches of Trinidad, savoured the bougainvillea and hibiscus of the lavish gardens, and appreciated the bird and wildlife that is so colourful and thrives there.
It was a truly magical evening in which we almost got to taste the rum and savour the crab stew. It was certainly very different and one we will find hard to follow! Thank you, Gill!
Jenny Short
17.10.2025
Next week Peter Weaver will be judging our Open Print Competition.