Lance Furbert II is the well-known Curator of Forts for the Bermuda Parks Department. He started in 1978 as a tour guide at Fort Scaur. He became passionate about his work and began learning as much as possible about Bermuda's Forts.

"I hitched to England on a freighter and researched many of our forts through Public Records at Kensington Gardens archive centre,'' he reflected with a laugh.

Through the Tourism Department he later visited several forts and museums in the US, Canada and Britain to learn the necessary skills and to gather information on exhibits and museum management.

In addition to research in Bermuda, he has researched at the Public Records Office in London, Parks Canada's Detailed Hill in Halifax, Nova Scotia and the American National Parks Design Centre at Harpers Ferry in West Virginia and several other facilities.

Mr. Furbert explained why forts are important: "Forts represent every stage of the Island's development from a small, isolated outpost of the British Empire in the 1600s to what became the `Gibraltar of the West' in the 1800s and beyond. Visiting the forts offers an enjoyable and interesting look into Bermuda's intriguing military past and a more comprehensive view of the Island's history.'' Mr. Furbert was transferred from the Department of Tourism to the Bermuda Parks Department in April, 1996 and he was made Curator of Forts in November, 1996. He is responsible for the preservation and development of all the forts in the parks system.

He has written a brochure on the forts in Bermuda's parks and is developing a forts web page which can be found at http:/bermudaparks.org on the Internet.

"I love my work. It is challenging and exciting. I like the fact that it is people oriented and I like talking to the tourists,'' he said.

He has given lectures on Bermuda's forts in Britain and Canada as well as Colorado, California, Hawaii and several American east coast states. In 1991 Mr. Furbert we invited to visit the Philippines by the Corregidor Foundation and worked there with an advisor to the Philippine Government on the development of a World Peace Park at Corregidor.

Many tourists, about 40,000 yearly, visit Fort St. Catherine and learn a lot simply by visiting this fortification.

"Basically we are hoping to bring together all of the Island's forts, to interpret them as a system rather than individually,'' the curator explained.

"When the visitor goes to Fort St. Catherine, they will be made aware that there are many other sights around the Island they can visit. The plan is to have Fort St. Catherine as the centre and it will continue as a museum with added information about all of the other forts.'' In 1614 Governor Richard Moore built St. Catherine's Fort to defend Gates Bay which had been the landing place of the Sea Venture castaways in 1609. In 1793 Captain Andrew Durnford strengthened the battery at St. Catherine's Point and built a new battery with a guardhouse on the hill behind the fort.

Major Thomas Blanshard replaced the upper battery with a circular fort in the 1820a and the fort was again rebuilt in the 1840s when the upper and lower batteries became one massive work.

Fort St. Catherine was last upgraded between 1865 and 1878 when five large rifled muzzle loading guns were mounted at the fort. It was used as a training area for local forces in the early 1900s and during the Second World War an American magnetic loop was installed at the fort.

Mr. Furbert said: "The popular George the Ghost and Crown Jewels exhibits are being relocated and upgraded. The Crown Jewels will be moved to the fort laboratory on the gun-floor and the George is being moved back to the magazine with new sound equipment and improved lighting.'' Questions most frequently posed to Mr. Furbert by tourists are: "How many forts are there in Bermuda? "Why are there so many forts here?'' Recommendations for tourism from Mr. Furbert are: "We need more people involved with tourism to lend more of a personal touch.

Tourists go to visit Gates Fort but there is no-one there to answer questions or talk to them.

`We sell ourselves short as far as our historical mouments. We need to educate our children very early on the importance of our artifacts and heritage. We need to teach them to respect these precious sites. Hopefully this will help avoid vandalism and will teach our youth to preserve for their future and future visitors.'' Fort St. Catherine, located in St. George's, is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

daily and most holidays. The cost is $5 for adults and $2.00 for children. An adult must accompany children.

Curator of forts : Lance Furbert has a passion for forts and has several years of experience preserving them for Bermuda.

Royal replicas: Fort St. Catherine's replica of the Crown Jewels.

TOURISM TOU