Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/156165
Plantations are as integral to the history, landscape and culture of Trelawny as Falmouth is to the country's former colonial might. At the height of the plantation era, the parish was home to more than 80 great houses, each one a hilltop jewel in the plantation owner's crown. Today they are at once symbols of a troubled slaving past and lovely pastoral monuments to a different time. At the town of Martha Brae, we branch off the north-coast highway A1 and then follow a potholed road that winds toward Cockpit Country, the rugged, sparsely inhabited interior of Trelawny and neighbouring St. James Parish. The Martha Brae River flows languidly next to the road, and riotous hedges of blossoming bougainvillea surround tidy homes. Soon we arrive at Good Hope and are greeted by host Odette Hawthorne. Sun filters through big leafy trees and a diesel truck chugs past packed with oranges, now the primary crop grown on the plantation. After meeting Hawthorne, we drive through a gatehouse flanked by huge limestone blocks inscribed with the words "Good" and "Hope." From there, a gravel road spirals up to the elegant centrepiece of this 809hectare estate, Good Hope great house, built more than 250 years ago from limestone blocks that came to Jamaica in the form of ship ballast. A small statue of the Buddha sits on the edge of the front lawn, incongruent with its history but indicative of the current owner's spiritual leanings and the building's modern repurposing as a venue for artist and yoga retreats, as well as other private functions. As oxymoronic as it sounds, one of the original plantation owners, John Tharpe, was a slave trader with a heart. He earned a reputation for kindness and compassion in an era that for people of colour didn't have much of either. At its peak, 3,000 slaves toiled at Good Hope. Tharpe built a 300-bed hospital for their care. "Even though he was very exhausted at the end of the day, Mr. Tharpe would try to shake the hands of as many slaves as he could. That's why the great house was spared during the slave rebellion," Hawthorne says as we explore the airy rooms of the manor, stopping to observe the two-metre-long, lead-coated, wood-fired bathtub where Tharpe soaked to soothe his arthritis. "He may have been the first person in Jamaica to have hot and cold running water." Continued on page 38 >> p28-41_Jamaica.indd 35 f a l l 2 0 13 | w e s t w o r l d A l b e r t a 35 13-08-12 9:44 AM