A quick trip back to Britain’s golden age
Jersey combines the dramatic with the calm, discovers on a trip to the island
I’M KICKING myself. Why has it taken me so long to visit Jersey? It’s a mere 50-minute flight from London, yet feels endearingly nostalgic. It’s tiny too, 45 miles square with a population of just 120,000.
The island is more dramatic than you might believe too.
Other-worldly in some places, with craggy volcanic formations both above and below the sea, and with vast beaches wide as motorways and gentle, rolling green hills which remind me of Wales.
Quaint seaside towns abound, with houses painted in mouthwatering tones of gelato, while crowning prime outcrops are imposing 12th-century castles, Martello Towers from Napoleonic times and vast numbers of fortifications constructed during the German Occupation.
Jersey is certainly an anomaly. It’s not quite British. It’s a Crown Dependency which answers to the Queen yet has its own government. It is part of Great Britain, but not part of the United Kingdom. The people are a mix of Norman French and British (France is just 14 miles away). Road signs are in French and English and Jérriais is still spoken by the older generations.
Admittedly, Jersey is renowned for being a tax haven, the many Ferraris and Lamborghinis roaring around the switchback roads are testament to that. So too are the grand, over-the-top ornate mansions with pools, perched on prime hilltop plots.
Generally, though, it feels more Los Angeles than Las Vegas when it comes to flouting it sartorially – it has more of a beach vibe.
What you also notice, is how exceedingly neat it is. From the pothole-free roads, to the capital St Helier, with its maze of laneways and immaculately-maintained Victorian shopfronts with curved glass windows.
The island’s interior unveils a different, densely verdant landscape, with walking trails through dense woodlands.
Through no fault of its own, It does have a dark past, though. It was the only British soil occupied by Nazi Germany in the Second World War from 1940-45.
Hitler was adamant the Allies would snatch it out of his control, despite the fact they were rather preoccupied in Europe and he ordered a vast array of defences to be constructed using slave labour from Russia, Poland and Spain.
Jersey’s underbelly still resembles honeycomb, such is the enormity of the tunnel No home should be without our classic magnifying glass with a traditional handle and powerful 3.5x magnification. 7.5cm diameter lens. Price
£5.49
P&P
£3.49
Qty Total