JN72/17

Letter to H C Janes from Reverend Sydney Poupard, 119 Station Road, West Drayton, Middlesex. Replying to letter 18 May, advice regarding travel around West Indies.

24 May 1951

From: 1951 To: 1951

Dear Mr Janes, Thank you for your letter dated the 18th May. I am glad to hear that you have booked on a passage on the "Colombie" for the 27th December and I am glad to offer any help which may be of assistance to you in arranging your tour in the West Indies. In regard to the proposal to visit Trinidad before Jamaica I am inclined to think this will be the best plan. You should have no difficulty in getting a boat to Jamaica. I have noticed in "The Trinidad Guardian" that the Alcoa Steamship Company Inc., have ships sailing from Trinidad for Mobile and New Orleans via La Guaira, Curacao, Aruba, Maracaibo to Jamaica. There seem to be few ships if any sailing direct: there is however a good air service which leaves three times a week and which takes ten hours. Transport to British Guiana ought not to present any difficulty. You may be able to get one of the "The Lady Boats" run by the Canadian National Steamship Company. There is a good air service three times a week taking about two and a half hours. The Alcoa also have boats calling at British Guiana. I would suggest that if possible you should not spend less that three weeks to a month in Trinidad. No doubt you will enjoy a visit to Tobago which is only twenty odd miles from Trinidad: it is one of the most beautiful of the Islands. There is a regular service by sea and air. I expect you will make Port-of-Spain, the capital, your headquarters and here you will have the opportunity if visiting some of the bays in the northern part of the Island. It will also give the you the opportunity of seeing St John's Baptist Church in Pembroke Street. Our southern churches extend in a radius of thirty-five miles from our residence at Fifth Company and these are situated in sixteen villages: this area is approximately fifty miles from the capital. The southern part is interesting for its oil fields, sugar industry and pitch lake. We are living fifteen miles from the second largest town of San Fernando where there is a large East Indian Community. You will be arriving in the cooler time of the year when the average temperature will be about 80 degrees, falling to about 75 degrees at night. The dry season begins in January and lasts to May, but we invariable [sic] get some rain during this period and this year it has been exceptionally heavy. The West India Committee at 40, Norfolk Street, London WC2 will provide you with tourist literature which contains a good deal of useful information. I feel sure that your visit will be a great inspiration to us all and it will be a real delight to meet you there. Please do not hesitate to write if you require any further information. Yours sincerely, Sydney Poupard.

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Janes, Herbert Charles,
Poupard, Sidney G,
Canadian National Steamship Company,
Alcoa Steamship Company Inc,
The West India Committee

CORRESPONDENCE, civil ships, SS Colombie, Baptist Church, oil, sugar, The Trinidad Guardian, Luton Barton Road, LUTON, London, West Drayton, Trinidad, Tobago, Trinidad Port-of-Spain, Jamaica, New Orleans