Jersey

I have spent the last 11 weeks working in Jersey.

For our international readers, this is a small island (9 miles x 5 miles) closer to France than England. Jersey isn’t actually part of the UK, but it is a “possession of the Crown”. In other words, Jersey has its own tax and legislation, but tends to follow English law and should be defended by the UK.

Despite it’s size, it has an interesting history and is really quite an interesting place to visit.
People in the UK know Jersey for its (in no particular order):

• Potatoes
• Bergerac
• Low tax
• Cows, milk, cream and of course ice-cream
• Jumpers
• German Occupation

Now I have spent 11 weeks in Jersey, I also know the island for its

• Sunshine and heat
• Wonderful people
• Wind and rain
• Excellent hostelries
• Beautiful beaches and coast walks
• Quiet country lanes
• Fantastic cuisine
• Very cheap Apple store
• Oh, and of course, some not bad climbing

Here are a few highlights…

Beaches and Castles
Jersey has some beautiful beaches and amazing castles…

The Jersey War Tunnels
The Jersey War Tunnels is a museum all about Jersey under German occupation during the Second World War. It is quite interesting…

• Half the population left before the Germans arrived
• There were four Germans to every islander during the occupation
• Strict curfew and German law was enforced. Riding two abreast, having more than one dog and all forms of fishing were eventually banned.
• Thousands of Russian and Spanish slaves, and Polish, North African the Dutch forced labour were brought to Jersey to build sea walls, gun emplacements and underground works
• Jersey became a fortress – the tunnels were originally created as a barracks and ammunition store and later converted to a hospital awaiting the expected casualties of war. The hospital was never used.
• Residents not born in Jersey, Jews and other persona non grata were eventually deported to German prisoner of war camps or concentration camps
• Jersey was bypassed during the French liberation and almost starved

The Climbing
Most of the climbing is along the north west coast and the south west coast. We were a bit unfortunate with the tide times over the weekend, but we got a good look at most of what was on offer.

And finally – eat, drink and be merry
As I’ve said, Jersey has very many fine restaurants and pubs and I managed to visit quite a few.

Jersey is a good place to visit and not so expensive to get to – you can fly from Blackpool for under £30, which is gonna be cheaper than driving to Cornwall. As a climbing venue – it’s not too bad. As with all granite sea cliffs, it takes a while to get used to the rock, so you might feel a bit disappointed with a weekend visit. There isn’t a huge amount of routes to choose from, but plenty to keep you occupied for a week or so, and you’ll never have to queue. We only saw two other climbers.