From Negril
The journey from Negril to Savanna-la-Mar
takes less than half an hour - easy driving
through a lush alluvial basin cultivated in
cane. Nowhere else is it more obvious that
the island's history, its present and its
destiny are inextricably linked with sugar
- an industry that employs at least 50,000
persons.
The
exit road past the Shell Gas Station and
Police Station is normally crowded with
an assortment of traffic and littered higgedlly
piggedly with mechanic yards, tyre shops,
cafes, bars, shacks and other enterprises
including R Country Western Riding stables
and L Paradise Yard restaurant, creators
of Rasta Pasta and other indigenous specialties
like Paradise johnnycakes.
The
neat village of Sheffield is becoming a
suburb of Negril. Here you will find L Negril
Hills Golf Club with a gaudy clubhouse overlooking
the Great Morass, Royal Palm forest and
the abortive Nature Park built by government
and now leased to the operators of Negril
Cabins. The Nature Park has boardwalks and
birdwatching towers in the swamp. Check
Negril Cabins to arrange access.
Negril
Spots, is a cattle and coconut estate belonging
to the Jackson family, owners of Tree House
and Golden Nugget in Negril. At the junction,
a detour R leads to the villages of Revival,
Homers Cove and Little Bay where there is
accommodation, Run by the Sun for the adventurous.
Canefields border the road and the view
L is towards a tiny church in a sea of cane.
Salabie's Lumber Yard specializes in a local
housing solutions: readymade board houses,
small enough to be transported by truck
or even mule cart.
Little
London, a dormitory village for workers
in Negril and Frome is heavily populated
with East Indians. Their forbears were brought
to Jamaica as indentured labourers shortly
after the abolition of slavery when many
of the ex-slaves migrated away from the
sugar estates creating a shortage of labour.
Living and working conditions for the Indians
were very bad and many died. A number of
Commissions of Enquiry did little to improve
things and in 1914 the Indian government
finally prohibited further migration of
labourers to the West Indies. An early champion
of the East Indians was an Anglican minister
Rev. Henry Clarke whose protest about the
conditions of the working classes and outspoken
criticisms of the establishment made him
extremely unpopular with the hierarchy.
(A relative of his, Robert Clarke, was the
father of Bustamante who used to warn "My
name is Clarke but don't call me so").
The Indian labourers were the first to introduce
seeds of ganja (marijuana) into Jamaica.
The descendants of the East Indian labourers
(called "Coolies") are still concentrated
in the sugar belts. Much of their Hindu
heritage has been maintained and aspects
of it have been assimilated into local "grass-roots"
culture. More recently a small group of
higher caste "Bombay merchants"
arrived in Jamaica and control the lucrative
in-bond trade.
A
detour from Little London takes you through
canefields to the farming centre of Grange
Hill and then to Frome Sugar Factory where
there is a monument commemorating Labour
leader Bustamante and the workers for their
courageous fight in 1938 on behalf of the
working people of Jamaica. The Frome factory
was built in 1939 by the West Indies Sugar
Co, a subsid-iary of the British corporation
Tate & Lyle which owned 16 sugar estates
in the area. The large central factory at
Frome replaced 7 smaller ones which had
become antiquated and uneconomical. Just
before the opening of the new factory, Frome
was the scene of labour disturbances initiated
by a strike for more pay (at the time women
were being paid 10 cents per day and men
15 cents per day). There were also fears
that the new centralized system would cause
unemployment. Canefield fires and rioting
provoked police action resulting in four
deaths.
Alexander
Bustamante, who had recently emerged as
the champion of the working man, rushed
to the scene and attempted to mediate. A
Commission of Inquiry into conditions in
the sugar industry was appointed and Busta
went on to found the Bustamante Industrial
Trade Union and ultimately the Jamaica Labour
Party.
During
the 1960s, when the West Indies Sugar Co.
was threatening to scale down its operation
in Jamaica, the government bought them out.
