Growing Up Woodbrook
History Podcasts
A multi-episode podcast covering the fascinating history of Woodbrook, a popular community just west of Port of Spain, the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Currently a commercial/residential neighbourhood, Woodbrook has seen many incarnations and is undergoing another transformation. This podcast brings alive the old, current, and potential future Woodbrook through the eyes and stories, of historians, educators, architects, engineers, cultural workers, along with former and current residents, all of whom hold this amazing community near and dear to their hearts.
Location:
Trinidad and Tobago
Genres:
History Podcasts
Description:
A multi-episode podcast covering the fascinating history of Woodbrook, a popular community just west of Port of Spain, the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Currently a commercial/residential neighbourhood, Woodbrook has seen many incarnations and is undergoing another transformation. This podcast brings alive the old, current, and potential future Woodbrook through the eyes and stories, of historians, educators, architects, engineers, cultural workers, along with former and current residents, all of whom hold this amazing community near and dear to their hearts.
Language:
English
Contact:
8683380372
Email:
cdtgeorge@yahoo.com
Episodes
Season 1 Coda
11/28/2023
A wrap-up of season 1, detailing all the podcast has covered from the late 1400s to the mid 20th century.
Join us again in 2024 for Season 2 of Growing Up Woodbrook, the podcast!
Duration:00:02:18
From Pepperpot to Callaloo
11/20/2023
By the late 1940s, Woodbrook was firmly a residential district with various classes, races, and ethnicities all mixing together in one little square mile.
From Pepperpot to Callaloo continues the series of personal histories of former and current residents about what Woodbrook life was like in their youth.
Duration:00:18:31
Woodbrook at War
11/13/2023
Strategically positioned and provisioned, Trinidad becomes a prime player in US and British naval defence strategies during WW2; the quiet new residential district of Woodbrook plays unwilling host to a US base, which brings about many changes in the neighbourhood's makeup and lifestyle.
Duration:00:15:23
Design of a District
11/5/2023
The boundaries of Woodbrook are dictated by British engineer Walsh Wrightson, while its housing stock is heavily influenced by the designs of Scottish architect George Brown.
Duration:00:16:28
Of Boers and Bitters
10/29/2023
The Boer Wars between England and Dutch settlers in turn-of-the-century Southern Africa, and the creation of the Angostura Bitters formula by JGB Siegert, a German immigrant to Venezuela in the late 19th century, both come to play important roles in the new residential district of Woodbrook.
Duration:00:15:22
From Plantation To Plots
10/22/2023
In Episode 6, British consolidation of the sugar industry pushes the independent mills out of existence, while absentee English planters replace the resident French Creoles.
Meanwhile, the Woodbrook Estate is put up for sale again, and starts undergoing the process of being carved up for residential land use.
Duration:00:08:31
Eastern Rhythms
10/16/2023
The impending Emancipation of enslaved African peoples in 1838 forces the British government to try various immigrant strategies to their largest Caribbean countries.
They finally settle on East Indian indentureship starting in 1845, thereby firmly establishing both the Woodbrook Estate’s and Trinidad's cosmopolitan nature.
Duration:00:14:21
From Tragarete To Woodbrook
10/11/2023
Trinidad becomes a British colony in 1797 with the bloodless capitulation of Spanish Governor Don José Maria Chacón to British General Ralph Abercromby.
Meanwhile, the de Lapeyrouse family sells the Tragarete Estate to Henry Murray, who combines it with two other nearby plantations to form the Woodbrook Estate.
Duration:00:10:22
Plantation
9/28/2023
Our third episode, Plantation, begins after the establishment of the Tragarete Estate by the French Cedulant Maury de Lapeyrouse.
This is the era of the rise of the French Creole class and the change of the country’s dominant language from Spanish to French "patois", leading to the creation of a new genre of music—the kaiso, created by enslaved Africans to offer commentary on their masters' lifestyles.
Duration:00:09:24
Genesis
9/28/2023
The Spanish spend over two centuries struggling to establish themselves Trinidad in the face of Native rebellions and wars with other European powers, primarily the British and Dutch.
In this second episode, Genesis, the 1783 Cedula of Population brings an influx of white immigrants and their enslaved Africans from the French-speaking Caribbean islands; their efforts develop the sugar economy that rules the island for the next century.
Duration:00:12:00
Foundation
9/18/2023
This heritage series begins with an historical introduction to the area now known as Woodbrook.
Located on the north-western peninsula of the Caribbean island of Trinidad, Woodbrook was part of a large, strategically positioned Native village called Cumucurapo before the arrival of Columbus and the subsequent Spanish invasion of the island.
Duration:00:15:29