This article is written by Sneha Divakar, an Indian internet professional based in Boston, USA
Every bus in George Town drives up to the jetty. That’s where you get the hint.
When you get off at the jetty, look around and the old wall peeping at you is probably the back of Fort Cornwallis. George Town is a well developed city today and has more office buildings and tourist centers than the heritage buildings. The entrance to Fort Cornwallis is an open ground which also serves as the entry park to the beautiful promenade and while you admire the promenade and those faraway ships, the little fort can just about hide away from your eye.
Spanning a small area of no more than a swimming pool, the fort has cells which were used in the British Colonial days for prisoners. Now these have history boards of the British Generals posted in George Town. A good read if you are interested in History. There is a little Chapel. Little means very little, just a room.
If you walk around and up the fort, there are the fixed firing canons facing the sea and arms storage rooms. That’s pretty much Fort Cornwallis. What did I expect? I mean, I was raised in a city that was previously a British cantonment but never bothered to visit the fort or dig out the colonial history. Because it was all around me, living and merging into the present day’s life.
Sneha Divakar
2 May 2011
http://tra-well.blogspot.com/2011/05/looking-for-history-in-heritage-city.html
