While other parts of the world are attempting to record every bit of information for Historical reference, and digging up (sometimes literally) any old records and references to people and places long dead and almost forgotten, I find that in Guyana, there are few records of places and people from our historical past (at least easily accessible records), whether of the recent past or a few generations back.
With the current alarming rate at which the older buildings, some with lots of history and character, are disappearing, I fear that a lot of the history and folklore that may be attached to those buildings will also disappear.
Much of what I know of Georgetown, was “told” to me by family and friends or teachers or just people who had something to say.
I was born after the trains disappeared from our shores, but I was told that this building was the Terminal (of course, there’s not much of a building left, so all I took was the side of it that has nice palm trees along the trench). It also served as the Bus Terminal after the train no longer ran. I vaguely remember the “Big Buses” that once were “the public transportation” of Georgetown, or as we grew up calling them; the Tata Buses.
This building also either houses or housed a foreign mission office, I remember seeing a crest or coat-of-arms on the High Street side some years ago.
The Michael Lam Collection's Blog 
nice composition. How long did you spend on deciding what to do?
Thanks Fidal, actually, on this occasion, it was a “walkabout”, and I only took two photos, one facing east and the other facing west 🙂 I only had the camera and the Sigma 10-20 lens, didn’t spend long deciding what to shoot, but there’s still some possibilities there 🙂
It appears that in the name of expediency and carelessness all that is historical about Georgetown is rapidly disappearing. Now that GPL is on the job this one won’t last very much longer either. You have to document it while you can.
Yes Nik, but I think the word that they’re using isn’t expediency, but progress.
Nice shot Mikey. This resonates with me since my grandfather was a train driver and my mother and other relatives tell stories of the train to Berbice from Georgetown. Sadly it was gone before our time.
I remember the Tata Buses before the mini-bus days.
Thanks David, now that I did not know, don’t suppose you have any old photos of him with the train? 🙂
I would agree with Nik that many of the sites are going going and will be soon gone. Documenting them in a separate album and have persons make contributions to the photo will serve our children well in years to come. Please consider.
Thanks Andrew. I have an album on the photo site dedicated to Georgetown Guyana. Comments including historical details are always welcome there 🙂
Hi Michael
I love this photo. It’s beautiful to look at even if you don’t know the location
In my case I travelled on the the train from Mahaicony to attend high school in Georgetown from 1957 to 1960. We then moved to Georgetown. The good ole days
Great effort Michael, doing what you are doing
Regards
Cecil
Thanks Cecil, always good to hear from you. I’ll try, but I’ll always need help 🙂
This is not what I remember the building looking like. There was an entrance to the station on Lamaha Street across from Carmichael Streets. If that is still around it would make a good picture. Also see if you can get a shot from the road between Cowan and Lamaha streets. Probably has a lot of junk there now. But the old view would have been of the train tracks and trains. Yes I do remember catching the train there to go the Buxton or to the annual Fairs of Plaisance R C Church as well as the one in BV and of course the St Paul’s seminary.
Thanks A. Rose, I know the entrance you mean, I’ll take a look 🙂
Lovely picture and wonderful perspective with a blue sky. Haven’t seen such blue sky in a long time now with the winter weather here.
I think in general it’s a good idea to document building and such for our younger generation to enjoy in the years to come.
Thanks Sasi, here we get either blue skies or cloudy skies, sometimes the thunderstorm type 🙂
Maybe I’ll never see a real winter, but I have my friends on WordPress and the photography world to bring those to me 🙂
I really like the sky in this photo not to mention the greens but, what I really like more has nothing to do with the actual photo but with you posting the photo! I love how the post has made your readers remember the past, how it’s brought up memories for them. To me, that’s perhaps the best outcome of taking a photo! 😀
Thanks David, I agree , the interaction is what makes the photography good, not just the photography.
The blue sky really makes this shot great. It’s interesting to read about the history of places.
Thanks Martina! I’m a sucker for blue skies or dramatic skies 🙂
Sounds like a photo essay just waiting to happen!
JP, I couldn’t agree more, but somehow I don’t think the current owners are likely to agree 🙂
At least they have your excellent photos so that history is recorded.
Thanks CIndy, I hope my photos survive as well 🙂