Radio Bimshire Presents

Radio Bimshire
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Catch up or listen on-demand with the best of Radio Bimshire - the Voice of the Barbados National Library Service (https://bit.ly/radiobimshire). Radio Bimshire Presents is a selection of short stories, poetry, history, rare audio clips and humour - the sound of Barbadian heritage. Featuring: This Barbadian Life: real voices, true stories, only in Barbados; Off The Shelf: Readings of Barbadian writing; Reparations Revealed; Standpipe: Memories of Wash Day; Sounds of Freedom: Stories of Emancipation... and much more.

  1. Aug 31

    House on James Street: Episode six of six - "Heroine and Enslaver"

    In the conclusion of House on James Street, episode six – “Heroine and Enslaver”, we confront the most uncomfortable truth in the life of National Hero, the Right Excellent Sarah Ann Gill: she owned enslaved people. Drawing on wills, property records, compensation rolls and the scholarship of the late Professor Pedro Welch places Gill within the brutal, normalised system of chattel slavery that shaped 19th-century Barbados. The episode neither excuses her participation nor erases the courage she showed when she opened her home to a persecuted Methodist congregation and challenged the authority of the plantocracy. This concluding chapter considers what it means to remember a historical figure honestly: not as a flawless saint, but as a complex woman of her time whose life raises enduring questions about freedom, faith, responsibility and national memory. House on James Street: The Life and Times of Sarah Ann Gill  is written and presented by Julius Gittens. Music credits Series theme: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams, performed by the U.S. Army Strings. (Public domain). Additional music composed by Aaron Paul Low, Christopher Galavan, Antonio Vivaldi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

    House on James Street: Episode six of six - "Heroine and Enslaver"

  2. Aug 3

    Bob Marley (Emancipation) Mass

    A special presentation of an history worship service from St Barnabas Church, St Michael, in 2026, marking the Season of Emancipation and the Day of National Significance (July 26) This historic mass features the first Caribbean celebration of the Bob Marley (Emancipation) Mass, composed by Barbadian‑born Anglican priest the Rev Canon Dr Stephen Fields and first celebrated in Toronto. Drawing together Scripture and seven of Bob Marley’s songs – including “Coming in from the Cold”, “War”, “One Love”, “Exodus”, “Redemption Song”, “Could You Be Loved”, “Three Little Birds” and “Get Up, Stand Up” – the Mass offers a Christian theological reflection on freedom, justice, reconciliation and human dignity. Presiding is the Priest‑in‑Charge of St Barnabas, the Rev Canon Dr Monrelle Williams, with Canon Fields as preacher. Music is directed by Roger Gittens, with Kweku Jelani (vocals), John Matthews (guitar), Dane Bascombe (bass), David Burnett (drums), André Woodvine (flute and saxophone), and the Choir of St Barnabas Church under Stanton Jordan, supported by dancers and liturgical ministers from the parish. Recorded on Sunday 26 July 2026, this Radio Bimshire special Emancipation Day presentation includes an introductory interview with Canon Williams and a concluding essay by Canon Fields on “the theology of Bob Marley” – exploring how Marley’s work invites believers to “get up, stand up” in faith and action.

    Bob Marley (Emancipation) Mass

  3. Jul 26

    This Barbadian Life - 12 - "'Salt' - On the Road"

    In this third and final part of her conversation with him, producer Shayla Murrell sits down with veteran Crop Over bandleader and masquerade designer Christopher "Salt" Williams to talk about his love of Trinidad Carnival; he wades into the art-versus-commerce debate on modern mas' and he shares this nagging idea that maybe Barbadian folk characters become a permanent feature of Kadooment -- Crop Over's climactic mas' parade -- just like Fancy Sailor and Midnight Robber are fixtures in another carnival.

    This Barbadian Life - 12 - "'Salt' - On the Road"

  4. Jul 19

    This Barbadian Life - 11 - "Salty! Rough seas"

    In this episode of This Barbadian Life, producer Shayla Murrell sits with Christopher "Salt" Williams to trace his journey from early mas experiments to “Landship Mas” and the Kadooment band Rough Seas, inspired by the Barbados Landship and its powerful story of unity and survival. Along the way, "Salt" reflects on bus excursions, community heroes, and how Trinidad Carnival has shaped his creative eye – while insisting that Barbados’ own folk characters, from Mr Harding to Shaggy Bear and Mudda Sally, still deserve centre stage. (part two of three)

    This Barbadian Life - 11 - "Salty! Rough seas"

