Category Archives: Channel Islands

March 21, 2013 · 7:32 pm

Virtual Tour beyond the Solent no 11 ~ Alderney and Competition!!!

On the way to Alderney

On the way to Alderney

To Alderney

There you are

As most people who know me realise, Alderney is my most favourite place in the world and it’s where my story began. The reason my virtual tour goes straight from Calshot to Alderney is because it is the closest Channel Island to the mainland, and the closest to France too! The easiest way to get thereis by their own Aurigny islander plane, unless you are a sailor with a yacht! (This might change though, since there are rumours of a more regular ferry service on its way)

It was on Alderney where I made the decision to write my first novel ‘Riduna,’ allegedly the Roman name for the island, inspired by my Great Grandmother who was born there in the middle of the 19th Century. The ferries used to leave Southampton from what people now know as Ccean Village Marina opposite Woolston on the River Itchen and would have travelled past Weston Shore, the Royal Victoria Hospital and Calshot Castle before meeting the Solent. There they would almost certainly have headed east around the coast of the Isle of Wight and then on across the Channel. I travelled that route on the slow boat to Guernsey whilst doing my research, just to see want it was like. Today the ferry passes the island of Alderney just half an hour before reaching St Peter Port.

Why do I like Alderney, apart from my family history, and why do I keep a photo of Braye Beach in front of me on my desk? (the same photo which is at the top of this blog)

Firstly it is a very beautiful island, with long sandy bays and sheltered coves. There are abundant walks on which to view the wildlife. The island of Burhou, just off its coast, boasts of a colony of puffins, but there are also gannets on Gannet Rock, albino hedgehogs and black rabbits.  Although you may have heard that the Germans did their best to adorn the island with concrete defences, time has been kind and most are grassed over now or reclaimed. The underground defences still in existence adds a new meaning to the word ‘bunker’ on the golf course, I’m told, but since I know nothing about golf I can’t verify or deny the rumour. I do know that the views from the links are fantastic and there are benches where you can sit and admire them (as long as you keep your eye open for the odd stray golf ball!) There are imposing Victorian Fortresses which give quite an impact to the views as you stroll about, some on the island itself, some with tidal causeways and others totally cut off by the restless sea. You can’t help but admire the Victorian architects and builders who conceived them.

We also love to amble along the unspoilt cobbled streets of St Anne, lined with Georgian cottages and more sumptuous terraced houses and enjoy the wide variety of cafes and restaurants from local sea food to Thai, from fish and chips at the famous Braye Chippy to Pizza. The island just about caters for all tastes.

Now, this island has certainly inspired my writing and I call Alderney ~ ‘Riduna’ in my novels, The Riduna Series. I see Riduna as a character in itself, since feelings towards it run high. My characters either never want to leave her shores or they long to escape. For those who escape successfully, or have to move on against their free will, the island continues to drawn them home by its compelling force which seems to continue to hold sway over the next generation too. A bit like me really, two generations removed!

Well, I would really like to have some guest posts about Alderney for once I’ve finished my virtual tour ‘beyond.’

So:

~If you have any memories of holidays there, of humorous or cheerful tales. or of course of your childhood if you were lucky enough to be born there….

~If you have a special place that you would like to describe or trips or walks you enjoyed especially.

~If you’d like to put pen to paper and get in touch with me, then I have a small competition running.

The best two will win a £10 book token and a paperback copy of either Riduna or Ancasta

There will be an ebook or kindle version of Riduna for the first ten entrants too!

As long as you are happy for me to publish your post on this blog, with your name and any links you might like to use related to the island.

The closing date for this will be 12th April, when I have just returned from the island myself!

Get in touch for more details or just to send me your writing  in the body of the email please to:

diana@dianamaryjackson.co.uk

(up to 500 words but could be a poem of only 50!)

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November 5, 2012 · 8:20 am

In Answer to the Oxford Mail ~ The Unique Island of Alderney

I changed tack today in my blog post to write a response to Lucy Golding in the Oxford Mail

Channel hopping: Lucy Golding finds Alderney is a world away from commercial-centric holidays

Lucy writes:

“It is the lack of anything recognisable to our over-commercialised, materialistic expectations that makes Alderney so special, a gem of natural beauty with a community spirit so humbling that anywhere else you ever visit will seem hostile by comparison.”

