Why might a letter mailed on the 25th of October take until the 21st of January to be received? There are several possibilities, including the fact that it was going to an isolated destination and that it might have been misdirected.
In a geography lesson, where I was attempting to explain the impact of isolation on people, I’d chosen Tristan as a practical example. Prior to the lesson, I had mailed a registered letter to the Church of England on Tristan. In late spring, and much to my surprise, I’d received a letter back from the Reverend E.D. Buxton, addressed from Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic Ocean.
'Thank you for your letter,’ it began. ‘Our last mail out was 11th December and we cannot expect another out until about 6th April. That may give you some idea of our isolation. We can of course get BBC World News daily on our radios.’
Retirement Reality: Becoming A Paradise Hunter
The Reverend Buxton had retired after 40 years of parish life and work in England, but was rather bored with the inactivity and lack of opportunity. For the health of his mind and soul, he ‘offered’ for a ministerial position on Tristan when he heard it was vacant.
At the time of my letter the Reverend Buxton and his wife were looking forward to a return the next year to England and to seeing something of their own scattered family in India, Nigeria, Australia, and Cambridge, England.
The First Year Newsletter
In the Bishop’s report on the first year on Tristan, he reported that he and his wife had become acquainted with the annual cycle which made up life on Tristan da Cunha. They had survived the year happily and well and loved their island home. It was a comfortable, modern bungalow set in a sheltered hollow, with added protection from tall, thick flax. And looking out to sea, the view was the same but always different: restless, changing, a variable sea and sky; and behind the narrow shelf 33 m above the sea, 12 km long east to west, inhabited by about 300 people in 100 houses, and with space to stretch their legs for a good walk was the massive 600 m high base of the mountain guarded by the 2100 m volcanic peak, solid as the sea is liquid, sometimes shrouded from view in a veil of mist, and at other times daubed with bold drapery of light and shade on its craggy side by the sun early or late in the day.
Before coming here and after reading several books on Tristan, the Bishop rather got the impression that the weather might be almost impossible and the people almost perfect. Neither was true. They were indeed glad that they had brought their two-piece foul-weather coverings, clad in which they could laugh at the worst that wind and rain could do, even 'horizontal' rain. And they had lovely days of blue sky and warm sun even in winter, and in summer the sun could be very hot. Really wild, wet weather was not so very often, nor for long at a time. The islanders had some delightful and attractive characteristics and a strong church tradition, but that did not add up to perfection. As in any other community, they had their social troubles and problems – and a policeman.
They ended the newsletter by remarking that while they were very far away and seemingly isolated when they listened daily to the BBC world news, they did not entirely escape the infections of the modern world and the erosion of faith. The lack of church support on the part of many expatriates was not helpful and disappointing, although they had a splendid exception to this in the regular attendance of the Administrator and his wife at the Sunday Eucharist. They expected several new arrivals on the island in the near future for work in agriculture, radio, and school. In their situation, new faces were always exciting, interesting and very welcome.
In closing, Father Buxton commented that they hadn’t just escaped to a distant island paradise, but had actually found a very interesting and worthwhile job in this unusual and out-of-the-way situation, and they were happy and thankful to be there. The newsletter was signed Edmund and Katharine Buxton, Tristan da Cunha, and dated October 1976.
Friends of Tristan
I contacted a Richard Grundy seeking an update on this remote island and, as it turned out, we had similar experiences. He’d also been a geographer, teaching mainly in UK schools, latterly as Head of Geography, then as Deputy Head in a Glastonbury 11-16 school. He also taught on Tristan from 1982 to 1985, and after taking early retirement started getting involved again with Tristan. He now runs the Tristan da Cunha website from his home in Somerset and produces a Tristan da Cunha Newsletter. He also gives Tristan talks and teaching projects in primary schools and has his own website, Solomon's Project, to publicize this work.
He was very interested in getting hold of the full text of the Reverend Edward Buxton's correspondence with me. The Reverend had published a book entitled 'Island Chaplain: Tristan da Cunha 1975-1978’ which recalled some of his experiences in diary form. It was published in 2001, but he had passed away before it was reviewed in the March 2002 Tristan newsletter. Two annual newsletters are produced and an Annual Gathering in Southampton is held each spring, the details of which are posted on the website.
A Father's Retirement Advice
In some cases, of course, there are ramifications to working after retirement, including taxes and health care. At least Father Buxton chose a British protectorate. But as my father wrote in a letter shortly after I retired from teaching: ‘Three out of five retirees never live beyond two years after being introduced to the comfortable rocker: It’s a No! No!’ He went on to write that eating patterns, plenty of walking, and consuming hobbies would play a big part in whether I stuck around the planet earth.
James Gibson - James Gibson is a retired teacher and small business owner. He is a published writer and has a wide spectrum of interests.
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