  5. Jul 15

    This Barbadian Life - 10 - "'Salt' - From Sketches to Spectacle"

    Since the 1980s, veteran bandleader and costume designer Christopher “Salt” Williams has been turning sketches into spectacle for everyday Bajans on the Crop Over road. From Browne’s Beach liming sessions to Foreday Morning and Grand Kadooment, Salt’s bands blend bright fluorescent colour with deep cultural memory – inviting people to celebrate Barbados’ premier festival in an authentic, accessible way. (part one of three)

    This Barbadian Life - 10 - "'Salt' - From Sketches to Spectacle"

  6. Jul 8

    House on James Street: Episode five - "From Ann to Sarah"

    In House on James Street, episode five – “From Ann to Sarah”, a free coloured woman in Bridgetown, Anne Gill opens her home to persecuted Methodists and finds herself at the centre of a political firestorm that reaches all the way to London. White mobs attack her congregation, Barbadian magistrates look the other way, and a reluctant governor is forced to answer to the Colonial Office and Parliament. Drawing on the late historian Professor Pedro Welch's 2021 lecture for the National Library Service and documents from the National Archives in Britain, this penultimate episode follows Ann Gill’s struggle from a front room on James Street to a debate on the floor of the House of Commons in June 1825, where MPs demand protection for the Methodist mission in Barbados. We hear how she becomes known in the Methodist tradition as “Sarah”, how her courage helps keep the church alive on the island, and how her story forces the British Empire to confront where it stands on persecution, slavery, and religious freedom. Produced and presented by Julius Gittens Series theme music: Ralph Vaughan Williams - "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" - US Army Strings (public domain)

    House on James Street: Episode five - "From Ann to Sarah"

  7. Jul 1

    House on James Street: Episode four - "Missionaries, Mobs and the Conventicle Act"

    House on James Street, episode four, follows the arrival of Moravian and Methodist missionaries into an island society built on sugar, slavery and Anglican respectability – and the backlash that followed. In “Missionaries, Mobs, and the Conventicle Act”, we trace how evangelical preaching, British debates over slavery, and fears of rebellion turn Methodist missions into targets for pro-slavery planters in Barbados. As mobs destroy the island’s Methodist chapel and drive out its minister, a free coloured woman, Ann Gill, opens her house on James Street to a persecuted congregation, defying hostile magistrates, an indifferent governor and an obscure 17th‑century English law, the Conventicle Act. This episode explores how a woman marked in the records as “FC” for "free coloured" becomes the unlikely defender of religious freedom and Methodist witness in Bridgetown, and how her stand sends ripples all the way to the British Parliament. Produced and Presented by Julius Gittens Series theme music: Ralph Vaughan Williams - "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" - US Army Strings (public domain)

    House on James Street: Episode four - "Missionaries, Mobs and the Conventicle Act"

  8. Jun 28

    Sounds of Freedom III - episode 5 - "Wealth Built on Bondage" (part two)

    We continue the story of how one British family accumulated and protected wealth built on sugar, slavery and the suffering of enslaved Africans in Barbados in this second part of “Wealth Built on Bondage”. British investigative journalist and author Dr Paul Lashmar joins host Shayla Murrell to explore the modern legacy of Drax Hall Plantation in St George, and how the Drax family’s fortunes remained tied to an estate stained by bondage long after emancipation. Drawing on his book “Drax of Drax Hall: How One British Family Got Rich and Stayed Rich from Sugar and Slavery”, Dr Lashmar reflects on apology, responsibility and reparations, and why attempts to speak with current owner Richard Drax about Barbados’s calls for atonement and memorialisation have gone unanswered. Against the backdrop of a 2026 United Nations resolution naming the Transatlantic Slave Trade the gravest crime against humanity, this episode considers what meaningful justice, dialogue and remembrance might look like for Barbados and the wider African diaspora.

    Sounds of Freedom III - episode 5 - "Wealth Built on Bondage" (part two)
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About

Catch up or listen on-demand with the best of Radio Bimshire - the Voice of the Barbados National Library Service (https://bit.ly/radiobimshire). Radio Bimshire Presents is a selection of short stories, poetry, history, rare audio clips and humour - the sound of Barbadian heritage. Featuring: This Barbadian Life: real voices, true stories, only in Barbados; Off The Shelf: Readings of Barbadian writing; Reparations Revealed; Standpipe: Memories of Wash Day; Sounds of Freedom: Stories of Emancipation... and much more.

Information

  • Creator
    Radio Bimshire
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    87
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Radio Bimshire
  • Show Website
    Radio Bimshire Presents