(Barbados Nation) Cheers and applause erupted from the crowd, conch shells were blown and the sound of drums reverberated across The City yesterday when the 207-year-old statue of British Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson was finally hoisted for its departure from Bridgetown.
Scores of Barbadians were in National Heroes Square to witness the historic event that saw one of Barbados’ most abhorred symbols of British colonialism removed from the imposing position it occupied in the area once known as Trafalgar Square.
It marked the end of decades-long agitation for the removal.
In a speech cheered throughout by onlookers, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley called on Barbadians to strive towards independence truly in mind and spirit.
“This is a struggle that does not end today with the removal of this statue,” she said.