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Montserrat's volcanically devestated capital of Plymouth

The destroyed capital

It's Plymouth, but not as I remember it. I've just driven up Garibaldi Hill, just outside the exclusion zone, to get my first sight of Plymouth in 16 years. Even though I know, intellectually, what happened since, it's still a shock to see it. Then it was the thriving heart of Montserrat. Today it's a Pompeii of the future.

I've driven past countless exclusive and expensive houses that line the track up to the summit of the hill. Several are for sale. Houses that once cost US$1m can now be bought for $250,000 in this area known as the Beverley Hills of Montserrat. Of course one now has to flog across the volcanic ash and block desert that was once the lush Belham Valley, to get here. And occasional flash floods make it impassable.

I feel for the people who once lived in the exclusion zone. Having worked hard to establish their homes and lifestyles, all that was lost. Franklin, who I met at the police beach party, told me of his mother who ran a thriving restaurant. She's lost everything and now lives in London, too old to work hard from scratch again to replace what she thought was going to give her a comfortable retirement. Most people received no compensation. Local insurance companies went bust. Those that didn't, altered the terms and conditions quickly to avoid paying out.

Once again, I am amazed at the equanimity I saw displayed by Montserratians when the first displacements started. Humans are not good dealing with uncertainty, and yet despite all that had suddenly exploded into theirs, they handled it far better than I think we would have done in the UK. Rose Willock, MBE, of course was a calm cheering voice on the radio, and I remember the doctor coming on air warning Montserratians not to console themselves with drink.

Montserrat is a bustling island today and people go cheerily about their business in the one third of the island that's declared safe. But I would be careful not to let their demeanour lead you to underestimate what they went through.

My old nature guide friend Scriber thinks that Montserratians found it easier to adjust to the volcanic disaster after 9/11 and 7/7. They realised that nowhere in the world is safe, but at least theirs is a natural enemy that they can understand and work around.



This is just one of the stories that inform my talk Montserrat - reclaiming paradise

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