L’Islet in St Aubin’s Bay Wednesday 26^th August Morning

 

As predicted the weather was awful. L’Islet is the tidal island on which Elizabeth’s Castle now stands in St Aubin’s Bay. It was formerly the site of the abbey of St Hellier but after confiscation by the Crown at the Reformation it was used for military purposes. Sir Walter Raleigh, Governor of Jersey 1600-1603, named the castle after Elizabeth 1.

 

The cause way is about a mile long and the tide was right out. The seaweed was really smelly and a real problem this year! We couldn’t understand why they didn’t clear it off the beaches.

After walking against the wind and through driving rain we arrived to be told that the castle would be closing at 12 o clock- in just over an hour. Unlike Castle Cornet there was no reduction, even though the furthermost bits were inaccessible today. We bought a ticket £12 each, which included the price of the amphibious vehicle, “duck”, for going back.

There were regimental exhibits and plenty of canons. We didn’t like the World War 2 bunkers but I really liked the gardens which gave good views and had chickens and a rooster running wild, hiding in the mounds of flowers. There were many slippery stairs to negotiate. Even if we had had more time we probably wouldn’t have stayed much longer- except to walk to the very end where there is another ruin.

The ride back didn’t require us to go through much water but it was because of the winds and rough sea that the castle closed early- these aren’t built like boats and as the causeway covered ,it would have been too dangerous to run them.

 

Afternoon

 

We walked back to the hotel then tried to dry off our clothes and shoes with the hair drier but then were evicted so they could clean our room. We sat in the smart hotel foyer in our socks flicking through magazines and an article about Lalique caught my eye. When the weather cleared we would ride out to St Matthew’s Glass Church which contained some of the glass artist’s work. A tiny patch of blue appeared which stretched across the sky to make a lovely afternoon.

We set off on the tandem along the promenade which was also part of cycle route 1 and took us alongside St. Aubyns Bay till we reached a large park. We pushed the bike through here to avoid the traffic, to the road parallel with the promenade. Not far, to the left of the park is an architecturally boring church, St Matthew’s but inside are the most beautiful glass sculptures and friezes. The church was built in 1840 and then refurbished in 1934, all the glass work executed by Renee Lalique. He had known Jesse Boot( of the Boots company) who’s wife was the benefactor in her husband’s memory. The huge glass etched doors are automatic and they welcome you into a fairly small interior where a large glass cross, glass font, frosted glass communion table, and pillars with internal lighting and decorated with lilies and angels all make this a remarkable building. There is no charge but there is a box for donations. I really liked it!

 

We retraced our steps to the cycle path where after St Aubyn, there is another tidal island with more fortification, just off the shore. Unfortunately we couldn’t be around when the tide was out as it cut right into the day. We took the old railway line, steadily up- route through lush woods and beside river for 5 miles approximately, until we came out at La Corbiere. Plenty of people were cycling and Bob was able to help a young girl whose pedal kept falling off.(The bike had not been well maintained by the hire firm. )In the end small stones had to be pushed into the workings to fix it-not having the right tool for the job!

When we came off the railway track and followed cycleway route 1 there was a fantastic view ahead and out to sea of the lighthouse on a rock. The road then went out to the Point and down a big hill so we decided to go back a small part of the railway track , about a mile in order to take the road North. We  walked a steep hill that took us to a plateau about a mile off the north coast and then we travelled diagonally back to St. Hellier. We stopped at a pub but they couldn’t fit us in for a meal. A few more miles downhill and we were at Vic in the Valley where we had such a nice meal that we went back another day too. We then sped down hills past a watermill and past the Glass church until we were on the promenade at st Hilliers. Behind us was a wonderful sunset. By 8.30 pm we had completed half the island at only 25 miles- though we did miss out a few peninsulas.