Thereafter the government-owned factories
lost money steadily for almost two decades.
Recently all the government sugar assets
were 'privatized' and Frome, Moneymusk and
Bernard Lodge were all sold to a private
consortium that includes J Wray and Nephew
and Booker-Tate (formerly Tate & Lyle).
Their intention is to spend US$40 million
on refurbishing the factories and increasing
production.
Frome
processes all the cane grown in the parishes
of Hanover and Westmoreland and dominates
the economy of the parishes. Originally
this area was a patchwork of individually
owned sugar estates, many with fascinating
histories. Bulstrode was the property of
Bulstrode Whitelocke, a Roundhead who helped
to draw up the charges that brought King
Charles I to the executioner's block. Banbury
was owned by Colonel John Guthrie the man
who negotiated with Cudjoe the treaty that
ended the first Maroon War. Cornwall was
owned by Monk Lewis, a celebrated nineteenth
century author and friend of Lord Byron.
Lewis's humane treatment of his slaves astonished
and annoyed his neighbours. His Journal
of a West Indian Proprietor published in
1843 remains a valuable source book for
historians. This detour will take you past
George's Plain into Sav.
Back
on the Negril to Sav main road the swampy
land around Meylersfield is a rice growing
area. The second bridge spanning the Cabaritta
is known far and wide as Big Bridge. The
Cabaritta is the largest river in the parish
and rises near Cascade in Hanover. Crocodiles
have long since disappeared from its banks
but the river offers good fishing and is
noted for a small fish called "Godame".
Legend says that it was the last of all
creatures to be named and when the Creator
called out "Who is left ? Who is that
out there?" the fish replied, "God
it's me" ("God, a me" in
Jamaican). Godames can live out of water
for several hours, even days, if kept in
a cool damp place. Crayfish (otherwise called
"janga") are found here too: boiled
and heavily seasoned they are transformed
into Pepper Shrimps - a Jamaican delicacy.
Pollution caused by effluent from the Frome
sugar factory frequently affects this river.
SAVANNA
LA MAR (the plain by the sea), otherwise
know as "Sav" is capital of the
parish of Westmoreland. Founded in 1730,
the town has been inundated three times
during hurricanes. In 1780 "the sea
rose and left two ships and a schooner stranded
among trees," and in 1912 the schooner
Lationia ended up in the middle of town.
Great George Street is the broadest and
longest main street in the island stretching
one mile to the seafront and a market, ruined
fort and erstwhile sugar pier. The fort
was never completed and had started to collapse
into the sea by 1755. Today it is a swimming
hole. Midway to the sea is the Courthouse
which boasts a filigree cast iron fountain
donated by a civic-minded planter in 1887.
Perennially dry, it hardly warrants the
warning inscribed on all four sides: "keep
the pavements dry". The town's diversified
economic base comprising sugar, tourism
in Negril, and marijuana has fuelled steady
growth. Several mini-shopping plazas have
blossomed. Fast-food outlets, video stores,
discos, banks and furniture stores are in
good supply.
Places
of historic interest in Sav include Mannings
High School which was founded in 1738 with
a bequest of land, 13 slaves and cattle
from Thomas Manning.
Jamaica
National Building Society was originally
the Westmoreland Building Society, founded
in 1888 by the Rev. Henry Clarke, as part
of his campaign to assist the "small
man". In 1971 it merged with other
rural building societies to form Jamaica
National. Currently one of the two largest
home loan institutions in the Caribbean,
JN now has its own merchant bank and real
estate company and is a major shareholder
in the island's largest bank.
Places
to stay: Hendon House on the edge of town,
an eighteenth-century great house with gleaming
wooden floors, a spiral mahogany staircase,
modest rates and meals on request. Lochiel
Guest House is set in lush pastures about
a mile along the Ferris road. Formerly known
as Heaven Below it is a tall eighteenth-century
estate house of brick and timber. It has
a lush garden and comfortable modern wing,
modest rates and meals on request. Slightly
more upscale is Orchard, a mile along the
Petersfield road: a sprawling, cut stone
guest house in a rural setting with a restaurant,
bar, and swimming pool. It is owned by the
legendary Mother Segre (one of Negril's
pioneer hoteliers) and run by her grandchildren.
