Guernsey Literary Festival – On the Move

The beginning of May, we were in Guernsey for its Literary Festival.  Valerie’s poem 1960 was one of the winners of “Poems on the Move” and her poem will be displayed for one year on Guernsey buses and Aurigny aircraft.  There was a reading at Elizabeth College we wanted to attend;  It was a proud moment.  Valerie’s poem was inspired by her 15 year old self in Enfield.  Queen Elizabeth I lived in Enfield and she as a good poet so there is an intriguing link.

 

Here is a video of Valerie Reading.

 

The next day we rented a car so we could tour around the coast.  The last time we did this I kept getting lost.  Guernsey is only 23 square miles but is run through with a tangled network of narrow roads with very few signposts and even fewer road names!  Enfield is 32 square miles of which 51% is farmland and only 25% are residential homes housing the 325,000 population.  Compared to Guernsey’s 65,000 it is crowded but signs and road names mean it is difficult to get lost.  We do not however have the lovely coastline, harbours and bays.

We drove North along the coast road and stopped in St Sampson.  Here I sat and gazed at the Harbour whilst Valerie and my sister Sarah visited the many charity shops.  There is quite a lot of industry here as you can see in the photo.  Valerie came back with a splendid earthen ware mug.  Just right as a present for the recipient she has in mind.

 

Next was L’Ancresse bay and we stopped to take in the view.  The sun was shining, the beach beautiful;  just right for a photograph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then drove to a rocky bay, I cannot remember which but it was close by and I took a video with my iPhone which is fitted with a Rode mic and windshield but the wind was very strong, as you can hear, so the wind intruded a bit.  I like to see rocks and islets.

 

We then drove to meet Janine for lunch in La Grande Mere.  Valerie and Janine met in Primary school when they were about five and have kept in touch despite Janine moving to Guernsey in the 60s.  I always like to hear her tales of island life and it was a lovely get together.

We were staying in St Peter Port which is a delightful town though traffic and parking can be a nightmare.  One of the attractions is the Guernsey Tapestry.  I did not take any photos but it is a good web site if you click on the hot link.  An inspired idea to celebrate the millennium, the Tapestry is strictly embroidery, it tells the history of Guernsey over the last 1000 years.  The designs and workmanship are staggering and I very much enjoyed the visit and recommend it to you.

An enthusiastic volunteer told me of the oldest pillar box in continuous use in the UK that was just a step away.  An idea copied from France.  It was decided to try it out in Guernsey as it could be closely monitored.   It was an immediate success and post boxes were then introduced into the UK.

The dates can be seen on the nearby plaque.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The harbour used to be just in front of the houses built into a steep hill.  Nowadays the steps, or stairs, no longer lead down to a jetty but to the road. They are still very steep!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see the reclaimed land from the harbour and how steep the hill is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally another view of the daisy Chain.