Various

We recently enjoyed a bit of a rough high tide on a sunny evening, lots of people enjoyed the spectacle along the west coast...

.. lots of birds stirred up at La Pulente.

La Saline, with St.Brelade in the background.

Luxury houses take shape at the old Chateau site...

... closer.

St Aubin, and what variety of numpty approved that modern box up there on the skyline above the old traditional streetscape? I like up to date architecture but this is well out of place!

Numpties At Work, part II - sad to report the death of Common Sense. Several parking spaces have had to go JUST so that there is one entrance/exit opening. Was it really so bad?!!!

To the East then, and a good low tide goes out quite some distance beyond the end of the unfinished Archirondel breakwater.

A tide like that means you can walk in a straight line between La Rocque and the castle without getting your ankles wet.

At the harbour...

.. nice spot for fishing...

.. the old and new ferries...

.. from the Victoria pierhead.

To the Albert Pier, and the ramp has gone at last...

.. the top of the ramp used to be here.

View from Westmount...

.. a new carpark ready to make up for the spaces lost when the ruling elite of the island ignores The People and goes for total overkill on Selling Out to Tax Evasion/Avoidance and builds unwanted monuments to greed on the Esplanade.

.. closer. There's going to be a LOT more traffic down the 'waterfront' when this opens!

10 Wharf St - what was once the Golden Egg, latterly the Buddhabar, then Harlem....

.. is now the Tiki Hut

I used to quite like the ramshackle corner that was the Turkish Kitchen...

.. boarded up for redevelopment...

... now emerging as St. Helier's newest conveniences.

A Tesco in Jersey? Who'd have thought? We get to walk in from Sand St and emerge in York Street again.

Happy New Misc

At last Mount Bingham is open again after the rockfall. What a shame it now looks like an industrial area with the hideous fencing. In the past there was an attractive planted area here maintained by Parks and Gardens, and Beware of Falling Rocks signs to keep people away. And in all those years I never saw a single person there, and not once did I hear of any incidents or injuries. But now, even with the cliffs made safe, we have to put up with this eyesore! This used to be a "Wow Moment" for visitors, reaching the top of the hill from Havre des Pas and seeing the sweep of the bay, the castle and harbour (observe!) - but now it's blighted by the ugly fences each side, making it feel like a run-down urban area. How sad.

What's the point? Just exactly who is going to hang about there? And even if they did and were absurdly unlucky enough to be hit by a rock despite clear warning signs, would they really have a legal leg to stand on and sue?!

Did this new support structure have to reach right next to the roadside, making the corner so much worse than before for motorists?

Taking a break from the moaning, here's a snap from when we spotted something unusual at St.Aubin. Someone lost a bet and had to endure a forfeit :)

At Greve de Lecq, the hotel has gone, giving a view of the tower and old barracks from an angle not available before.

One for the conspiracy nuts to answer : how come all five of these aircraft ceased their long "chemtrails" all at the same time? Did they conspire to stop their chemical poisoning for now - or perhaps could it be just something to do with normal combustion exhaust vapour, temperature and humidity?! :)

So did Pontins burn down? No, it still looks much the same as it did before from this distance.

Closer... a bit singed, but still the same level of eyesore.

Road signs have been in the news lately. Here at L'Etacq are a pair of new signs without the incorrect preceding  "Le" definite article ahead of "Chemin". Pity they left out the much needed "La" from the middle of one :)

A perfect road for me to move to when I'm battling depression - a whole avenue of little sunshine!

The milk cartons have just gone a duller green. Still not as attractive as Guernsey Dairy's with their smart gingham check and elegant fonts on black panels.

"Ferguson's Folly" from the 1930s has been made over by the Parish of St.H - it used to be quite enclosed but is now more open...

... I can't help wondering if that's to stop the homeless from trying to sleep rough there now it's less of a shelter with the wind cutting through?

Changes in town... at #47 Halkett Place a former clothes shop has been taken on as a second outlet for Seedee Jons (who were previously only at the Powerhouse up at Queen's Road) after some 20 years of trading in various locations. They must think it's worth trying to flog their wares in town after...

.. the Blockbusters in Colomberie and Bath Street closed...

.. and HMV vanished from Voisins. It's now a clothing department, keep on going on a voyage of discovery through to the back of the shop and you emerge in the area that comes out in New Street with that sudden pleasant jolt of "aha, that's where we are!". That will probably bring a lot more footfall to what used to seem like a quiet backwater part of the store.

Blacks is the new Millets, for reasons only they (the same owners) could explain. Was Millets too naff and Blacks is more cool?

At #57 : Schuh has taken on what was NSEW, the one next to the pottery cafe, that had entrances in both King St and Broad St. Full of colourful Converses for the young and the not so young who are kidding themselves that they still are.

... and the other side of the travel agents is now Esprit.

Along the road next to the coffee shop on the corner with New St, at #45a the former Jessops is now Ecco.

Changes in Bond St - the old Bond's at #14 is now "The Niche" - more of a cafe bar than a grubby old all-day drinkers hangout. Next door at #15 (it's an oddly numbered street where the numbers go up by one along the west side from the Pier Road end and turn around at Conway street and come back along the east side) has been Emporio for a little while now, a coffee/sandwich shop. The card shop next door is awaiting something better than the dull grey patio slabs it used to have.

Sion Chapel, disused and about to be converted to housing. Some people say it's ugly but look at the magnificence of the scale and detail here! With tasteful painting it would be as attractive as this one, this one, this one, as the guys making the most of this one have found. I wonder how long this one has got?

Around the side of the Sion one, something about these two entrances looks appealing somehow - or is it just me?

Some Misc

I have a number of sets of pics queued up, but here's Some Misc to get out of the way first...

Life will be so much easier when they finally get around to sorting out their rocking mess here.

So it's Goodbye to the Turkish Kitchen in Conway St, an eyesore to some but it had a certain charm to my eyes.

The Town Church

Looking down inside the Town Church (note the pews have been replaced by Comfy Chairs) from...

.. an extra seating area above the entrance...

A window at the back of these remaining pews - note the middle one at the bottom says "Wording damaged in the air raid 28th June 1940" - those pesky Germans. I wonder if it was shrapnel or just the massive air pressure of bomb blasts?

Window by the stairs up to that area.

Up at the business end - the altar...

.. a recently opened up area previously full of organ...

.. and on the other (Mulcaster St) side, the Lady Chapel.

Bouley Bay

A pebbly beach behind the pier at Bouley Bay. It's fairly easy to climb over the rocks at the end (behind us here in the pic) ...

.. hop over that lot and there's another mini-bay. One day I might even venture farther along. I can't imagine making it to Egypte's Petit Port even at super-low tide, but it could be interesting to find out how far is possible.

A little islet near the hotel.

L'Etacquerel Fort guarding the eastern side of the bay...

... closer. Many moons ago I fondly remember some outdoor .. activities.. here, one delightful summer evening...  ;)

And finally...

A new muriel at Romeril's, note how the HMV one has faded away so badly it makes a mockery of the CoOp having been given the row of buildings on a plate on the understanding that they would be renovated and preserved. If they're not prepared to, they should be compulsory-purchased back for the same amount they paid. As a shareholder I'd be pressing for them to make better use of these assets!

I wonder if this was meant to be Nerina Pallot but it looks like the poor girl has suffered a collision with a camper van.

Meanwhile Romerils are making full use of their property by walling in the covered carpark as new shopfloor with a new entrance. Their outdoors carpark is being tarted up now that it's no longer leased to the States for public use.