Willow Crapaud

It's like looking in the mirror, but I don't remember sitting for this portrait :)

It's in Waterworks Valley - Le Don Sinkins to be precise - and designed to be the climax of 1km trail featuring other willow works of art depicting the life cycle of the crapaud.

It was created by willow sculptor Michelle Caine and Alcindo Pinto, a local naturalist who also works with willow, in conjuction with National Trust for Jersey.

12ft high, and very impressive!

Find it here.

A circular walk around Millbrook and Mt Felard, with bunkers

For this walk we parked in the second layby after First Tower, then after playing with the traffic, took a footpath between two houses...

.. a neat and tidy 5ft-wide path which takes you into Seafield Avenue. Keep left and you'll arrive at the inner road... 

.. here. If you manage to cross you can take a look at...

.. a good water feature.To the right here, you can see daylight coming through from the other side of the wall. To the left, a long dark pipe to the beach.

Looking back.

A bit farther along the road, and there's an unnamed steep footpath up on the right.

 Not a lot to see, and no turnings off either side, but near the top...

.. a bit of concrete looms into view...

.. ooh, that looks occupation-y. Under all those leaves are probably steps down into a small shelter, I imagine.

It doesn't look like an observation post, or a gun position, or a telephone cable bunker, so I'm guessing it's an Action Point like the one near Rozel Manor or the one at Le Catillon, Grouville.At the Rozel one there are holes in a similar position to these metal fixings. 

Not a lot to see on the other side. Good view, but there's just a hint of concrete bunker roof amongst a weed patch.

From the hill, you'd be able to spot this if you weren't too busy concentrating on driving around the bend without any collisions.

Up the hill a bit, and hiding in the bank are some steps that led to the bunkers in the field above. More of that in a moment or two, but first we head up the track farther down the hill from here...

.. (a private track but hey).. a memorial bench sits by the track to the nearby houses, and by a rusting relic and some stones.

Interesting, the woodwork here appears to be blocking access to something suspiciously like some German Concrete.Maybe a knowledgeable reader can let us know...?  And those stones? Well, if you prefer your history a little older than WWII, you may already know... 

.. the official list of prehistoric sites says ...

.. it's a megalithic structure moved here from a field nearby (when the Hotel Cristina extended their carpark?) in the 1970s...

field 819 being here next to the hotel on an old map.

So, back to the bunkers once reached from those old steps. Looking over the field north-west from the stones, and there's the observation post for Battery Fritsch in the hedge. The battery was a little distance away, 4 field guns in fields between Rue de la Blanch Pierre and Mt Felard.The guns were moved later in the war to Maufant, becoming Battery Dietl.

We took our chances with angry farmers and twitching net curtains and made our way around the field (no crops were present to be damaged in the process) and in the north facing hedge there's this...

..farther along heading east, another...

.. and finally the Obs Post itself. This is taken when I was facing the sea direction...

.. and clambering into the hedge, this time I'm facing the airport.

Facing back towards the bay, this is the view south-ish, with the bench and stones ahead.This is all private land, so it's up to you to decide whether you want to cause an incident or not :)

From there it was all downhill, literally. There's a German construction here (converted into a garage) if you venture in off the road, and then to complete the walk you may as well enjoy Coronation Park, cross the avenue and wander past the casemate bunker and old station cafe before arriving back at the carpark. Not a bad bit of a stroll with some historical relics thrown in :)

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!

Happy New Misc, West Park

 About time I added something this year :)

The "C word" seems a long time ago already...

 .. as Spring is almost here...

 .. just over a month until BST again.

 After rather a lot of rain, the water table is so high that the stuff is just pouring out of the ground up north...

 .. and parts of the Five Mile Road have ponds where there aren't usually any. There had better not be a hosepipe ban this summer or something is seriously wrong!

 So I dusted off my lens and took advantage of a sunny weekend at last. West Park is an absolute gem, and within lunchtime walking distance for thousands of workers, too...

.. shady clean paths (and at least one route without steps, for those in chairs - although quite steep in places)...

 .. greenery at all times of the year.

 The path right at the far (First Tower) end...

 .. and a view of that tower amongst the rooftops.

 There are some more natural tracks if Real Earth is more your thing.

 .. and of course excellent views over the bay. I like the way the pool has brighter water than the sea, here :)

So, as nasty cold wet unpleasant Winter fades into a lousy memory, I look forward some warmth, good light, Vitamin D, and the great scenery to spring back to life and give me incentive to take my camera for a walk again.