Dear Editor,

In all the discussions about the water crisis currently facing Jamaica, not once has an underground steel tank been mentioned.

What is an underground steel tank? A visit to the Hope Filter Plant, adjacent to the rear of Hope Gardens, will provide the answer as there is one which was built in 1896 by engineer Fred Kimble et al. Kimble is associated with the Kingston and Liguanea Water Works, a private company which was the forerunner to the National Water Commission’s Hope Filter Plant. If an underground steel tank has been in existence for 130 years, why can’t the technology be replicated across Jamaica?

Before Kimble there was Thomas Hope-Elletson, who moved away from animals being used to power sugar mills to being associated with the construction of aqueducts for the Hope, Papine, and Mona estates.

What do engineering students at the national and regional universities know about Kimble and Hope-Elletson? A visit to the Hope Dam in Grove district along Gordon Town Road would reveal a sign stating ‘J Blakeborough & Sons, Hydraulic Engineers Brighouse Yorkshire’. A 2024 Internet search of Blakesborough & Sons led me to Andy Eccels who gave me permission to use his name. He also shared information on the history of Blakesborough valves. Eccels was pleased to hear that the Blakeborough name is still known throughout the world despite the company ceasing it operations decades ago.

Blakesborough was initially a plumber who sold pipefitting and expanded his business. According to an online source, “In 1866 Blakeborough’s purchased the Commercial Iron and Brass Foundry in Brighouse and continued to expand their business, and by 1874 the company produced their largest valve (at the time), a 24 inch sluice-valve. To cope with increase production, in 1875 Blakesborough’s acquired land in the Woodhouse area of Brighouse.”

In its hey day the company employed 200 people and eventually closed its operation in 1989 due to increased competition. Another name that appears on hydraulic engineering equipment ignored on the historic Hope landscape is Glenfield (00Y) Limited Kilmarnock. Unfortunately, no information regarding this company was found.

As Jamaica goes through its drought condition, it is important that the nation be educated about hydraulic water systems of the past using modern technology such as documentary. Such information should not be hidden but shared with a wide audience. In this regard, I am hereby requesting that Television Jamaica (TVJ) consider continuing its series on the drought by visiting the Hope Filter Plant and spotlighting its operation, including the use of the 1896 underground steel tank.

In the same breath, I am hereby calling on the Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda to seek audience with the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) to declare the Hope Filter Plant a national monument en block for serving us so well.

Based on the foregoing, I am of the view that engineers of the past appear to be a cut above many of the engineers of today, particularly in a Caribbean context.

Joan Francis

Museum and heritage preservation officer

Lecturer, archival appraisal and access

ajfrancis08@gmail.com