Island Life

By Andy Hanlon

When Andy Hanlon went looking for work on Guernsey and the Isle of Man he didn't bargain for quite so much hilarity, absurdity, drama and danger.

While island life may sound idyllic, living in a tent - and in a car at one stage - is less glamorous. Whether a stowaway, or standing on a sheep, Andy's advent

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phelim Publishing
• Release date: Apr 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781803526065

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Island Life

Andy Hanlon

Phelim Publishing

© Andy Hanlon, 2023

The moral right of the author has been asserted

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-80068-3808

All rights reserved. The whole of this work is protected by copyright. No parts of this work may be reproduced, stored, manipulated, loaded or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information, storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Cover Design: Andy Hanlon

‘Life is an island. People come out of the sea, cross the island, and return to the sea.’       

Martiros Saryan

To island life, wherever it may be.

Island Life

I have to say, I like islands. Indeed, for some years now, I have lived in Portsmouth, a city mostly spread out across Portsea Island. From Portsea Island, both hovercrafts and ferries link the adjacent, much larger, Isle of Wight, a frequent overseas destination for me. Hardly overseas you may think, but try walking there! A ferry service also sails from Portsmouth to the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, and a long time ago, I went to the former in search of work. Together with my friend, Nigel, we caught a ferry to Guernsey, although not one sailing from Portsmouth, but one departing from westwards along the coast, in Poole.

    Hoping to find painting and decorating work, being practical, I was nevertheless flexible when it came to any employment options. Our sleeping arrangements for the overnight crossing couldn’t exactly be described as comfortable, as with no cabins booked, it was a case of dossing down wherever we could. Still, it wasn’t all bad news, as decisively this ferry service benefitted from a bar for us to relax in. Hence after numerous pints in the nautical pub, we had become sufficiently relaxed to render our snoozing on the carpeted floor slightly more bearable. It was sometime around six-thirty in the morning when we docked in St Peter Port, the capital and largest town in Guernsey.

    Whilst exiting the ferry, my suitcase suddenly fell open on account of not being properly fastened, eliciting a profanity on my part. On hearing this, a plain-clothes policeman stepped forward and warned me about my language. I apologized, even so, he took the opportunity to run a check on me, presumably believing that anyone swearing somehow warranted further investigation. In all fairness, I had, albeit unintentionally, drawn myself to his attention and he was just doing his job. Still, little did I know at the time, but this wouldn’t be the last encounter I would have with the Guernsey constabulary.

    Despite having sailed nearly a hundred miles from England towards the French coast, it seemed strange to think that the island we now disembarked upon, is a British one, as indeed are all of the Channel Islands. As if to celebrate this Britishness, our first stop there was a quayside cafe for a full fried breakfast washed down with a mug of coffee. No croissants or jam and bread for us but a hot, cholesterol laden repast. By the time we had finished, it was still a bit too early in the day to look for accommodation, so we took a saunter round town. There’s no denying that St Peter Port is a picturesque sort of place with plenty of hilly, narrow cobbled streets inland. Nearer to the seafront is its commercial centre, much of this pedestrianised and consisting of old town houses converted into restaurants, shop, cafes and bars. Found close by, is the seafront Esplanade extending for approximately a mile and lined by multi-storied buildings, most of them dating from the Georgian and Victorian periods. Some remain the natural grey colour of their granite construction, whilst others are brightly painted this creating a pleasing contrast. Dominating St Peter Port is its harbour, this boasting not just one but three marinas. The port has been in use for centuries, although the large harbour seen today is a construction of the Victorian era, when a series of breakwaters and piers, complete with a lighthouse, had been built.

    Overlooking the town’s harbour entrance and built upon a once isolated tidal islet, sits Castle Cornet, the earliest parts of which dates back to the thirteenth-century. Now linked to the town by a twentieth-century concrete causeway, the castle had  witnessed much of this island’s past making a visit worthwhile. I like learning about places and Castle Cornet and the museums it contains, is a perfect place to discover something about the history of St Peter Port and by extension, Guernsey generally.

