Rivals
One thing you find out soon about Jersey and Guernsey is the intense rivalry between the islands. This dates back to the Civil War when Guernsey supported the Roundheads and Jersey was Royalist. Its still there now, though the helmets and swords have gone.
On Jersey they refer to Guernsey people as ' donkeys ' being slow and dullard, whereas the donkeys call Jersey folk crapauds or toads, due to the fact amphibians live there but not on Guernsey. In fact I've never heard anyone on Guernsey speak of Jersey, calling it 'the other place'. Neither island has much to say of the island of Alderney, who they say are 'two thousand drunks clinging to a rock'.
In the early 80's Jersey introduced us to a new police sergeant who worked in the 'Bureau des Etrangers'.
Yes, when Bergerac hit the small screen, Jersey's popularity grew, and millions of people were hooked to the sights of Jim in his red Triumph, registration J1610, driving round the beauty spots of the island. Guernsey, who were not happy with this started a poster campaign saying that Bergerac took his holidays on Guernsey. When I am in the Islands I will sit and do some painting while the exhibition is on. I found out to my cost that it does not pay to paint Jersey scenes while in Guernsey.
One lady worked herself up into a right tantrum and gave me a mouthful of abuse. I'm glad to say she was the exception but I still get friendly jibes if I'm caught out. I get my own back by suggesting they take their holidays on Jersey or vice versa as 'it is a lovely little island'. Jersey is only 9 miles by 5 and Guernsey even smaller but you can still get lost, especially on Guernsey. Drive around the inner valley on Guernsey and I swear you will not know which way to turn when you come to a junction.
I think they took the sign posts down when Germany invaded the island and forgot to put them back up. And 9 miles is a long way to any one on Jersey. When we moved the craft fair from St. Helier to a new exhibition centre in the middle of the island I asked the owner of our hotel if she had visited the fair yet. Her answer, and I've heard it said lots since, was ' Oh its a bit far out that'. Three and a half bloody miles, its not like they don't have cars, there's millions of them and at rush hour St. Helier gets just as snarled up as London.
One thing that Jersey has got right is its 'Filter in turn' junctions. When you approach them you cross, then the car in the other street crosses and so on. It is all very polite but you have to watch out for 'Horror cars'. These are the cars with a large 'H' on them meaning they are holiday hire cars for the tourists, and is wise not to assume they will stop at a filter lane. What Guernsey has over Jersey is its attitude to car parking. Its expensive to park on Jersey and you need to constantly buy books of parking tickets, whereas on Guernsey you are given a free disc and as long as you don't go over the time limit there's no charge. Mind you do have to find a vacant spot first.
Published: 22nd May 2006 | Back to Watercolour Memories.
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