Popham

Kids love a treasure hunt, especially when it involves pirates, caves or castles.

When we lived in the Seychelles, our son Nick loved nothing more than a visit to Moyenne Island where we would seed the trail with pirate treasure for him to find. ( I hope I haven't spoiled your illusions Nick!). Last week when we were in Maine where we did the same with our other son Dan. We thoroughly wound Dan up with tales of pirate gold and we made up our own treasures such as fake doubloons and cheese treats wrapped in tin foil and card. Being able to eat the treasure is a huge incentive for Dan.

The Phippsburg Peninsula is almost a second home to me. The road runs south from Bath township in the State of Maine, ending at Popham Point and Popham Beach State Park. It takes about 30 minutes to drive from the coastal road, Highway 1, to Fort Popham. but I would recommend going down through West Bath on the New Meadows side and coming back up to Bath via the Parker Head Road along the shores of the powerful Kennebec River. Even then, you won't be able to say to you have seen it all.

Dr Brain at Fort George.

Despite many visits, I always find something new down there.

Of course we knew about the English Captain Popham's settlement on the point, which is commemorated by the fortifications that everyone visits, but I knew nothing about Fort Baldwin which was built in the early 20th century and overlooks Fort Popham. This big fort complex is now hidden in the woods above the shore and it reminds me of those Victorian fortifications we see around the UK coast that were built to keep Napoleon at bay. It housed big naval guns that could cover the entrance to the Kennebec at a time when it was a busy shipping lane: hence all those lighthouses you can see up the river today. In fact it's still a strategic point because they  build warships upstream at the Bath Ironworks.

We drove up a narrow lane to a trail-head car-park where we poked and cajoled Dan into leaving the car and headed off into the woods. My sister-in-law Susy ran ahead to plant the treasure while we sprayed ourselves with DEET to keep the bugs off. Right there, in the edge of the woods we came across a team of archaeologists who were working on an excavation. Their leader was a large, elderly  man, dressed in a white shirt with white baggy trousers, held up with stout red braces, and topped off with a white cotton bucket hat. He looked very impressive and every inch the field archaeologist in his Teddy Roosevelt spectacles. His name is Dr. Jeffrey P. Brain and he works at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.

I told him that we had come on a treasure hunt and you should have seen the look of alarm on his face!

"Well this certainly isn't the place for it", he said.

I asked him what he was excavating and he asked me if I knew anything about Fort George. "Just a little," I lied. In fact I was totally confused. How many forts were there here?

He explained that when the Popham colony was founded in 1607 they built the first fort on American soil right where I was standing. He was working on the floor of the chapel. The site is a time capsule because the colonists abandoned it after a year and  it was never built on or expanded.

The Kists go Down East.

About 100 people formed the settlement but about half of them left as winter set in. The remaining team completed the fort and built themselves a means of escape in the form of a proper wooden ship called the  Virginia of Sagadahoc. It was substantial enough to sail the Atlantic and actually made a return journey to the Americas. A full scale replica of this first ship to be built in the Americas is being built in Bath as I write.

I would have loved to learn more and to tell him that in 1607 Oliver Cromwell was attending school where I live, but we had treasures of our own to find in the sunlit glades and secret tunnels around Fort Baldwin.

The fort is composed of three batteries on the hilltop, called Cogan, Hawley and Hardman. It was built in the early 1900s and manned in both world wars.The better known landmark of Fort Popham was built in 1862. Of course, the trees have grown up a lot in the last 80 years and so the forts no longer have broad views of the approaches, nor can they be seen from the shore, but they are a great place for an adventure.

Dan hooted and squealed his way through gun emplacements, battlements, tunnels and stairways for a very happy hour. We didn't see it all, nor did we find all the treasure, so we must go back next year.

Fort Popham

We adjourned for lunch at Spinney's Restaurant, where all of the windows give views of the river mouth, Fort Popham and the wooded hills that are dotted with old, white, wooden homes and tiny cemeteries. By any standards, this is a very old and historic place, full of treasures and worth a lot more investigation.

When you think about it, the Popham Colony is as much a piece of British History as Sir Francis Drake, Walter Raleigh or Capt. Scott. The participants of the expedition were all British and none of them settled in the Americas as far as we know, but they paved the way for all the others to come. In recognition of this, a British archaeologist is on the team which has the support of the Smithsonian.

Building a fort and a large seaworthy vessel in one year was quite an achievement and getting everyone out safely was probably the best plan. I wouldn't say that the colony was a failure, would you?

To see more photos go to Photobucket