Jersey, the ‘Tardis’ of the Channel Islands

We spent some time in Jersey this Summer. It is the one place that everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime. It is a tiny island of some nine miles long by five miles wide and homes more than 90,000 people. It is full of country lanes and fields and so you would never guess that there are so many inhabitants. It is a true lesson on how to make the most out of space and retain wonderful raw natural beauty, eye-catching scenes, peaceful fields of cattle chewing the cud, a marvellous nature reserve, beaches and coastlines that are either free of tourism or so little that you could almost be on your own private beach. So many things to see and do that it there can only be one word to describe it all and that is ‘paradise.’

The map

The coast

The hill top views

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Country Quips:

• You should rest your bones when you’re coughing or you could well end up in your coffin.

Forty winks on a day of rest

If memory serves me well, according to the Bible, Sunday should be a day of rest: doing absolutely nothing and recharging our batteries so that we are fit and well to tackle the forthcoming week with its many demands. When I was a child this also meant that shops and businesses remained closed; everywhere was quiet; it was even considered bad manners for washing to be displayed on clothes lines.

It appears that the only followers of this now are the animals. My cat, in particular who loves and enjoys a forty wink rest on a very lazy day!

Forty winks on a lazy Sunday

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Country Quips:

• You should never waste time as you can’t purchase more!

The British Isles

To the people of the world, we are at times very confusing. Many Internet sites now list us as the UK, which doesn’t include many parts of our shores and leaves many users not being able to identify there whereabouts accurately.

Here are a list of the Isles (or islands) that form ‘The British Isles (all of those I have listed are inhabited):’

Great Britain (the main land mass built up of England, Wales and Scotland)

Ireland

The Isle of Wight (island off the middle of the South coast of England)

The Isles of Scilly (five main inhabited islands including St Mary’s and a further group of small rocky islands off the tip of Land’s End in Cornwall – near to the South-West coast of England) note: the ‘c’ is silent in Scilly

The Isle of Man

The Isle of Lundy

The Isle of Sheppey

The Hebrides: Lewis, Harris, Skye, Mull, Islay, North and South Uist, Jura, Tiree, Coll, Colonsay, Great Bernera, Rasaay, Benbecula, Barra, Scalpay, Ulva, Lismore – all inhabited

The Orkneys: Hoy, South Ronaldsay, Sanday, Westray, Rousay, Stronsay, Shapinsay, Eday

The Shetland Isles: Whalsay, Muckle Roe, Bressay, Yell, Fetlar

Fair Isle

The Small Isles

Walney Island

Aran Islands: Inis Mór

Anglesey, including Holy Island

Bardsey Island

Lindisfarne

The Isles of Firth of Clyde (Arran, The Cumbraes and Bute)

Mersey Island

Canvey Island

Looe Island

Thorney Island

Small Isles: Rùm, Eigg

Hayling Island

Foulness Island

The Channel Isles (Five larger islands consisting of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm with a scattering of some small rocky islands)

There are other small islands that help to make up the British Isles besides those listed above, some have bird or seal colonies on them …