THE WARMTH OF the Barbadian people and the sun have often combined to attract many a tourist, but for Ian and Sue Kirby, the infatuation has turned into a lifelong love story.
When all the numbers are crunched, the British couple has visited the island nearly 150 times since 1967.
As they sat at their Baker’s, St Peter home away from home, Ian brandished of a cap that said “No Cab Needed”. This cap undoubtedly gave many a curious onlooker and taxi man all the information they needed to know about this couple.
Their passports may say Great Britain, but their hearts beat blue, yellow and black.
The sprightly pair said their requited love affair with the island began 48 years ago when Ian, then a flight engineer for British Airways (then British Overseas Airways Corporation), came here for one night on a trip from New York.
“That was in 1967. I stayed at the old Hilton hotel, which had been only opened about a year at that point,” the 71-year-old, said recounting that first trip.
In those days Ian flew to Barbados at least four to five times a year, flying on the Vickers VC-10 for 10 years before he made a switch to the now retired supersonic jetliner the Concorde. This switch is what allowed his wife Sue to fall prey to the inescapable attraction that had befallen her husband a few years earlier.
“We were allowed to bring our wives on one trip a year so Sue used to come down here. I often used to bring her down on one trip, leave her here while I went back and did two or three other trips then I’d come back and collect her,” he said.
From then, as they say, the rest is history.
As the pair recounted their experiences ranging from precursory donkey carts to modern day automobile traffic jams, the burning question to be answered was why? Why Barbados?
“We like the weather and we like the people and we’ve made a very large number of friends down here,” he said.
These friends had created countless experiences for them as they had travelled to many places across the island as a result.
Not only was it friends they made, but also family as Sue explained that their good friends, Robert and Margaret Best had made her a godmother to their daughter Maria.
“Last Sunday, they were celebrating Margaret’s 50th birthday and we joined in the celebrations starting at Bethel Methodist Church,” Ian said, explaining the level of friendship they developed with the Bests.
With expected familiarity, the British pair said that they knew the Bethel Church relatively well as a result of being good friends with now deceased church minister Reverend Philip Saunders.
Such was the level of friendship they had developed, that when Ian suffered a heart attack while here on one of their trips, their Barbadian friends rallied around them to get them through the tough time.
“All of our friends just pulled in and looked after me and also went to see Ian when they could at the QEH. They would ring me up to make sure I was all right or see if there was anything I needed. They really were brilliant,” Sue said.
This loving spirit emanating from the people was what they cherished about the island, but they expressed sincere concern for the alarming rise in gun related crimes and murders on the island.
Despite this, the two said Barbados still had a certain feeling of safety.
“In London I would not go down the side streets like I can in Bridgetown. You can walk around, nobody bothers you,” she said.
The Kirbys explained that they too were married in 1967 and as if it was some token gesture, they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in Barbados and also brought their two sons to experience the country.
“They fell in love with the island as well,” Sue said laughing.
Although the time drew nigh for their return to England, the pair of adopted Barbadians had already made plans for next year’s pilgrimage to their second home. Given their experience with Barbados’ people and weather and their friends going, the Kirbys lamented that many tourists spent all of their time at hotel resorts, never really leaving to see what the country had to offer.
They intend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country they love next year and God willing, the 50th year of visiting Barbados the following year.
alexdownes@nationnews.com
