Prisoners in Paradise is the poetic name that has been given by the Bermuda Maritime Museum to its newest exhibition on Bermuda's Heritage.

And name aside, the locale of the display, underground in what in the past has only been publicly known as The High Cave above the Keep Yard, makes access to it an intriguing adventure by itself.

One of the first displays that struck this writer inside the old ammunition magazine that has been so brilliantly restored is the one alerting entrants that: "All visitors to Bermuda were not here of their own accord."

Of course, that is a reference to the thousands of African slaves brought here in shackles over the centuries to provide free labour for their masters. But more specifically, this new underground exhibition relates to thousands of convicts sent here to serve out their sentences when Britain regarded Bermuda as one of her prime penal colonies. The other was Australia.

The exhibits themselves contain the story and wonderful artifacts created out of Bermuda cedar and other materials by the convicts at the Dockyard; and subsequently by prisoners of war held in Bermuda, including those from the Boer War (1899-1902) 1800s and the two World Wars, 1914-18 and 1939-45.

The Director of the Museum, Dr. Edward Harris, his staff and board of directors are to be congratulated on making a permanent display of this legacy of war and crime. Their first display of prisoners in paradise is the permanent exhibition on slaves at Bermuda now located in Commissioner's House. It opened in May 2000.

Chairman of the West End Development Corporation, Walter Lister, MP, welcomed the large crowd at the formal opening. He cut the ribbon at the entrance to the High Cave.

Most prominent in the large crowd on hand for the formal opening of the exhibition were Robert Steinhoff and his family; and members of the family of the late Dr. Archie Hallett. The magazine of the High Cave has been donated by Mr. Steinhoff and his sons in honour of their late mother Patricia, who was a staunch supporter of the Museum.

Museum board chairman Sheila Nicoll told the gathering the building is now appropriately named the Steinhoff Magazine and "will be a long-lasting credit to the generosity of Bob and his family to the Museum".

She also noted that the family of Dr. Hallett had contributed generously towards the re-landscaping of the High Cave. A former president of the Bermuda College, he was also for many years a trustee of the museum.

"We think Dr. Hallett would be pleased with this memorial made possible by the generosity of his wife and children, all of whom attended the opening along with two of his grandsons," she said.

The High Cave is the last of all the great caves of the Dockyard to have survived the building of the great naval base. The Hallett family has had a long connection with the Dockyard as the first of the Halletts to come to Bermuda was Henry Hallett. He was a 'convict warden' in the l840s, so explained James Hallett, his descendant. Henry settled in Bermuda when his contract as a warden ended.

Dr. Harris explained that the Steinhoff exhibit is the first of a new group of works that the museum is undertaking in its new capital campaign designed to bring all of the buildings in the Keep Yard up to the standard set at the Commissioner's House. Government, as its commitment to the work of the museum, has pledged $500,000 to the campaign for the renewal of features of the Keep Yard on the lower grounds.

The preservation of Boer war artifacts has long been a passion of Andy Bermingham. He received a communication from F.W. De Klerk, former President of South Africa, expressing the hope that the exhibit at the Maritime Museum would be a big success. And he recorded highest appreciation for the continuing efforts in maintaining the heritage in Bermuda of the Boer prisoners.

Many people had helped the museum to mount the new exhibit by donating artifacts and by their work, Dr. Harris explained. He particularly thanked Elena Strong, the curator, Andrew Harris, facilities manager, and their team, including Paul Shapiro, the exhibit designer, as well as the people from Coral Construction, Bob Duffy and Horsfield Landscaping, Johnny Burnard and Tony Cabral.

Our pictures show the gathering top right) at the reception marking the opening of the Bermuda Maritime Museum's newest undertaking, The High Cave and Steinhoff Magazine burrowed into the northern hillside above the Keep Yard at the old Dockyard. Below Museum Director Dr. Edward Harris officiates along with the chairman of the museum board of directors Sheila Nicoll and Walter Lister, MP, chairman of the West End Development Corporation. Top: Robert Steinhoff, after whom the magazine inside the cave has been named, is at the entrance with his family and others prominent at the formal opening.