    Archaeological evidence in the form of ancient tombs and other artefacts found on Guernsey, reveal that the island had been inhabited in the pre-historic era. In a chronicled pattern seen across most of Europe, later the Romans invaded and then the Vikings, in-between, Christianity had been brought to the island sometime around the sixth century. Castle Cornet itself is an obvious reminder, that historically, the island had been subject to invasion. Being on the sea route between the French port of Bordeaux and southern England, for centuries much of Guernsey’s trade, including smuggling, had been in brandy and wine. Built to protect the port and this lucrative trade, remarkably Castle Cornet saw continuous military use for more than seven hundred years. Once considered vital to the island’s defence, the fortification underwent expansion and improvement over time. It became the official residence of the Governor of Guernsey and was, like castles everywhere, also used as a prison to keep people in as well as out.

    The close proximity of France ensured that the island came under attack repeatedly during the many years of Anglo-French conflict which mark early medieval history. Alas, Castle Cornet hadn’t always succeeded in defending St Peter Port and the island, it having fallen to French forces on a few occasions.  Given these French victories, and the short distance to the Normandy coast, you might expect Guernsey and the other Channel Islands to be part of France. Although England has claimed many overseas islands, these ones hadn’t exactly been seized by England, but almost vice-versa. As it happens, an individual who’d once owned and ruled the Channel Islands, had annexed England. This was of course Duke William of Normandy, who led the last conquest of England defeating King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. In truth William had in fact as much right as Harold to claim the English throne, as the previous English monarch, Edward the Confessor, had died without leaving an heir. Besides having a legitimate claim on the Crown, more importantly William also had cavalry to back it up. This ultimately helping to determine his victory at Hastings and elsewhere.

    A dominant force in eleventh century Europe, the Normans not only ruled England, but established control of places as far away as Sicily. Normandy means, Land of the North Men, a reference to its Viking ancestors, who, after centuries of raids, settled in Northern France and elsewhere assimilating with the local population. In light of their Norse ancestry, ironically it was the Normans, who finally secured England from further Viking attacks and conquest. Before his coronation as King of England, Duke William had been commonly known as William the Bastard on account of his illegitimacy. I’d imagine therefore that having the title William the Conqueror bestowed in honour of his triumphs...had been slightly more appreciated by the Norman monarch!

    By the early thirteenth century England’s King John had been stripped of all his French possessions, including Normandy, by the King of France. In spite of this, the Channel Islanders had retained their allegiance to the English Crown and for the most part, have continued to do so ever since. Underpinning these long-held royalist loyalties, is the fact that English sovereigns, by virtue of being successors to the Bastard Conqueror William I, inherit the title Duke of Normandy, although the title is today symbolic and has no legal basis.

    Nowadays, the residents of Guernsey may see themselves as subjects of the English Crown, however this hadn’t always been the case. At the time of the English Civil War, most islanders had sided with the Parliamentarian cause, leaving only those in Castle Cornet, including the Governor, supporting King Charles I. Besieged, the castle garrison had been kept supplied by boat and astonishingly held out for the best part of nine years, this despite regular exchanges of cannon fire with the town. As a matter of fact, Castle Cornet had been one of the last Royalist bastions to surrender during that conflict. By contrast the largest Channel Island of Jersey never wavered from its loyalty to the English monarchy, even harbouring the future King Charles II at one point. The English Civil War may be a distant historical event, even so, the intense rivalry it had generated between Guernsey and Jersey, still persists into modern times.

    Centuries of siege had damaged Castle Cornet, yet in 1672, a large part of it was completely destroyed by clouds rather than cannons, after lightning ignited gunpowder stored in the keep. Throughout the 1700s the fortification had continued to be upgraded and enlarged, with several hundred troops and their families eventually being housed there. Towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars a larger British barrack was built on the cliffs south of St Peter Port, although Castle Cornet still maintained a smaller garrison. Along with the construction of the harbour in the 1860s, a wooden bridge had been built connecting Castle Cornet to the mainland for the first time.

    No amount of reinforcement to Castle Cornet