You don’t have WH Smiths on Alderney but you do have the friendly Annie’s Bookshop

You don’t have Costa Coffee but the terraced front of Jack’s at the bottom of Victoria Street is a sun trap and a great place to meet people or watch the little world of Alderney go about its daily business.

You don’t have the Ritz or even a cheap and soulless Travel Inn but instead you have relative luxury at The Braye Beach or a warm welcome and good food at The Harbour Lights or The Belle Vue, not to mention the numerous friendly Bed and Breakfast establishments.

You don’t have Next or even MnS but my Lazy Jack’s sweater and several other t shirts purchases on the island are my favourites and always remind me of Alderney when I snuggle into them at home.

Alderney doesn’t have red squirrels, to my knowledge, but it does have albino hedgehogs, and puffins on the nearby island of Burhou. In fact, if it’s wildlife and nature you’re after, then Alderney is certainly the place to be.

What you don’t have is factories, traffic jams or pollution…. maybe half a dozen cars may pass you when walking along the busiest road from the airport to the town of St Anne.

Having said all this I can assure you that the variety of eateries for a small island include Thai, Indian, Italian, French and good old fashioned English cooking… all of a high quality, often boasting of local produce when they can, and the fish…. mmmmm … Sea Bass to die for!  (The burger bar down by the old harbour uses only island beef!)

Talking of fishing, if you’ve ever been over on the island during the Fishing Festival and gate crashed one of their evening trophy events, then you’ll see Alderney’s welcome at its best. I’ve never accidentally attended a Golfing event but I imagine it is similar… I read that they even have a Sprint and Hill Climb with the Guernsey Cart and Motor Club heading over for the annual event too….. The Schneider Trophy this year too….. are there more…….

If you visit Alderney during one of these events, or even during Alderney Week which Lucy describes, don’t get the impression that it makes the island busy. Bustling and fun yes, but on Alderney, within minutes of the central activities, you can be quite alone, ambling along cliff top walks, lazing on the fantastic beaches or admiring the views of the many fortresses which have guarded the island since Victorian times.

Enjoy! Alderney is only a hop away from Guernsey and a small leap from the mainland, but it’s certainly worlds apart!

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June 28, 2012 · 11:59 am

To The Alderney Museum and Society ~ Many thanks

Victoria Street Alderney

 

 

(Many thanks to John Elsbury for the use of the Westness Postcards in this blog post)

I have spent many pleasant hours at the Alderney Museum browsing around their interesting displays and special exhibitions, but in the last few years my visits have become more purposeful. First of all I joined the Alderney Society, gaining access to their growing number of books, documents and other materials. The majority of these items have been donated to them, since many books were burnt for fuel during the Occupation in WW2.

The volumes cover history, flora and fauna of Alderney and all of the Channel Islands, with personal accounts and memoirs adding a real flavour to the picture of life on the island in days gone by for the researcher.

I would particularly like to thank Francis Jeens who, for the past two years, has acted tirelessly as the curator of Alderney Museum, inputting fresh ideas and positive links with the school and community. Under her guidance I was fortunate to be given access to materials from their substantial archives, delving into artefacts, pictures, newspaper cuttings and photos from the early part of the twentieth century and The Great War.

Then, on my last visit in October 2011,  Trevor Davenport offered to read through the relevant chapters of my manuscript. His valuable feedback not only ensured that the details relating to Alderney in Ancasta – Guide me Swiftly Home, were as accurate as possible, but also enabled me to amend a few details in the revised version of Riduna, my novel which bears the Roman name for the island of Alderney. Here is a web link to the Alderney Society and Museum:

The Alderney Society 

The island of Alderney is a very special place; one worth visiting not only for its rich history, but also for its unspoilt coastline, unique wildlife like the albino hedgehogs and black rabbits and popular sightings of puffins and gannets, but also not forgetting its very friendly people!

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