Circular Walk - St. Clement's Country Trail

The camera-toting crapaud is pleased to bring you another walking suggestion, inland this time, on paths that look fairly new and are certainly ones I've never explored before.

Parking is free at the new road "Rue Hamel" past the new estate at Rue de Jambart, if you can get a space then seize the chance...

.. a short stroll eastwards along the main road, and what always seemed to be just a farm track is apparently an official road from long long ago, called Rue Graut.

Sign says don't trample the crops and all is well.

The path climbs so gradually that even at the top it was a surprise how much altitude we'd gained.

A tree-tunnel beckons...

.. then you eventually emerge...

.. at a clearing with a choice of proceeding ahead, or take a quick dead-end detour back southwards, but up to a field with a view...

.. the church between Christmassy trees - could be a good shot in mid-winter with snow in the equation :)

A nice view to the sea over the farm...

(this being the vantage point taken later in the walk)

.. Icho Tower in still waters.

Back to the original path, and it continues at the side of a field rather than a dedicated track. You may spot a path signpost over the hedge to the left and wonder if there's another path...

.. but no, at the end of the field we turn left, do a '180' and head back south again, then head along a straight up to the lane.

A view of Platte Rocque's Tower from the lane Rue Laurens.

From here you can cut the walk short and head back down the lane to the Church, or take a right along another field-side walk (and past a mobile phone mast if you're looking for a landmark) with Clos de Roncier in the near distance.

That little walk will take you to Rue du Pignon... head sea-wards down and take the first left into La Verte Rue, then after a brief look at St.Clement's Millennium Stone...

.. take the well signposted (!) footpath down to the church.

On the way back to the parking, you may spot an antiquity that is all too easy to have driven past thousands of times without ever noticing. Funny how much more you see on foot!

Jersey Post Collection Boxes - update

I have updated my page from last year -
Jersey Post Collection Boxes 2012


Thanks to a reader's comment giving me a list of collections, showing box numbers and Jersey Post's official names for them, that page (the link above) now features a fairly complete list of all the boxes in numerical order, showing the official name, my additional directions, the monarch of the time, the type of box, and the maker.

And for the list of the 50 or so boxes due to be retired from service, each (where possible) has a Streetview link in case you can't quite recall where the box is :)

 Too old to be lost, surely such old boxes should be listed?

Seems like a real shame that these parts of our roadside heritage are to go.

Egypte, Ayton, Lair and Les Rouaux

Let's have a look down our own "Egypt" - starting from the end of this road (Streetview)...

I see no desert or pyramids, but hey.

The footpath is actually a track, navigable by a robust vehicle, all the way down to the memorial that we'll see in a moment. From a bend in the track, before we've dropped too far in altitude, we get a glimpse along the coast eastwards to Vicard Pt. (Bing sat view)

On the inland side of the next run of track, an old ruin. Hard to not try to imagine who lived here, when, for how long, how they lived, etc. What would they make of their old fireplace now? :)

Before heading down the final straight(ish)...

.. another path heads up to the east and it's quite a trek to Bouley Bay.

Bluebells by the stream.

.. and we finally reach an old cottage and war memorial at Petit Port.

The view.

Dedicated to the British and French commandos who landed here in Christmas 1943 for a  reconnaissance raid called Operation Hardtack 28. Commanding officer Captain Philip A Ayton was seriously wounded by stepping on a landmine as the group returned to the beach. Sadly he died the following day.

More recently, a bench dedicated to the Special Boat Service.

An old cottage now called Wolf's Lair, maintained by the Jersey Canoe Club.

Wonderfully peaceful place for a camp fire.

Looking east.

The path down to the beach is part path, part stream. Tricky!

Leaving Petit Port behind, it's now just standard cliff path (looking back, trying to make use of the yellow gorse in the shot)...

.. with an old section too close to the edge, now cordoned off and re-routed.

This coastline is "Les Rouaux", and we're heading west towards Belle Hougue Pt.

They hover in one place so well that it's not too hard to take a snap.

At this time of year the grass isn't too trampled, so it's like a nice green carpet sometimes - and the bracken hasn't taken over the slopes yet. It gives the north coast a quite different feel to what you see later in the season, so it's well worth a hike on a nice day.

From here you can keep to the footpath to Bonne Nuit, or one long straight climb takes you back up to a corner of La Rue d'Égypte (Streetview).

May's Misc

We'll start this batch of snaps with a thumbs up for The Mansell Collection for tarting up a landmark building at First Tower (Streetview) and keeping it alive, as well as giving the island another attraction for visitors.

Next, some views around Town. A mix of old and not so old architecture at Nat West, Brook St.

Charing Cross from a distance, from King St with a view all the way through to Seaton Place.

Charing Cross / York St with the bunting up for Lib Day.

Sand St scene.

Lib Wharf...

.. still trying to make an empty unit seem used, by exhibiting art.

 .. but here's one new outlet...

.. More Than Sport

.. and at the other end of the Wharf, a franchise of UK chain Joe Delucci's - another chance to eat in a former public toilet :)

.. and in the former Tourist Info office, Seafish Cafe ...

.. menu close-up.

The little train is up and running for another season.

The Boat Show had good weather for a change...

.. some idea of the scale of the event.

More street scenes - Conway St...

Fresh new leaves around the Town Church...

.. new Crew shop in Halkett Place...

.. the old Trattoria Centrale (7-11 Don St), closed for some time, is nearing its transformation into Ormer - your chance to have Shaun Rankin cook for you.

The Fish Market is still there, although (unshown) one closed unit inside the place makes it look a bit unloved.

Something about this building and its balconies appeals to me, although those old windows suggest some cold winter conditions inside.

The old Victoria Club is now a Jersey Pottery foodie place, trying to emulate a posh London eatery by the looks of it...

.. looking up, they don't make 'em like this any more - more's the pity. The architects these days think that they can't do it any more, for reasons that only make sense amongst themselves.

They've called it Banjo, for some reason.

.. how the old chapel development "1875" (Wesley St, Dandara) is looming over Beresford St.

Looking along the Le Gallais section Bath St.

This week saw the start of the destruction of St.Martin's School playing field.. hoarding up around the playground...

.. a gap in the fence for access to build on the green field. Booooo!

Amazingly, although I noticed a bunker at Mont Matthieu many years ago, somehow I've never noticed (until now) the part with the view over the bay! As I'm always looking into the distance, I can't believe how I've missed that for all this time :)