JERSEY: A small wonder

But they weren’t. They were all around us.

There is no escaping the war on the tiny, beautiful island of Jersey. Nor do the islanders wish to. It is a significant part of their history and one which is preserved in reinforced concrete almost everywhere we went on this, the largest of the Channel Islands.

At nine miles by five, size is relative in this part of the world. In fact, Jersey and the other Channel Islands are too easily missed by British tourists, who head straight past them for France and beyond.

That’s a shame and a real missed opportunity. Jersey is an intriguing delight of a destination, which packs an awful lot into a very small area.

My wife and I based ourselves in the capital, St Helier, for our four-day break, at the suitably named and perfectly located Grand Jersey Hotel.

Just minutes from the ferry terminal, the 110-year-old hotel sits proudly on the seafront, five minutes walk from the compact city centre, and offers glorious views out to Elizabeth Castle, which dominates St Aubin’s Bay and can be reached on foot at low tide.

Jersey may be small but it’s perfectly formed and the days flew by as, encouraged by exceptionally warm spring weather, we explored virtually every inch of an island which, try as you might, you just cannot pigeonhole.

One minute it seems so British; the next you feel like you’re in France.

Here is an island where an oath has been sworn to the Crown, English is spoken, they drive on the right and the pound is the local currency.

But the street names – and many of the Jersiais surnames – are pure French, the island is self-governing, passes its own laws, is not a full member of the European Union and tax rates are famously much lower than the UK. As for the dreaded VAT, it doesn’t exist here. There are some pleasant throwbacks to Britain as it was. The shops shut on Sundays, there’s hardly any evidence of antisocial behaviour and the streets are virtually litter-free.

traffic jams consist of about six cars, the speed limit is 40mph, with 30 the norm pretty much everywhere and there are no speed cameras – at least it’s got one thing in common with Oxfordshire.

The countryside is reassuringly British, all green and pleasant. Much of the architecture is quintessentially French, or Norman to be more precise.

Chuck in the ‘architectural’ contribution of the Germans and you can see why this little chunk of the UK off the coast of France had us doing double takes throughout our stay.

Our Aryan cousins left an indelible mark on Jersey – and provided a chilling taste of what life would have been like if the RAF had not seen off the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.

The Germans occupied the Channel Islands in July 1940, after Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill reluctantly agreed that they should be left undefended after the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk, the defeat of France, and the threat of an invasion of the British mainland forced him to cut his military cloth accordingly.

The most obvious legacy of the Germans’ five-year occupation are the concrete fortifications that still ring the island, as well as the extraordinary Jersey War Tunnels, a huge underground complex excavated by slave labour and used first as a storage facility and later as a military hospital.

The tunnels have been preserved and are open to the public between March and November.

A tour is a sobering journey into the past, as the visitor learns about everyday life on British soil under Nazi rule, a tale of deportations, execution, near-starvation and finally liberation in May 1945, when the garrison capitulated after Germany’s defeat, having been left isolated by the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.

Back above ground, there were plenty of cheerier attractions to be enjoyed. More than 30 beautiful beaches for starters, many topped by bracing cliff walks.

And as the sun beat down (in April) we took full advantage, ending each jaunt with a pint or a cream tea at one of the many inns, tea rooms and hotels that dot the island.

Not surprisingly for a place that depends heavily on Tourism, there is an almost limitless choice of restaurants, with seafood a speciality in many.

We went for upmarket and expensive, at the Grand Hotel’s renowned Tassili restaurant (three AA rosettes and bucking for a Michelin star) and cheap and cheerful at the Hungry Man at Rozel, a Jersey institution which describes itself as a seaside café, but is actually a multi-coloured kiosk dispensing incredible crab and prawn sandwiches and salads.

In between, we stepped back in time at an old-fashioned Italian trattoria in St Helier and savoured scallops in the understated trendiness of St Aubin, a seaside suburb just up the coast from the capital, which is stuffed full of restaurants and bars.

Gorey is another must. The pretty harbour and well-heeled village are dominated by the 11th century Mont Orgueil Castle, built to defend the island’s east coast from those pesky French invaders and saved from demolition four centuries later by the intervention of the island’s governor, some chap called Walter Raleigh.

Away from food, drink and beaches, there is so much to fill the days.

They love a festival here and there seems to be one in full swing all year round, dedicated to everything from music to dance to seafood.

Top of the bill is the Battle of Flowers parade, a 108-year-old multi-coloured floral riot, accompanied by music, dancing and a fair amount of alcohol.

We took our car, which allowed us to get round the island with ease.

But if you fancy a more leisurely approach, there are more than 100 miles of cycle paths, called Green Lanes, where, unlike Oxford, two wheels have priority over four and you can enjoy the scenery without fretting about traffic.

Despite being on four wheels on a nine by five island, we ran out of time, leaving ourselves plenty of options for our next visit, including an opera house, a racecourse, golf courses, a zoo, seven museums and 15 nightclubs.

We’d loved to have stayed, but you need millions in the bank before the Jersey government allows you resident status. So it only remained for me to scour the island for that special gift for Mrs O, to remind her of our visit.

But what do you give the woman who has everything? Jewellery? Champagne? Perfume? Jersey ceramics? How unimaginative that would have been.

After an exhaustive search, I found what I was looking for and we trundled on to the ferry with three bags of Jersey Royal potatoes, straight from the farm, safely secured among the luggage.

She was clearly overwhelmed by my gesture, so much so that the journey home was spent in almost total silence.

WHERE WE STAYED

We lived it up in style at the Grand Jersey Hotel, where rooms in April 2011 cost from £185 to £350 per couple per night for bed and breakfast. It has two restaurants, a swimming pool, gym and spa and is at the top of the tree in terms of food, accommodation and service. For more details, see grandjersey.com or call 01534 288454.

For those on a tighter budget, there is plenty of choice. The best place to start is Jersey Tourism – call 01534 448800 or see jersey.com – which has an office teeming with helpful people in the centre of St Helier. They can advise on just about any aspect of your stay.

GETTING THERE

You can fly to Jersey direct from Oxford Airport in the summer or from Birmingham and London Gatwick all year but the well-trodden route is by ferry across the English Channel.

Condor Ferries run fast catamaran services from Poole and Weymouth and conventional ferries from Portsmouth. Price of fares depends on when you travel, but start at £90 each way for a car and two people for up to two days away. Most ferries call at Guernsey en route. Journey time on the catamarans is between three-and-a-half and four-and-a half-hours. For more information, see condorferries.co.uk or call 0845 609 1024.

ISLAND BRIEFING

Jersey is 100 miles south of the UK mainland and 14 miles from the coast of France The population of 90,000 consists of 50 per cent native Jersiais, 30 per cent British, 10 per cent East European and a mixture of Portuguese, Irish and others making up the remainder The island has the best sunshine record in the UK, with temperatures averaging 20C English is the official language, except in the legal system, where Norman French is still used Jersey has its own parliament, the States of Jersey, and owes allegiance to the Crown, but relies on Britain only for defence and representation overseas The main industries are finance, tourism and agriculture Tides are among the strongest on earth and are so large that the island increases from 45 to 63 miles square at low tide.

Island specialities include black butter, a preserve made of cider, apples and spices, bean crock, a version of cassoulet using beans and pigs’ trotters and conger eel soup