jersey history
Jersey, with Guernsey, is a Bailiwick, a British Crown dependency but not part of the UK and where the British Monarch is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. Measuring just 45 square miles with a 2007 population of 89,500, Jersey offers all the delights of holidays ‘abroad’ with short ferry crossings to France, Guernsey, Sark and Herm where birdwatching, dolphins, seals and even whales can sometimes be seen. A wide variety of accommodation exists with excellent modern campsites welcoming international tourists. Budget and scheduled airlines from Luton, Gatwick and East Midlands and Condor ferries from Portsmouth and Weymouth enable visitors to experience the famed Jersey flowers, Jersey cream, black butter, and cider! An island of fascinating cultures where a rarely used but interesting Jersey French language exists—Jerriais—and age old Jersey family names hail from French history, French street names abounding. Flying into Jersey, the extensive rocky outcrops surrounding Debussy’s musical namesake L’Isle Joyeuse appear challenging for sailors of these waters, the coastline inviting walkers, cyclists, motorists and horse riders to addictively explore inlets, coves, castles and harbours with wide sandy beaches and seascapes to die for! Inland hills and dales offer woodlands, ancient stone walls and flowers blossoming early to late in the mild climate. Jersey is divided into parishes named Trinity, St Martin, St Lawrence, St Ouen and many more extending a ‘village’ welcome to visitors. Luxury homes border bays, and rise from wooded copses as one turns corners in mid-island country lanes Jersey, well known for its wealth over genera contrast with cottages and modern family homes. An island known for its wealth with international legal and finance houses names lining the airport, town hoardings and fascia of the largest and smallest business establishments in St Helier, the island’s largest town. Portuguese and Polish communities add further cosmopolitan culture to an already fascinating ‘principality’. The Festival will celebrate the shared Polish arts culture during the season.
Festivals abound—the world famous Battle of the Flowers, Eisteddfods, an annual International Choirs Festival and Art in Frame’s Jersey Textile Showcase amongst many annual attractions. Harbour Gallery in St Aubin is an absolute ’must’: a unique welcoming experience all of its own. St Aubin, where one can sit alone at midnight watching the sea and stars and feel perfectly safe is a true experience of the editor—and in the October climate of 2008! Museums, folklore, music and theatre—history: the Occupation Tunnels, the Occupation Tapestry: so much to see, do, explore and enjoy in relaxed frequently uncrowded wide open spaces where one can be the only person in sight! Or, part of the bustling capital of St Helier with the Jersey Arts Centre, Jersey Opera House, Waterfront Cineworld, pool and complex. Buses go everywhere if driving seems a chore! Tickets just £1.50 with longer stay passes at competitive prices. Spring and Autumn Walking Weeks with ‘Round the Island’ Walks challenge many visitors and islanders alike with adventure sports such as sand yachting, sailboarding, surfboarding and sandsurfing—when kids—big and small—skim down huge sandy dunes on sledges—and plastic sacks! Fun or what? A good golf course, tennis, rugby, football and squash facilities await the visitor. Just a 40 minute flight from Luton with Flybe from £90 return enables good B&B in small friendly guest houses at as little as £25—£35 (single) per night with super buffet breakfasts, some with sea views— or small to large luxury hotels and apartments—a holiday paradise of dreams! Jersey offers a myriad of good eating houses from harbourside pubs and bistros to fine dining at excellent restaurants and hotels such as the Grand Hotel on St Helier seafront where in 2008 an inaugural Grand Jersey Festival of Food was the epicurean experience of many and overseen by Michelin star chef and the Grand’s consultant chef, Albert Roux.
As well as Debussy, that very English of composers, John Ireland, found inspiration for many works in Jersey; the scandalised mistress of the Prince of Wales in Victorian and Edwardian England, Lilly Langtree, was the daughter of the Dean of Jersey. 1960s TV pundits’ favourite TV series, Bergerac, was set on the island, Bedfordshire’s own favourite TV detective, Kevin Whateley—Lewis, and ’best mate’ of Morse—appears in an outstanding multimedia Jersey history and heritage tourist attraction—LIVING LEGEND—where one can also discover most unusual artsy gifts at very affordable prices—and take a spin in a go-cart, to say nothing of exceedingly good food. The Glass Church, the Fishermen’s Chapel, the Shell Garden, Bonne Nuit Bay—so much to see—so much to enjoy! Visit St Helier’s Blue Note Bar for greatest jazz and blues; Chambers for rock, R&B.
