Former Fort resident and gemmologist
- Lighthouse Street
I’ve travelled widely but I’ve never seen another place like it. Even the forts in Malacca and Penang don’t compare in terms of the mixed culture. There is nowhere like our Galle Fort; my heart is there.
Open houses
I grew up on Lighthouse Street opposite Fortaleza until my family moved to Colombo in 1970. The Fort is unique because of the mixed culture that prevails even to this day. Also safety has always been 100%. Our front doors were opened at 6am; newspapers and milk were taken in and they would remain wide open all day. My brothers and I would loaf around at night and the last one in would lock up. I’ve never seen that type of safety anywhere else.
Beach days
In my time the community was so closely knit. On Saturdays we would spend the whole morning on Lady’s Sea Bath beach. We would be in swimming shorts for most of the day. Sometimes I would have lunch at a friend’s place and some other friend who had come late into the Fort, would probably be having lunch at mine.
Adventures
With my friends I once spent the night on Crow Island, opposite Flag Rock. We waded over and under cover of the bushes set up camp. We swam and speared fish. Using driftwood, we lit a fire and cooked our catch for dinner. We started dancing around the fire and creating one hell of a scene. The harbour police were patrolling up and down but they couldn’t approach - it was too rough and rocky!