In a cultural showpiece, under the theme “If we pick the salt, the rain will come”, What We Do In Anguilla hosted a salt picking expedition at the Sandy Ground/Road Bay Pond on Sunday 2 September 2018. The over 50 salt-pickers in attendance were led by Mr Dave “Pope Paul” Carty and Mr Sydney Gumbs.
Mr Carty and Mr Gumbs gave riveting stories about the operations of the salt pond back in its prime until it collapsed in the 1980s. They demonstrated the process of harvesting salt, first by using an iron to break the hard crust into cakes. The workers would then crouch down, place their hands under the salt cakes, lift the pieces of salt and place in them in salt boats called ‘flats’. They pointed out that persons should ‘lift with their backs’ as that was how it was done.
Some of the salt pickers also took the opportunity to administer mud facials, claiming exfoliating properties.
The two-hour expedition was a valuable cultural experience and persons left with not only buckets of local salt but also improved knowledge of Anguilla’s first natural industry.