Heading
north out of Sav you come to a fork in the
road known as Dunbar's Crossing. Four miles
along the L fork is the village of Petersfield
which was named after Peter Beckford a rambunctious
horse trader who arrived in the island in
1660, and broke his neck 50 years later
trying to quell a riot in the Jamaica House
of Assembly. He died leaving 24 estates
and 4000 slaves. One of the original Beckford
properties, Shrewsbury, is the source of
the Roaring River where Freedom Village,
a living museum in the making is well worth
a visit. Turn L by St Peter's Anglican and
drive nearly 1 mile to a cross roads where
water gushes from an old aqueduct, bear
R and just before you reach the bridge turn
R again. You'll know you're there by the
group of guides, snack vendors and villagers
at the approach to another small stone bridge.
Just above here one source of the river
surfaces quite abruptly beside the road,
joins another stream and flows beneath the
aqueduct to a filtration plant. The majestic
Silk Cotton tree by the pool is at least
300 years old. Steps lead up a steep hillside
to the mouth of a cave which tunnels into
the cliff face. Admission fee for the cave
covers the services of a guide. It is lighted,
has many chambers and a spring. The journal
of William Beckford, a descendant of Peter's
and founder of England's Academy of Art,
reveals that he used to escape from the
wild parties up at the great house and come
here for spooky meditations. Craft workshops
and a restaurant in a meadow by the stream
may be open by the time you read this. Among
the craftsmen here is a personable Rastafarian
artist called 'Shaper'. Another source of
the Roaring River lies 1.25 miles away via
a well nigh impassable parochial road. Here
you will find a large blue hole where the
water bubbles up from subterranean caverns.
It is encircled by the I-tal Herb and Spice
Farm belonging to Ed Kritzler, a refugee
from the New York advertising rat race.
Cottages and campsites are available for
rent and there is an I-tal restaurant specializing
in herb teas.
At
Dunbar's crossing, the road R to Ferris
is bordered by pastures and giant Guango
trees. You will pass the Grace meat processing
wazzu factory L and R Paradise Club at the
top of a driveway lined with Royal Palms.
It is available by reservation for weddings
and other functions.
East
of Ferris Cross there is a succession of
fishing villages. Many of the boats are
the traditional cotton tree canoes first
used by the Arawaks. In contrast to the
barren northcoast seas, fish are still plentiful
off the southcoast although the fishermen
have to go further and further out to maintain
their catches. Goods offered for sale along
the coast road include fresh fish, boiled
lobster, limes, hammocks and fruit. At Cave
the main road crosses over a pretty mountain
and there is a fine view west towards Sav.
Bluefields
is believed to be the site of Oristan, the
earliest Spanish settlement. It is a matter
of recorded history that a group of colonists
was landed here by Juan de la Costa, a pilot
and map maker who sailed with Columbus on
his earliest voyages, and that the settlement
on the southcoast predated Sevilla la Nueva.
In the age of the buccaneers the safe anchorage
and never failing stream at Bluefields made
it a refuge and supply base for ships. It
was here, in 1670 that Henry Morgan mustered
his fleet and sailed off to sack Panama.
Climbing
the hill towards Bluefields bay there is
L a photogenic small church and R three
luxury seafront villas available for rent.
The long narrow Bluefields beach is always
crowded on weekends and holidays. There
are a variety of snack and craft stalls
but minimal sanitary facilities. Bluefields
House a short distance L of the main road
opposite the Police station is still closed
as we go to press. In 1844 Philip Henry
Gosse, the famous British naturalist made
his base here to research the books Birds
of the West Indies and A Naturalist's Sojourn
in Jamaica. Further up the same road a former
great house, Oristana, is the home of British
artist William Fielding, known for his elegant
water colours of Jamaica's architectural
heritage. On the same headland and advertised
opposite the police station, Shafston Great
House is approximately 2 miles inland with
a stunning view and wild woodland setting.
