Speightstown

Speightstown (pronounced "Spikestown") is a very charming town in St Peter's Parish, at the north end of the West Coast.

It is the "second city" of Barbados after Bridgetown. Named after its founder, William Speight, Speightstown was a thriving port until the 20th century.

Nowadays, however, Speightstown has a pleasantly sleepy air to it, and the words "roaring trade" do not exactly apply.

The former wealth of Speightstown is still apparent in some of the grand stone buildings that stand along Queen Street. One of these, Arlington House, has been turned into a museum that's well worth visiting for insights into Barbadian life, both past and present.

Virtually all buses running north along the main West Coast road will end up in Speightstown. From the Speightstown bus terminal (about which more elsewhere), you can also catch buses to other parts of the island, notably Bathsheba on the wild, Atlantic East Coast.

There are nice places to eat here (watch for a future post about the Fisherman's Pub), a well-stocked supermarket (Jordans), and several banks, including a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada.