Celebrating the Summer Solstice

On Saturday the 19th June people gathered to celebrate the Summer Solstice (two days early!).

There are lots of opportunity to celebrate these magical times of year in Jersey, The National Trust for Jersey organise this Sundowner event each year and twice a year you can experience the Equinox at La Hougue Bie (Spring and Autumn) by watching the sun come up from the passage grave chamber.

To find out more you can call La Hougue Bie about the Autumn Equinox on 853823

A couple of real Jersey Wonders

Mr and Mrs Le Brun.

A prize winning Jersey cow.

A couple of beautiful Bedfords.

Spring Show

The RJHAS Spring Show was last weekend. A great rural event with loads to see and do.

 It had everything people usually look for, from baked cakes to best in show veggies.

Best in show? Kathy from Toronto, one of the show judges holds up the winner made by a Swiss cheesemaker using Jersey milk.

What do they look for in the perfect Jersey Cow? Eyelashes, stance, coat? Whatever it is the cows look perfect, good enough for Nick Romeril to draw.

Le Noir Pré orchid field

Each year the National Trust for Jersey orchid field at Le Noir Pré delights with a stunning display of rare and beautiful orchids. This year is no exception as these photographs show.



The orchids will be there until the end of June, so make sure you take a trip to St Ouen to see them.

Red Dot Hamptonne

Over the May Bank holiday Jersey enjoyed a rare mix of eclectic art, poetry readings, music, tap-dancing and sculpture in the unique heritage setting of Hamptonne's farm hamlet.

For three days over 1,500 happy people rambled about this idyllic rural setting finding hidden delights and becoming inspired by the visions of local artists.


Red Dot - Ian Rolls, Jason Butler, Nick Romeril, Theresa Robinson, Karen Le Roy Harris, Rod Bryans and 10 other artists inhabited these ancient rooms, meadows and created new spaces to engage and delight.

Each day offered new opportunities to engage with some of the best artistic talent Jersey has to offer.  Performance artists, poets, blues singers and a tap dancer were given free rein to find their own space and transform it.

A visitor stares at Nick Romeril's wall hanging of a Jersey cow.








The Jazz Beans rock the rafters...

Carl Danby's sculpture defines the space. A tap dancer claims the stairs as his stage.

A mother and baby relax in the meadow. Three classic days that won't be easily forgotten.

National Trust - Mike Stentiford

7.00 this Sunday morning found Mike Stentiford MBE corralling a group of early risers to herd them down through the National Trusts Fern Valley.

40 of us quietly ambled down, our progress punctuated with Mikes raised hand indicating a moment of silence to pick out the woodlands bird song.
 Jersey has some beautiful hidden delights. Fern valley is surely one of them.

 The mornings avian roll call included the hearty Wren, the redoubtable Robin, the Chiff Chaff, Song Thrush and the ubiquitous Crow. Fern Valley's wetland meadow glistened in the early light and we spoke in hushed tones as we climbed through the treeline.

There's a lovely high point that looks across the valley and we held a reverent silence as the bird song rose. Mike once again managed to pick out each individual grace note pairing each song with its author.

 The leisurely stroll produced a couple of surprise encounters a beautiful small calf.






Three bovine beauties.

The whole lovely episode was over within an hour and a half.  To have an experienced guide like Mike is worth its weight. This minor alliance between Tourism and the National Trust is a worthy venture.






We all came away better informed, exercised and ready for a hearty breakfast all before 9.00 on a Sunday. Sorted.