If you walk along a particular stretch of beach, from Paradise to Batts Rock, you’ll come across a number of coral stone statues, each of different shape and size. Clearly made by hand, stones delicately balance atop one another in such a way to make an intriguing piece of art. These stone statues appear along the beach, placed individually or in groups. I noticed them on my first afternoon at the beach and they always made me wonder what their story were.
A few days ago, my questions were answered. As the sun began to set over the sea a man made his way down the beach and began his work. We watched him as he very methodically collected coral stones before balancing them one on top of the other. From tiny stones to large and even seashells, he put rocks together and took them apart again. The care, time and concentration that he put into his statues was surprising and after watching him for half an hour, we went over to find out what these statues were all about.
He told us a story about a man who had come to visit Barbados who would come down to this beach and build statues out of stone. By the time the man left he had a number of statues grouped together under a tree. One day, the man we were speaking to came to the beach to find that they had all been knocked down over time, whether by people, the sea or the wind, he wasn’t sure. He took it upon himself to build up the statues nearly identical to how they had been before. He said that if the man returned to vacation again, he would see that his stone statues still stood in the same way they had when he left.
Since then, this man has been coming to the beach and continuing the work of building statues. He says he has a vision of what he wants them to look like before he begins but that sometimes they take on a look of their own depending on how the stones fit together. A statue can be made anywhere from only 15 minutes to longer than half an hour and by the looks of it, it’s a hobby that he isn’t about to stop anytime soon.
If you get a chance to come to Batts Rock or Paradise Beach, there’s no missing these statues. If you take a good look, you might be baffled as to how they manage to stand, with stones balanced precariously at all angles. Have a look, but please don’t knock them down!