Looking from above to the most popular historical monument of Antigua and Barbuda, it seems that many white gulls crowded around a bread crumb in the place where a green dense forest joins with a blue sea.
You come down and go through the thickets because Antigua and Barbuda is very green islands, and the wings of the gulls turn to sails and their beaks – to the prows of the yachts. And now you see the core of the English port - Admiral Nelson's Dockyard.
At the end of the 18th century, the English port became the main naval base of the colony. It happened because of the good position on the southern side of the island. The army could watch the neighboring French island of Guadeloupe. And the first ship, entering the inaccessible and fully protected port, was the “Dover Castle” yacht, which was hiding from the pirates following it.
The military spent their days and nights, and Horatio Nelson, after whom an important part of the port and the entire park is named, lived on the docks for three years.
There are not very tall old brick constructions, looking like bowling pins, connected with the wooden crossbars. They were built for ship repairs. Even now, they perform that function. If you walk in the port for a long time, you can see ships transporting to repair.
Dockyards and the other parts of the port were built by slaves of local plantations. They also constructed the guardhouses, a weapons space, and even clothing stores in the port.
You can see how old the dockyards are. Now they are considered a historical site, but 150 years ago they were abandoned. The English fleet left these places, and the shipyards were at its end.
Now the shipyards are open to the public, like the other parts of the port. If you want, you can just walk along the white yachts, waiting for their turn for repair. Or come to the museum and learn more about the history of the Dockyard.