Since Google visited in 2010...

The Google Car visited Jersey nearly two years ago to take Streetview pics. Various things have changed since then...


Starting in Bath Street, this shop (never seems to last for very long in any guise) was being done up...







.. and is now Crumbs of Comfort.






Le Gallais closed their furniture store and the windows are currently papered up, waiting for a toy store to appear...






.. and Springates was still running (although not under the original management)...







.. and that's now empty with the lights on 24/7.






Around at West's Centre, Murphy's on the corner went...









.. and is now home to unalluring window dummies.






Changes in a row, in Halkett Place...






Evolution went bust, the bookies is being done up...










.. and the Potteries shop has just been refitted.







By the town church, a prior Potteries cafe is now Coffee Junction, and the dull and clashing greens....






.. have given way to a fresh new pale lilac.







Past Liberation Square and back up Conway Street, a dull concrete canyon with nothing much to enjoy...






.. at least has one new shop now. Leaders moved out of their old haunt at Halket St-through-to-Bath Street (which is now another 99p store).





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





.. now boarded up for redevelopment.







Around to the left into Broad St, and Wheways went, and NSEW moved out next door...







.. so that's one new sandwich bar and one still vacant.






Along the roads into the Parade, the black fronted shop is now white and something new (can't remember what, offhand) and The Loft went kaput, and is now...




.. another Iceland.








Around the corner into Gloucester Street, and an old bookies...







.. is now Aaron's Bikes.








Finally (for today) to the Espanade. Jaipur and Red Properties both shifted Eastwards along the street...





.. (leaving these two vacant)...







.. replacing this bookies ...








.. and the Customs pub...






.. like this.

Liberty Wharf (Jersey) walk-through

A casual walk-through of the half-deserted shopping center, on a nice day in the Christmas shopping season. Starts from the western end on what used to be a main road, and ends up in Liberation Square opposite the Pomme d'Or.

My roving reporter just held a camera in his hand as if he wasn't filming, hoping not to be noticed. Please excuse some blurry moments due to the stabilisation software used :)

Charing Cross BSOD

It's always amusing to see the latest technology going wrong very publicly! The infamous MS Windows "Blue Screen of Death" entertained us on the Clock Tower in St.Helier at the weekend - which made a change from the frequent ones inside the CoOp nearby :)


(it was actually the usual deeper blue, but the screen is so much brighter than the ambient light that my shot was overexposed a bit)




For more examples, see... the internet :)
10 World Famous BSOD: Most Funny Blue Screen of Death at Awkward Places
30 Priceless BSoD to Chuckle About

Superyacht "Pacific" visits

An impressive superyacht was moored at St. Helier over the weekend. In military grey it confused some of my friends and family, but the lack of big numbers on the hull and the large windows designed for admiring the views, were giveaways that it's a pleasure vessel!

It was launched in 2010 by Lürssen Yachts, and measures 85 metres (278 ft), according to various websites such as www.superyachttimes.com and www.charterworld.com

This scoop brought to you by Citizens' Media - there's nothing else about it in the news!

Gas Place - car park to Town Park

Beating the local 'mainstream' media to it (they can't bring you pictures from a Saturday event before Monday afternoon, and if the TV news people do actually work on a weekend for a change, it will go to air in a very short bulletin at a random time when people are busy doing other things, like trying to avoid enduring some idiot clowning about with Oscar Puffin) like only Citizens' Media can!


First, let's revisit the carpark on its last day...







.. closer.







900 spaces lost...






.. no wonder businesses around here are giving up.






Last day amongst the last parkers.






A brickwork floor from the previous gas works.





So the JEP publish a letter on the opening day denying it was Stuart Syvret's idea, whereas he claims it was, as does the actual article in the same issue, written after speaking to the campaigners behind it!



It will be interesting to compare the ugly mugs of the politicians present on the opening day attempting to claim credit - with the actual voting record from the day when the infamous 'ringbinder' carried the vote.




This seems so long ago now!






The hoarding made this road more of a tunnel.






And work starts...

.. and several millions later...




.. here it is. With no underground parking that we all wanted.






An enclosed basketball court.




Good sized playground. One good fun piece of equipment span fast enough to threw off some children and resulted in a few twisted ankles, so expect it to be removed.




More pictures to follow, if I can be bothered to walk from the nearest parking the other side of town :)

Don't expect to be able to park nearby to enjoy the park - all the spaces around here are Residents Only. Local Spaces for Local People - and stuff the rest of us!

Remembering Gas Place car park

As the new Town Park is about to be revealed, I thought why not look back at the car park as it was - it seems quite some time ago now.

It's almost as much fun taking pictures from Google Streetview as it as in real life!


From David Place




I don't really need to label these, as you'll either recognise the scenes or - if you're really bothered - you could take a drive in Streetview for yourself!



Coming soon, photos from the last day inside the car park, and the start of work to create the car-free park.







.. and at some point, the new park of course :)