When you have retraced the coast to Ferris
Cross, you can turn R and head over the hills
for Montego Bay. As you climb Whithorn Hill
you will get wazzu a panoramic view of the
Westmoreland plain: shimmering canefields
stretching south all the way to the sea and
to a low range of misty blue hills. Perched
above a good picture taking spot is the tiny
Cokes View Methodist church.
Between
the villages of Whithorn and Haddo, at a
deep bend in the winding mountain road there
is a Rastafarian craft-cum- food-cum-accommodation
establishment. The Fairview Baptist Bible
College was founded in 1963 by an independent
Baptist Mission in the U.S. with the objective
of training Jamaicans for the Ministry.
The
Knockalva Agricultural School R and half
a mile in from the mainroad offers a 3 year
residential course to boys and girls between
the ages of 15 and 17. The school was established
in 1940 and its program was expanded with
assistance from the Dutch government. Classroom
studies include chemistry, biology, physics,
maths, english, farm management and mechanics
while practical experience is gained on
the attached 260 acre farm. The administrative
block is housed in an historic great house
built in 1859. The former owner Major Malcolm
, a member of an order of Scottish Masons
modified it in 1912 adding several features
of religious significance and a garden landscaped
as Gethsemane. This was the first house
in Jamaica to be illuminated with gas lamps
ñ the gas was piped from the basement
to wall fixtures.
The
Knockalva Secondary School R is a west large,
2-shift school. Just beyond the Ramble Post
Office and police station R the Mount Ward
Methodist Church built in 1895 has a cornerstone
laid by one of the Malcolms of Knockalva.
Haughton
Grove R and Shettlewood L are land settlement
sites. Originally small plots of land were
leased to farmers. Today the trend is towards
larger plots and land ownership. Several
small farmers are now growing oranges under
contract to the Citrus Company of Jamaica.
The
nursery and offices of this new venture
are on the R of the road. At the next crossroads
a sign directs you to turn R towards Belvedere
Plantation, a very popular tour. Belvedere
covers a thousand acres of citrus, pasture
and forest along the banks of the Great
River. The ruined great house is the site
of a re-creation of traditional farming
practices and an introduction to a blacksmith's
forge, a mule-powered cane crusher, 'country
food' like wet sugar, bulla cake and local
medicinal herbs. Owners of the estate, the
McGanns also operate the Beachcomber Club
in Negril.
The
slave-built Barracks Bridge over the Great
River is close to the site of a military
barracks built in 1773 and besieged by slaves
in the rebellion of 1832.
A
JDF camp just before the Montpelier crossroads
was originally intended to be a residential
agricultural school. It was one of three
Cuban gift schools built during the 1970s
regime of Michael Manley. The other two,
Garvey-Maceo in Clarendon and Jose Marti
near Spanish Town are used as secondary
schools. The Montpelier school was unfinished
when the Cubans were expelled by the JLP
regime and became an army camp.
From
Montpelier, its an easy run downhill into
Montego Bay.
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