Road access is almost impossible and unless
its format has changed recently, this hostelry
is not for anyone with any pretensions to
respectability.
Approaching
Belmont and beside the Ocean Edge pub and
restaurant is the headquarters of the vibrant
Bluefields People's Co-operative Association
created by Terry Williams with the support
of a 'core' group of local leaders. Terry,
a former football star and sportsmaster
in London is a repatriated Jamaican and
committed environmentalist. The B.C.P.A.
has attracted foreign funding and its next
project centres around a model farm and
agro forestry. B.C.P.A.ís mangrove
nature trail is open to visitors.
Belmont
has a fishing beach, cottages and rooms
for rent and a brand new Inn called Closer
to Nature. Jah Calo's roadside craft shop
advises Walk, Ride and Drive with Care and
offers hand-painted T-Shirts and interesting
woodcarvings. Friendly Jah Calo is a Rastafarian
member of the Ethiopian Orthodox church.
He can also arrange snorkeling, birdwatching
and boat tours to Black River with his friend
Errol .
Auchindown,
a cattle and pimento estate is owned by
popular talk-show host Ronnie Thwaites,
a man of many parts: lawyer, Catholic deacon,
coffee and livestock farmer, deep sea fishing
entrepreneur and embryonic tourism investor
with plans for a restaurant and golf course,
beach park and villa hotel. Archaeological
treasures at Auchindown include the ruined
seventeenth century castle and an Arawak
midden. The beach and wetland opposite Auchindown
is scheduled for a large hotel to be called
Beaches to be developed by Sandals magnate
Butch Stewart. As we went to press the project
appeared to be on hold - much to the disappointment
of local landowners but also to the relief
of environmentalists and local fishermen
who fear the impact of mass tourism.
In
the nearby village of Culloden, Natania's
Guest House on Parker's Bay is a small jewel:
verdant garden, pristine seafront, airy
architecture, and pleasant restaurant. The
owner, Peter Probst, a 'refugee' from New
York via Negril is still a partner in Rickís
Cafe. He is also in partnership with Ronnie
Thwaites to create a 7 acre beach park on
the east of Parkers Bay plus a hotel and
villa complex and 'affordable' town expansion
on the hills overlooking it.
Whitehouse,
a thriving village with a seaside housing
scheme began to boom with rumours of impending
tourism development. Traditionally, its
economic base is fishing. The fishing beach
here is the largest on the island and has
more than 60 boats. The best fishing grounds
are 80 miles offshore at the Pedro Banks.
The beach hums with activity every morning
as wives, children and higglers await the
return of the fishermen or bargain in the
adjoining market. Sad to say, the National
Resources Conservation Authority and the
Fisheries Department appear to be fighting
a losing battle to control the overfishing
and reckless harvesting of conch and lobster
on the Pedro Cays.
South
Sea park is a residential subdivision dotted
with ornate homes many sporting the ultimate
status symbol - a satellite dish. Accommodation
options here include South Sea View guest
house on the water's edge.
Scott's
Cove is the place to buy fish and bammy.
Bammy is a large thick pancake made from
cassava. Soaked in milk and then fried,
it is the traditional accompaniment for
highly seasoned fried fish. Cassava was
the main food crop of the Arawaks and bammy
is one of their few legacies. The young
vendors do not believe in the soft sell
but rush the car thrusting their wares through
the window and jabbering at you. Don't be
scared; they are friendly. The women stay
on the beach and do the cooking. Cold drinks
are on sale. The cove itself is hidden from
the sea and almost landlocked. It is here
that Spanish ships used to unload supplies
for Ysassi and the few Spanish colonists
who remained to fight the British.
Scott's
Cove marks the boundary between the parishes
of Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth (see Mandeville
section).
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