Ferry Reach, Bermuda


Ferry Reach is a three mile long channel in the north-east of Bermuda, which lies between St. George's Island in the north and St. David's Island in the south south-west of the town of St. George's.
It extends south from St. George's Harbour, Bermuda, linking it with Castle Harbour, and is crossed by two bridges at its northern end.
The name also applies to the western end of St. George's Island which lies to the north of this channel, and, more loosely, to the water passage between the western tip of this and Coney Island. Three forts had been sited on Ferry point, the most recent being the Martello Tower built, along with a nearby magazine, under the command of Major Thomas Blanshard, RE, in the 1820s. A barracks was built near Ferry Point during the American War of Independence to house a detachment of the Royal Garrison Battalion. The building later became the Ferry Keeper's Cottage Regiment, and of one Royal Engineer, Sapper Aaron Boyes, who died during the epidemic.
Most of the area is, today, a public parkland, but is still used frequently for military training by the Bermuda Regiment. The area is also the site of the only receiving station and storage facility for petroleum fuels delivered to Bermuda, with both Esso and Shell Petroleum maintaining large storage facilities with tanks that are fed from tankers moored well off-shore. The adjacent facilities, known popularly as the Oil Docks, lie on the North Shore, immediately to the east of the public park. Since 2006 the area has been undergoing development for warehouse space freeing up older buildings in developed areas for higher commercial use.

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