This is a great site to explore, although beware of disturbing anyone renting out the tower. In the winter months it's less likely that anyone will be home, and there are fewer weeds to battle through. So, a nice late winter day is the time of choice.
If you can make your way to the corner of La Blinerie lane, head up the very obvious footpath up the signposted NT(J) hillside...
.. and a dolmen is waiting for you (see
www.prehistoricjersey.net/Le_Mont_Ube.shtml). If you prefer your history to be mid 20th century, jog on through the woodland to the left of the field between the dolmen and the tower...
There may still be a rope swing to amuse any little ones you may have with you. Keep going, taking the high path nearerst the field above. First you'll easily see a half buried bunker entrance.
Next, close by and again right by the path, something really rather unusual for Jersey woodland. Some kind of hybrid shelter/observation post?
Without all the trees around here, there would be a view of the flat land at Longueville which could conceivably have been a potential parachuting landing area?
Inside, turning left after entering, the usual evidence of al fresco alcohol consumption..
.. looking back to the way in. A ground collapse has blocked the other entrance.
If you keep on going, taking the high path to the right, you'll eventually emerge in the Nicolle Tower's field, along the access track to the tower. And what a site it is up here! This south-east shot shows the inland light (1896) further along Mont Ube, and you'll see a Conway tower at Platte Rocque, Seymour Tower out at sea, and Normandy coastline in the distance.
To the west, views over the land reclamation at La Collette, all the way to Noirmont headland with its own Martello-like Tower.
So here's the tower, a folly that can be rented from the Landmark Trust (see the page at
www.landmarktrust.org.uk), this side is what guests first see as they drive along the track towards it...
.. and around at the south-east side, the door.
Its history is detailed at
www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Tour_Nicolle
From the field, observe a bit of a dip in the corner of the hedge on the left...
.. oooh, looks bunkery...
... at the bottom the the steps, enter and turn right...
.. a domestic door looks amusingly out of place!
The other side (it's not locked), blocked off steps that would have led to access near the tower's door. On the right from this shot (eastwards)...
.. a wriggly tin shelter. So if the occupying forces came under attack, they could leg it out of the tower, straight down the steps and dive left into the safety of this space.
Any other concrete up here? Oh yes! Head over the field in front of the tower... not much to be seen at first sight...
.. but then there is! This is, apparently, more of a contender for the Obs Post for the nearby batterie Seeckt than the tower itself.
Looking back to the tower.
Inside, it's a steep climb down, too much for my creaking old legs, stressed as they are from supporting my obesity :)
Without 70 years worth of tree growth up here, this position would have been adequate for great sea views.
A couple of lesser known items, then. Not far from the dolmen, if you venture into private land you would easilly find the rusting remains of a Pak (field gun) emplacement, of the sort housed in a fake summer house...
.. in danger of falling down an eroding cliff face. See
here (forum.axishistory.com) for more.
And finally, there's a shelter so well hidden, I can't imagine many people will have seen it at all. It's on the bend of the track in the tower's field. You would need to climb up a couple of feet of bank, make your way along and push through bushes to find this entrance...
.. we're looking southwards here.
The shelter itself heads off to the right, westwards, right underneath the track. Bonus points to anyone who crawls in and puts the first photos online! Shane? :)
A good historical walk up here, wouldn't you say? Have fun!
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