Jersey is an island to fall in love with; look out for music and CDs by Jersey-born composer Gerard Le Feuvre, internationally renowned cellist and MD of King’s Chamber Orchestra who played Bedford twice in 2008 with his distinct style of musicmaking. Many of his works paint pictures of his beloved homeland. It will only take one visit to Jersey and outstanding scenery to capture all that his music depicts.
On 20 June 1940, with France subdued, Germany’s architects of blitzkreig gave the order: “The capture of the British Channel Islands is necessary and urgent.” By Monday, 1 July, the Channel Islands were in German hands, under foreign dominion for the first time in more than a thousand years. The occupiers stayed for almost five years.
Earlier that month, forty pupils of Victoria College, many of whom were boarders, and day boys whose parents went with them, evacuated from Jersey with a group of teachers to Britain where they were welcomed by Bedford School.
On Tuesday, 8 May, 1945, at 3.00 pm, Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcast from London that, as from the previous midnight, Germany had unconditionally surrendered, the ceasefire had taken effect all along the front and that ‘our dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today…’
The play “Dear Channel Islanders” explores the feelings of a group of Victoria College schoolboys at Bedford School on learning that their home island has been freed from German occupation.
Erskine May Hall! Sunday 3 May at 12.30 pm
The world premiere of this specially commissioned play and moving story of young Jersey evacuees to Bedford School in WWII can be experienced as part of 4 hours of drama, music with lunch and interval tea included!
War Memorial at Victoria College, Jersey
FESTIVAL ORGANISATION Entirely voluntarily, local groups staging their own events autonomously during May and June in Bedford with some events staged by the Festival Team.
MARKETING Centrally and free of charge via website, programmes, art’icle magazine BedfordUK. Phase 1—September 2008; Phase 2—November 2008; Phase 3—January 2009; Phase 4 April 2009. The website— www.bedfordjerseyartsfestival.co.uk—will become a static showcase of the Festival and arts with reviews, video, images added after the event PLUS artists contact details to encourage further engagements/commissions.
GRANTS AND SPONSORSHIP are sought: please email sandra@articlemagazinebedford.co.uk to discuss. Individual events and items/fees are sponsorable, some very inexpensively, some charitable. Please see Sponsor page.
MEDIA Bedford Times & Citizen publish a 4 page Festival supplement in late April, BBC Radio Jersey, Heart Radio and BBC Three Counties are generously supporting the Festival. Circulation of press releases to all Bedfordshire and Jersey media began in August 2008. Regular interviews have taken place with BBC Radio Jersey; editorial coverage has been agreed with Bedfordshire On Sunday, Jersey Evening Post, Jersey Life, Ouse Valley Living, Bedfordshire & Beyond, Victoria College Foundation Newsletter. Bedfordshire on Sunday published a superb Jersey tourism feature “Jersey, the cream of the crop” - still on their website; Media interviews with Festival participants welcomed. Contact direct or through sandra@articlemagazinebedford.co.uk.
PROFITS Any profits will be shared with participating groups.
CHARITIES Certain events will support . . . AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ~ MOVEMENT FOR ABOLITION OF WAR
HEADWAY—Cumbria ~ HEADWAY—Bedford
KIDS-OUT the fun and happiness charity! www.kidsout.org.uk
MACMILLAN CANCER CARE ~ MULTIPLE SCEROSIS THERAPY CENTRE, BEDFORD
PROJECT 65 ~ BRITISH LEGION supporting war veterans ~ ex-servicemen
St GEORGE'S CHARITY ~ UTANGE ORPHANAGE PROJECT
SUE RYDER: ST JOHN'S HOSPICE ~ KEECH COTTAGE CHILDREN'S HOSPICE
Bedford Jersey Arts festival
1 May – 5 July 2009 in Bedfordshire UK
Celebrating 70 years of friendship 1939—2009
“Victoria College, Jersey children evacuated to Bedford School during the Nazi Occupation of Jersey in WWII”
This website is an ongoing project started in late January 2009.