Ninety seconds on Ordnance Island
Ten minutes covers the ground, so the reason to cross the bridge is the one o'clock ducking, performed three afternoons a week from spring to the end of October. The ship that made the island famous has not stood here since 2022.
One o'clock on a ducking day is the sequence worth turning up for. The town crier proclaims the sentence in King's Square, the crowd follows over the bridge, and a volunteer in period dress is swung out on a long arm and dropped into the harbour. Off a performance day there is perhaps ten minutes of ground here. Desmond Fountain's bronze of Somers, one and a half times life size, stands on the turning circle, flags and cannon mark the civic space around it, and the customs office clears every yacht arriving in Bermuda, which makes the quay worth a look in its own right. The empty stretch nearest the bridge is where the ship stood.
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