Fort St. Catherine

Visiting

Go underground first: the magazines and lifting gear sit under the parade ground, reached by tunnels and stairs. They carry most of the museum: the rooms where cartridges were stored, and the hoists that sent them up to the gun floor. Above, the keep holds the soldiers' sleeping quarters with the kitchen and mess reconstructed, a collection of pistols, swords and muskets, and, unexpectedly, replicas of the British Crown Jewels. The ramparts are where the visit turns, because the guns still face the water they were laid on. Two beaches sit either side, Achilles Bay on one flank and the landing beach on the other, and most people who allow ninety minutes for the fort end up spending the afternoon.