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"Wavescan" is a weekly program for long distance radio hobbyists produced by Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, Coordinator of International Relations for Adventist World Radio. AWR carries the program over many of its stations (including shortwave). Adrian Peterson is a highly regarded DXer and radio historian, and often includes features on radio history in his program. We are reproducing those features below, with Dr. Peterson's permission and assistance.
Wavescan N661, October 24, 2021
The Kingdom of Redonda & the Island of Barbuda in the Caribbean
The Kingdom of Redonda
A news headline in April this year (2021) stated that "Flying Goats Could Save a Caribbean Island". This mile long, rugged, uninhabited and almost totally barren island that was referred to in the news headline is identified as Redonda Island, and the flying goats that will help save this island are part of a nature conservation effort. This island is a half-serious kingdom, without citizens.
Redonda Island is the left over remnant of an extinct volcano, and it is the third largest island in the Caribbean nation that carries the twin title of Antigua and Barbuda. The island was named Redonda by the famous European explorer Christopher Columbus on the occasion of his second adventure tour to the New World in 1493.
The island Redonda has always been uninhabited, except for half a century at the end of the 1800s and into the early 1900s when up to a hundred workers were engaged in mining the rich guano deposits on the island. An author of fantasy novels, Matthew P. Shiel, from nearby Montserrat, claimed that his father arranged a ceremony on the island in which he was crowned King of Redonda at the age of 15 in 1880. According to the story, the British Colonial Office in London approved his appointment as King of Redonda, a nation without a permanent inhabitant.
According to a documentary on BBC Radio 4 in London in 2007, a multitude of international personalities have claimed, or been ennobled as King of Redonda, during the past 1½ centuries. The current claimant is an Englishman, artist Stephen Chambers.
Regarding the Flying Goats on Redonda, this is the story. Back about 300 years ago, Long Horned Goats were introduced to the island to provide food for stranded or shipwrecked sailors. However, as time went by, the goats have multiplied and they have just about devoured all of the sparse vegetation on the island. In an effort to save the goats from starvation and to allow the vegetation to regrow, the few remaining goats are being airlifted out by helicopter and resettled on the main island of Antigua itself.
An island lying in Bass Strait between Tasmania and the Australian mainland was named Redondo due to its similarity in shape with this Caribbean island. Both Redonda in the Caribbean and Rodondo in Australian waters are still uninhabited, both are nature reserves, and no radio station has ever been installed on either of them.
The Island of Barbuda
The island of Barbuda is the second largest island in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda. It is a very irregularly shaped island, approximately 15 miles long and 10 miles across, with a resident population of considerably less than 2,000 people. Barbuda was listed by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the top ten destinations to watch in 2016, and it continues to be of interest to independent travelers from all over the world.
The longest beach in the Caribbean, 17 miles long, lies on the southern shore of the island of Barbuda. Part of this beach is known as Pink Sand Beach, due to the pink color of the fine soft sand, and another part is known as Princess Diana Beach, due to her visits to that lonesome area.
Unfortunately, Barbuda lies in the pathway of major hurricanes in the Caribbean, and it has been devastated twice in this new century. On both occasions, in 2017 and 2019, the hurricane damage was so intense that the entire population was temporarily evacuated to neighboring Antigua.
In addition to communication radio, the only radio broadcasting stations on Barbuda have been local FM stations, as a slave relay with programming from the parent FM station on the capital city island, Antigua. The first FM relay station on Barbuda was inaugurated in the town of Codrington by Abundant Life Radio in 2004, with 1 kW on 103.1 MHz. A subsequent station was also inaugurated in Codrington by Nice FM on 104.3 MHz, the same FM channel as the parent station on Antigua Island.