Channel Islands trip article
In April 2002 I wrote an article for the then Motoring & Leisure magazine which was published monthly by the UK’s Civil Service Motoring Association.
Channel Your Energy!
Mention the Channel Islands to anyone and they’ll say immediately say “oh yes! Jersey is lovely, isn’t it?” but hold on a moment aren’t there other islands? Of course and recently I spent a few days investigating them – without the thought of going to Jersey.
Guernsey, the other well-known island near the French coast, has always played on its relationship with Jersey as being the more cultured, well-heeled, even exclusive of the pair. It does seem much quieter and reserved than Jersey, but I hadn’t come purely to make comparisons.
Arriving via air from London Gatwick (a swift 50 minutes) we headed for our hotel – The Duke Of Richmond in the capital, St Peter Port (https://dukeofrichmond.com/). Situated above the town and harbour it provided the ideal launch pad for our weekend away from the hustle and bustle. St Peter Port offers the visitor a chance to sample a snippet of continental life without actually stepping onto foreign soil – the islands even have their own versions of the pound. There are of course the influences throughout the Channel Islands, place and family names, but then again with a slight accent similar to that from the West Country.
So, our weekend began with a great seafood lunch at Vina’s we then walked along the harbour walls to Castle Cornet and visited the museum. As I was soon to realise, the islands were occupied, of course, by the Germans during World War Two and there are many museums and fortifications detailing their presence. We then spent the afternoon lazing on St Fermain beach, a beautiful quiet, sandy cove with a blue, crystal clear sea just a walk from St Peter Port. A perfect place to wind down, with just the sounds of waves gently lapping up the beach as we dozed – this was exactly what we had come for on our trip.
This peace was only broken by a mobile telephone call from an old friend of mine who once lived in the Channel Islands and had heard we were coming here. She enthusiastically told me that she had booked us a flight to the island of Alderney where some friends of hers had arranged a day’s cycling for us on the island. Great!
So early the next morning, after sampling a little of Guernsey’s friendly nightlife, and a chance meeting with the legendary punk group The Stranglers who were playing at the Beau Sejour Leisure Centre that evening (unfortunately I’d left my camera in our room) we took the Aurigny Airline’s 12-seater prop plane to the island. Alderney is only 3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles across, so we thought that cycling would be perfect. We were met at the airport by a guide who told us of the day’s adventure. We were to be joining another small group who had come for a Mystery Island Adventure. Sounded intriguing. Seems we were all encharged to foil a plot to destroy the island (cast by the evil Mr Nightshade) by solving several cryptic clues planted around the island. Our guides gave our group a single map and directions to the first destination, and from then on, we were on our own! We all quickly introduced ourselves and then sped off down the lane, in true Famous Five spirit!
Our first stop was the island’s library where our cryptic clue, lead us to a hollowed-out book containing even more mysterious directions and riddles. We had been told that we had to use place names as our main clues and so everyone took turns scouring the map for the next destination. We soon got the hang of it and began to enjoy the sites and sounds of the island trying to find the alleged bomb, which was ticking away. From one end of Alderney to the other we cycled, from Telegraph Bay via many little coves, cliff tops and historical landmarks to the lighthouse at Cat’s Bay, of course, stopping off for “lashings of lemonade and ginger beer!” It was here that we took a London Underground train – (yes that’s correct) – it was brought here after the Second World War intact and is probably the only such train working above ground, to wide sandy Braye Bay. Here we tackled our nemesis (the evil Mr Nightshade) Did we save the island? Well, that would be telling! A thoroughly good day’s outing was enjoyed by all.
The following day the two of us decided to spend our last day on the islands on one of the smallest, Herm. So small is it that there are no cars, only a handful of houses and as far as I could see only one tractor, what a beautiful place! We took the ferry from St Peter Port (only 20 minutes) and took a leisurely stroll around. The beaches are almost tropical, yellow sands scattered with shells and the water is crystal blue. We both agreed that this was one of the prettiest places we had ever been in the British Isles.
Alas, we could only stay for a couple of hours before returning to Guernsey and taking the flight back to the mainland. We had enjoyed a perfect relaxing weekend away whilst reliving some childhood adventures and memories… and the final clue to the riddle, did we save the island, well you have to visit for yourself!
Photographs by Martin Mayhew and Alderney Tourism
FACT FILE:
Alderney Tourism
Website: https://www.visitalderney.com/
Aurigny Air Services
Website: https://www.aurigny.com/#flight-search
Guernsey Travel Website: https://www.visitguernsey.com/
Protected: John Lennon Hilton Amsterdam 1969 interview in English – part 3
Protected: John Lennon Hilton Amsterdam 1969 interview in English – part 2
Protected: John Lennon Hilton Amsterdam 1969 interview in English – part 1
Chess Olympiad commemorative catalogue
The 9th Chess Olympiad – Nations Tournament of 1950 was held in Dubrovnik, Croatia in 1950 and the team of the hosting country – FPR Yugoslavia – won. This catalogue of the exhibition published by Dubrovnik Museums commemorates this special occasion in the history of chess.
The book features the whole story of the competition, the competitors, the ceremonies and the results. The highlight of this edition is the catalogue section of the postage stamps, first day covers, postcards, posters, chess sets – the Dubrovnik set later became a standard – and much more that were issued during and after the tournament.
