almost exactly as we are doing today.

But they had one event in particular to look forward to -- the races.

The Royal Gazette of December, 1893 gives us an idea of what the scene was like at the Shelly Bay Race track at that time: "The morning of Wednesday, December 26 dawned bright and fair, and many spectators were at the race course early. The various roads leading to Shelly Bay soon showed the unmistakable signs that something unusual would soon be going on.

"Vehicles laden with refreshments and other things were soon on the roads all making for the same venue as the day wore on. The number of pedestrians in holiday attire soon appeared and carriages of all types, from the smart carriage to the lowly donkey cart could be seen.

"All the roads showed scenes of hustle and bustle and the folks in the carriages could wave to onlookers who were sitting by the roadsides, apparently content to sit at home and watch the colourful procession of holidaymakers.

"At Shelly Bay the scene was exceptionally lively, every spot which offered a view of the race course was occupied by people, and the slopes around the ground were literally covered with an endless mass of moving people, broken here and there by the tents and other temporary shelters, which you inevitably find at a race track.

"The enclosure in which the bandstand is situated had been improved by the addition of some nice substantial seats, but not too many racegoers were there, which must have been a source of regret to the Hunt Club committee, because the admission charge was reasonable indeed (or so they thought).

"His Excellency the Governor was there, as well as Vice Admiral Sir J.O.

Hopkins. The race judges were Dr. T. A. Outerbridge, M.D., and Mr. Clarence Peniston. Capt. Evans-Lombe of the Leinster Regiment served as Clerk of the Course and Scales, Major Collins of the Royal Berkshire Regiment was the starter, and Clarence Peniston and Dr. Wilkinson, M.D., were the handicappers.

The weather was glorious throughout the day.'' The race course closed down at one period, but when they reopened, some 70 years later, that same atmosphere of fun was written about by Al Perkins in The Bermudian.

"Our lunch,'' Perkins wrote, "consisted of fried chicken and champagne and other delicacies, and the greensward was covered with picnicking friends from every part of the Island.

"Our lunch concluded, we made our way up the hill to the race track. Here, at the ticket booth, the Hon. B.C.C. Outerbridge, president of the Jockey Club, collected ten bob (shillings) each, plus another two shillings for an official programme.'' At the race course Perkins noticed something unusual. The "seats'' were concrete slabs embedded directly into the turf. Each "seat'' was carefully built to make sure that whoever sat there could not see the beginning or ending of the race. The only view of the proceedings the spectator got to see was when the horses were racing around the far turn of the arena.

This, Mr. Perkins wrote, was a change from racing in 1954, because then "an entire array of horses would disappear behind a large hill covered with trees and bushes. The crowd would stop cheering while the jockeys behind the `bump' would, as far as any spectator could tell to the contrary, talk it over and decide amongst themselves which horse would be the winner!'' That obstruction, he wrote, was later replaced by a mangrove swamp.

Mr. Perkins added that not only was the view of the races obscured, but it was almost impossible to place bets on the horses! "The officers of the Bermuda Jockey Club, Limited, well aware that gambling is evil, have thoughtfully arranged the betting windows at Shelly Bay in such a manner that it is impossible to reach them. This is not only true of the windows at which you purchase your tickets, but also at those which pay off.'' However, racing at Shelly Bay wasn't frustrating for everybody.

In "Bermuda Recollections'', recently published by the Ministry of Community, Culture and Information, former jockey Mr. Raymond Semos recounted his experiences at the racetrack.

"I won the Derby in 1955 and the Christmas Derby in 1959 when the racing started again.'' Mr. Semos remembers.

"I won the Christmas Derby before a crowd of four thousand people on the hillside at Shelly Bay. We were racing West Indian ponies from Antigua. One of them was named Invasion, one was Heather. I forget the others. Heather was mine. Invasion was Shorty Churm's. Albert Churm was his name, they called him Shorty.

"I was a freelance. We'd get three pounds for a third (place), four pounds for a second and six pounds for first. A pound was a lot of money. I trained the horses.

"There was about eight ponies in a race and I was riding about four, five maybe six a day, for different people that owned them. There wasn't races everyday. They raced Thursday afternoons, they'd race, and public holidays.

Other days the track was closed. You could keep your horse down there if you paid someone to rent. The Bermuda Jockey Club owned it. Different people had shares.'' Mr. Semos also commented about the betting -- which seemed easy for him! "There was betting. You could take any bet you liked but it was like 2-1, 4-1, 5-1, whatever horse you were betting on, 8-1. Or you could bet ten shillings on a horse. You'd get five tickets for what it paid. If the horse paid twenty shillings, you'd make as much as a hundred and ten shillings. I wasn't allowed to bet as a jockey, but I did get my friend to put a bet on me and then I'd get a cut. I knew when I was going to win.

"I won about ten out of thirteen races before they closed up. That was in about 1960. They closed down because they ran out of money. No money. We appealed to the government to keep the place open -- if the government would've stepped in and gave money to the Jockey Club, races would have still been going on down there. They wouldn't have closed it up. But the government said it was a waste of time.'' Horse races at Shelly Bay; what memories they stir-up! TAKING A BREAK -- Enthusiastic racegoers take time out for lunch at the Shelly Bay Race Track in 1901.

(Photo courtesy The Bermuda Archives).

SITTING TALL -- Jockey Mr. E. Leon Parris poses with "Twenty-one Clubs'' and owner Mr. E. (Roddy) Williams, former Mayor of Hamilton at the Shelly Bay Racetrack. (Photo courtesy The E. R. Williams Collection, The Bermuda Archives).