Exploring Jersey

While in Jersey, Escapade was berthed in St Helier Marina. This was a great place to be as it had super facilities and was right in the centre of town.

First task was to give the boat a good clean, inside and out to wash away all the salt and dirt accumulated during the crossing. Oh, and also use the laundry to get some clean clothes! Those were my jobs.

Meanwhile, Martin collected and fitted our new anchor. That should hold us in a blow!!

Boat jobs done, we set off to explore St Helier and beyond.

St Helier is a pretty town with a main street much like any UK town. What what makes it different are the opportunities to take an outside seat and watch the world go by over a cup of coffee or something stronger.

Directly across the road from the marina is Liberation Square: a communal area where people meet to chat or simply sit and soak up the sun.

Liberation Square was developed in 1995 to mark the 50th Anniversary of Jersey’s Liberation. To the north of the square stands the Pomme D’Or Hotel, which was used by the Nazis as their Headquarters during the Occupation. The hotel’s original balcony was the focal point for celebrations when the island was liberated by British forces on May 9, 1945.

At the centre of Liberation Square is Philip Jackson’s sculpture depicting a group holding the Union Flag at the centre of a fountain. Twelve water jets in the pool symbolise Jersey’s 12 parishes.

An interesting find in the centre of town is a statue of a very large toad.

Further investigation showed that this is ‘Le Crapaud’. The statue represents the nickname for the people of Jersey and there are two stories about how that came about. One is that Jersey is the only Channel Island that has toads. The other is that it is in retaliation by the French for them being called ‘frogs’.  Either way, the people of Jersey take a certain ironic pride in their “crapaud” status, to the extent that the warty toad has been adopted as a symbol for the island’s residents.

Next stop, St Catherine’s. This place was extremely busy although there was only the breakwater, a cafe and an ice cream stand!

We had gone there especially to see the Sand Wizard. Hidden inside a small dome was an amazing sight: a whole scene carved from sand. Simon, the Wizard, had a long chat to us and we discovered that sand sculpting is a world wide art form with international competitions and world champions. Simon himself was one of them.

It was fascinating and we would highly recommend visiting there. Also it was free!!

Our trip to Jersey was far too short, but it left us with many brilliant memories. One of the most memorable, being a stark reminder of the large tides here. It made us smile. Hope it does the same for you.