Tucked away in the lush hills of Red Hills and Coopers Hill, Burnside Valley offers a glimpse of Jamaica’s quiet rural charm. Surrounded by thriving banana and coffee farms, the district is dotted with colourful houses, friendly residents, and breathtaking views of the countryside. Though the roads are rough and winding, the journey reveals the island’s enduring beauty and the warmth of its people.

Published Saturday, November 3, 1973

Jamaica Places: Coffee, bananas thrive at Burnside Valley

If you explore the pretty, woodsy region around Red Hills and Coopers Hill, it is possible to find all sorts of attractive spots. Some of these are little more than a crossroads with a couple of shops, but districts like Burnside Valley serve as centres for a considerable scattered population.
We had wandered around Red Hills earlier, enjoying the town and the marvellous views, and found the side road to Burnside Valley, marked by a handsome new sign, which intrigued us to follow the route.
The road quickly deteriorates after it passes the shop shown in the accompanying photo, set amidst the banana and coffee trees, which are the main crops of this district. After passing several tree-hidden and brightly painted houses surrounded by pretty flower beds, the road’s surface became so bad that we had to take another side trail – unpaved, but for some distance passable. The people we met along the way were friendly, as is generally the case in the Jamaican countryside.
Burnside Valley is seemingly well named for a disastrous fire that levelled this section many years ago. It must have occurred during a period of drought, for at an elevation approaching 1,600 feet, rainfall here is usually heavy, and the dense woods scarcely seem of any potential incendiary danger.
Col. C.L.G. Harris of Moore Town recently sent a letter to The Gleaner’s Editor regarding the possible origin of the place name Red Gal Ring, which I queried in this column on September 27. He mentioned that years ago, he and some friends were talking with a lady who said the name was a corruption of “Red Gathering.” But tantalisingly, no further explanation was given, says Col. Harris, for the old lady’s tale was interrupted. Perhaps someone else knows more? It is intriguing, no?
A friend of these articles also pointed out that the large island of Anglesey, lying off the coast of Caernarvonshire in northwest Wales, was formerly called Mona – and that this is probably the origin of the Mona property in St Andrew. I had thought Mona was a Scottish name, but it would appear to be Welsh instead.
 

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