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Presents BUILDERS OF TORTOLA |
Bob and Mary Radnik Bob and Mary Radnik are retirees and true veterans of the Soldier Hill area – having arrived before most, if not all, of the other “expats”. They are known by nearly everybody in the Soldier Hill area because of both their longevity in the area and their willingness to chat to all comers. Bob and Mary met in New York when they both worked for AT&T (once known as the Bell System). They came to the BVI on a chartered boat and have lived on Soldier Hill since about 1967-68. They now spend most of the year in Tortola, going back to see family and friends in the States for periods of time each year, as well as traveling elsewhere. They lived in New Jersey for 30 years but no longer own a US home.
The Radniks first came to Tortola as the island fulfilled the criteria for a vacation location that they had drawn up. The BVI offered easy line-of-sight sailing, used the US dollar, and was a lot quieter than the US Virgin Islands. The bought their land almost immediately on Soldier Hill from Robin Richards at Smiths Gore. This land already had electric power lines going past it, and a dirt road (from Cane Garden Hill to Brewers’ Bay), which meant that construction was going to be easier than in a more isolated location. It then took them a few years to build their house while they were still working in the northeast of the USA. For several years they rented the house out while they were back in the States. After Mary retired in 1989 they began to stay for longer time periods, and this trend has continued.
Although Soldier Hill was relatively developed when Bob and Mary bought their land, both it and the surrounding region were very different from now. The track past their house led to Roadtown in one direction (or down to Cane Garden Bay [CGB]), and to Brewers’ Bay in the other. The bridge at the entrance to Brewers’ Bay didn’t exist – the track just crossed the riverbed, and the road down the hill was much narrower. But at this time Bob and Mary had no car, so road quality didn’t matter so much. They hitchhiked a lot. There was a path up Luck Hill that made today’s rough track look good. They remember the first houses being built on newly subdivided lots on Luck Hill and the first people moving into them.
Many local people still farmed their property, mostly for personal use, but with some sales (on Tortola or St. Thomas), and there were several plots within sight of what is now the Radnik’s terrace. Now groceries are more easily available but the once thriving farmers’ market has mostly disappeared. Many people also operated ‘coal pits’ on the hill, producing charcoal for personal use and for export. This no longer takes place – and the air is a lot clearer for it. (Charcoal was once one of the major exports from the BVI - to the USVI - leading to the denudation of much of the landscape as ‘collateral damage’.) There was once a bar/store located up the road on Soldier Hill near the Cane Garden Bay road junction. It is now a kind-of rooming house. The Radniks have tried to be good neighbours and Bob often ‘fixes things’ for people while Mary can be seen collecting the garbage tossed out along the Soldier Hill and Luck Hill roadsides.
Things have changed a lot in the past 40 years. Better shopping, more houses – most of those you see from the Radnik house are ‘new’ – better roads and more cars. Bob and Mary now have a car (and have had for some time)! There are now even streetlights where once there were none. Of course population has increased a lot, both belongers and black and white expats. Tourism has grown in numbers and ‘cultural landscape dominance’ – especially in Cane Garden Bay. Cruise ships are common in the BVI and Cruisers abound in CGB. Finance is a more important source of income for the BVI but not really visible, and certainly not around Soldier Hill.
If Bob and Mary were starting over now, they would do much the same, the only problem with their present location being the increased traffic – particularly on he hill down the Cane Garden Bay. They have no plans to either move or leave.
Draft of February 17th 2010 of interview of February 10th 2010.
Builders of Tortola Guide