Zip-line entrepreneur relying on ‘time and perseverance’
The trails and open spaces of Southlands national park in Warwick have acquired a series of unassuming notices over the past year, featuring a figure in silhouette flying beneath an outline of the island framed in a triangle — and a company named EDI Bermuda.
The firm proposing an “aerial adventure park” for Southlands — Escape from Devil’s Isle — told The Royal Gazette its proposition for the park had managed to attract interest from the Bermuda Tourism Authority and was the topic of continuing discussions with the Bermuda Government.
“It’s gaining momentum — it’s definitely taken time and perseverance to bring it to where we are at this point,” a company representative said during a tour of the park, where four zip-line courses are proposed.
“It’s been a long process with meetings and discussions with a number of various government branches.
“Our biggest hurdle has been to illustrate that we are here to preserve the trees and the natural environment.”
Six months on from unveiling the proposal in an interview, EDI’s spokesman met the Gazette at Southlands last month to walk through the locations of an experience that he insisted would keep the park pristine.
“Step into my office,” he said of the western entrance to Southlands, a 37-acre former estate overlooking the South Shore.
Seven old cottages dot the property. The spokesman highlighted one near the old family home, “The Dapples”, boarded up and dilapidated among thick trees covering the property.
Located above the old horse stables of what was once a family estate, the spot marks “ground zero” for what EDI bills as an unobtrusive attraction as much for Bermudians as for visitors to the island.
“There’s a lot of history to this place,” the representative said.
“At one time this was a carriage house.
“Southlands also had a US Navy anti-aircraft gunnery school on this property in the Second World War. Gun placements were all along the cliffs down there.”
A retirement complex, a luxury hotel and a new Botanical Gardens have featured among proposals for the sprawling Southlands estate in Warwick.
A house was built there in 1745 and inhabited by the ministers of Christ Church in Warwick.
Later that century it was extensively quarried, with stone used to build the City of Hamilton, which became the island's capital in 1815.
James Morgan, a Glaswegian, bought the land in 1911 and extended it to more than 80 acres by purchasing adjoining properties.
As one of the owners of a lucrative Canadian department store, the businessman developed the estate into a wonderland of quarry gardens, exotic plant life, ponds, aviaries and stables.
He was a benefactor of Warwick Academy and encouraged students' gardening skills by providing them with plots for vegetables and flowers.
James Morgan died in 1932 and was buried in the same mausoleum as his wife on the Southlands estate.
Southlands’ next owner was Brigadier Dunbar Maconochie, who made the beachfront a training ground for US soldiers, dubbed the Southlands Anti-Aircraft School.
In 1977 the Willowbank Foundation bought the property and proposed a retirement complex and more than 100 residential units amid the natural beauty of the grounds.
Its trustees sold the estate to Southlands Ltd in 2005.
After plans for a major luxury resort on the property were shelved, Southlands, as it is now known, went to the Bermuda Government and moved on to its modern incarnation — a national park.
It is also home to the Mirrors Programme’s Field of Learning Garden. The scheme teams with the Department of Parks to maintain the historic estate’s trails and open spaces.
Today, Southlands is best known for a firestorm of controversy surrounding plans in 2007 by the Jumeirah Group to build a 311-suite resort.
The idea failed to win over the general public along with environmental groups and after negotiations between the Government and Southlands Ltd, a formal land swap agreement was made in April 2008, and settled three years later, leaving Southlands as a national park.
EDI’s representative insisted that the reserve could remain as it is while allowing for zip-lines and platforms to be integrated with the canopy.
“This is something that’s very much needed to not only provide another tourism experience, but primarily to support our local community, for schools to have outings and to support other youth endeavours,” he said.
“This is a national park and what person has never dreamt of flying through the trees in a place like this?”
The latest proposal includes a level-one course, the Tree Frogs Adventure, followed by a guided canopy tour, Escape from Devils Isle.
The level-three course is Bermuda Triangle Challenge, while a dual zip-line is planned for the Longtails Flight course.
Utility poles will be used to mount platforms on a course encompassing more than 1½ miles of zip-line.
The company hopes to win over the Government with a unique offering that blends in with the park rather than disrupting it.
“We want to preserve the forest and its surrounding trees,” the representative said. “Our main goal is the less we have to trim back, the better.
“We want Bermuda’s schools to be a part of this.
“It’s more for Bermuda than anything else — it’s an opportunity to foster better appreciation of the nature on our island, and give our youth a different perspective.”
He pointed to “a lot of work going on at Southlands to showcase it as a place to come and experience”, with trails being maintained and walls under repair.
The representative added: “Once people see your vision, you can make things happen.”
Many submissions for the park have been reviewed by the Ministry of Public Works since the Government called for proposals through a public-private partnership in September 2022.
The ministry said “most could not be advanced” but listed the zip-line experience among several concepts that were “under further exploration that could enhance the park's utility and enjoyment”.
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