For some years, Sandy Ground village has been a scene of a number of quaint and traditional dwelling houses, but that scenery is slowly and surely changing, giving way to a number of new and stately concrete structures.
Some of them have already begun to line the main road through the heart of the village. They join a cadre of modest bars and restaurants, mostly ringing the exquisitely beautiful shoreline against a daily crowd of pleasure boats at anchor in the inshore waters.
The buildings higher up in the land also comprise some commercial and other business places of two and three floors. Clothing, jewellery and arts and crafts are available there. Among the buildings are also modest guest houses and other tourist accommodation places. There is also one church – Trinity Methodist Church – Methodism being the prominent religion in the village.
Sandy Ground also boasts being the main port of entry in Anguilla, complete with Customs and Immigration facilities as well as a Marine Police Station. It is also the location of the Road Pond, where a striving export salt industry was the order of the day and a big source of seasonal employment. In addition Sandy Ground is in part a bird sanctuary, attracting even recently a pink flamingo which is still lurking around.
The coastal village has long been a leading boat-building site and is the main area for boat-racing – the national sport of Anguilla as well as the Caribbean Beach Party – an aspect of the Anguilla Summer Festival.
Though some of the historical relics and traditional traces of the cultural and social life of the village are still prominent features in Sandy Ground, it is certainly a coastal area with a changing face today.
– The Anguillian Newspaper