As the English translator for the catalogue it was especially interesting to learn about the event and particularly about the philately part because I was an avid stamp collector as a schoolboy 🙂
The authors of the text are Tonko Marunčić and Zdenko Krištafor.
You can follow Dubrovnik Museums on Facebook here
…. there is more info about the tournament here.
Corsica travel article – 2003
The June 2003 issue of the csma’s monthly magazine Motoring & Leisure featured my travel article about Corsica – win a holiday on Corsica – “Corse you can” 🙂
Martin Mayhew’s holiday on this ruggedly lovely Mediterranean island even had a meal thrown in – literally!
There is nothing bland about Corsica. Tiny villages, often eerily empty, cling to the flanks of the granite and slate mountains which split the island; startlingly white-fringed beaches on the 1,000km of coastline are often remote and deserted; its language and food distinctive yet remarkably familiar.
Thirty years ago the island, described by proud Corsicans as a ‘mountain in the sea’, was relatively unknown as a holiday spot. Now it is tourism that supports the island’s economy, with two-thirds of visitors coming from France. An unusual fact is the Victorians were among the first travellers to spot Corsica’s attractions as a getaway destination. They built grand palaces in Ajaccio, the capital and famous as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The French come for the sun, the diving, the cycling, the climbing and the spectacular walking, especially on the renowned GR20, a hiker’s dream trail which cuts the island roughly into quarters and climbs over mountains and down into valleys. There is even skiing for winter sports fans. Corsica is blessed with much more than just stunning mountain scenery and secret beaches. My friends and I had heard that it was a quiet place to relax, something we were to dispute by the end of our holiday!
A trip up the dizzyingly narrow and often pitted roads of the island’s west coast is truly an adventure if a rather perilous one. Luckily the state of the roads dictates a low gear and near-pedestrian pace in parts. Facing you around any bend could be a lonesome cow; they graze freely in the maquis – the mountain scrub. You may even come across pigs snuffling for chestnuts. These chestnuts add a distinctive flavour to the local pork and are used in beer and bread making. You may spot a wild boar skin (with the head still attached) flung over a fence – it’s a show of an individual hunter’s success.
On the Journey along the west coast, you can sample the delights of wild boar at the Osteria u Mulinu in Feliceto, a village in the Balange region. Here the host served up thick slices of home-cured ham hacked off with a huge knife. The meal was literally thrown at us! Anything we failed to catch was simply thrown out of the window into the lane (and that included plates and glasses). The guilty party was then clouted around the ear; it was worse for the girls – they received a full-on garlic smacker on the lips! The evening proceeded at a lightning pace: pistols firing, whips a-cracking, singing and dancing; in fact a full-on cabaret by our eccentric host. By the end of the evening, topped up with local wine we were all singing and dancing too.
We lamented our dubious singing abilities during the walk back to our hotel, a stroll that commenced with our feet crunching over much of that and many previous evening’s broken crockery in the road. The brilliant panoply of stars overhead illuminated our way.
We were staying at the Renucci family’s 19th-century Hotel Mare e Monti. Monsieur Renucci is very proud of his home; one floor has been preserved as a museum from Napoleon III’s period, with the original furniture, carpets, wallpaper and objets d’art. Ask nicely and Mr Renucci will regale you with stories of his family’s fascinating history. Be sure to buy some of the wine and olive oil produced on his estate – it’s a taste sensation!
There is much evidence of Corsica’s dual personality everywhere. Many road signs and directions are depicted in French and also in Corsican – a hybrid of Italian and French. Many Corsicans still speak the Corsican dialect and quite a few favour independence from France.
There are many newer small seaside resorts tucked in tiny bays between the mountainous outcrops. Porto is well worth a visit. I stood on the small balcony of my hotel as the last glowing sliver of sun, perfectly framed by the rocks, dipped over the horizon on a strangely still sea. I have never seen such a stunning end to a day.
The island has a wealth of hidden treasures. On my next visit, I will make a point of visiting the south to explore the prehistoric sites around Sartene. I was told of huge menhir stone statues and dolmen built by early settlers, many featuring human faces. I wonder how closely they resemble the fiercely proud modern-day Corsicans. One thing we can be sure of – the ancient Corsicans would have regularly feasted on wild boar, but just how would they have served it up?
All rights of photos belong to Martin Mayhew 🙂
Here is page 85 of the same issue with the Paul McCartney interview by David “Kid” Jensen, which I believe was recorded for Capital Gold in 2001 (?)
15 Years of the Croatian Museum of Tourism
To celebrate 15 years of the work of the Croatian Museum of Tourism in Opatija a small press conference and exhibition was held in the Grand Hotel 4 Opatijska Cvijeta on 23rd November 2022.
To commemorate the extensive work of the Museum over these 15 years a superb 212-page book was printed packed with information about every poster, catalogue, collection, exhibition, publication, project and much more that it has been involved in.
As the English translator I am honoured to have played a small part in the Museum’s story for the last few years.
Published by HRMT. Texts by the Museum’s director Mirjana Kos, graphic design by Branko Lenić. Translation by Martin Mayhew 🙂
ISBN: 978-953-7601-78-2
