July 17, 2012: Beaucette Marina to St. Peter Port
The stage was now set for the completion of our walk around the island of Guernsey and, having advanced as far the Beaucette Marina yesterday, we really needed only about six miles or so to bring the adventure to a conclusion. Departure was a bit chaotic since there were a lot of our geriatric fellow guests out in front of the hotel, taxis that weren’t ours hovered nearby, and there was even a small bus bearing the livery of Island Taxis – which, after a telephone inquiry from the impatient Adrian, turned out to be for us. It seemed quite strange to have this large vehicle just for the three of us but the driver, inching his way through the traffic-beset back streets and alleys, got us to our marina by 9:35.
There were considerable ambiguities about the early stages of our route since instructions in Dillion’s book asked us to head back to the seashore on a grassy path that soon reached a pebbly beach. A path may once have existed along the ridge top at the back of this space but it was well overgrown now – and we had to take to the shingle itself. This proved to be a very daunting prospect for Naomi, and Adrian, who had reached the end of this ordeal, returned to help his wife over the rocks. When he had cleared this obstacle we passed through some scrub to reach a roadhead at La Miellette.
Adrian wanted to cling to the coast but I insisted there was something much more interesting around the corner. So we now headed inland as the road twisted to left and right in order to approach King’s Road and the nearby Dehus Dolmen. This proved to be a very interesting site and, while I stood outside taking pictures, Naomi and Adrian had a look around the burial chamber. Two locals walked by at this moment with their dogs and they wanted to warn us to keep our heads well down in this confined space. “Too late,” I said after hearing a squawk from Adrian, “my brother-in-law just hit his head.” “Well,” the woman said, “we have bandages at home.” The next shot shows a squatting Adrian emerging from the pages of history.
Having reached a crossroads at La Turquie, we now headed back to the sea – with an interesting undulating stone wall on our right and brightly glowing red poppies on our left. Then we turned south on a track, soon encountering the dog-walking couple again (she asked a puzzled Adrian how his head was). Then we turned right along a paved road – where one car bore the sticker “Gingers Do Have Souls!” This lead us out to the main coast road, where we turned south and, with Vale Castle now dominating the scene ahead of us, reached an outdoor kiosk and its useful toilets. I asked Adrian to keep an eye on my stick and my map case while I used the facilities but I was reminded by a chap at an adjacent table that, on Guernsey, no one would think of making off with them.
When we reached the castle we crossed the street and climbed up to its interior battlements. It was a very impressive site but there wasn’t a soul about. When we returned to the coast path we passed an outlet housewares store and Naomi insisted on a visit, even buying here a plastic bookstand for her kitchen counter. There was an interesting factory tower from the 1890’s next door and we were soon on our way to the heart of St. Sampson, a town that seemed to remind each of us of Britain in the 1950’s. Crossing the bridge at the end of the marina we completed a walk around three sides of the harbor and then turned right on Church Street.
Our immediate objective was St. Saviour’s Church – where we paused to enter the churchyard before heading gradually uphill on somewhat downmarket suburban streets until we had reached the entrance to Delancey Park. It had been gray throughout our morning’s walk but there were even a few flecks of moisture as we crossed the park and obtained our first views of St. Peter Port in the mist. As we studied our guidebook a local couple offered their assistance – but, in fact, they didn’t recognize the street name we were seeking, Rue du Monts – which began just a few feet away. On the descent back to the main coastal highway I had to stop to add another entry to my collection of photos of business enterprises whose trading name depends on a pun; this one, for a landscape gardener, was entitled “Daylight Shrubbery.”
On the highway again we began a mile or so of uncomfortable walking, often with little space for pedestrians. We should have stayed across the street – where there was better walking on the seaward side, but we were looking for something on our side – not the anonymous business center in metal and glass – but a restaurant recommended to us by Rob and Linda several days earlier. This was The Absolute End, a fitting name for the last stages of our walk, and at 1:00 or so we entered for a very nice meal indeed.
This seafood restaurant seemed to be in the hands of an Italian host and even one of his waitresses hailed from Naples. This made a change from the usual Eastern Europeans at our hotel – though we noticed several signs suggesting, “We hire staff locally.” While I sipped from a cold bottle or beer I had the melon and prosciutto, then a lovely kedgeree, an finally one scoop of chocolate ice cream and one of pistachio – a bargain at £15.00.
We had a very nice celebratory meal and then, at 2:00 or so, we continued along the seafront (encountering a number of additional painted cows) and thus reached the symbolic end of the walk at the Liberation Monument. Then Adrian decided to take the ferry to nearby Herm and Naomi and I (with one stop for soft drinks) climbed our hill one last time. I wanted a nap and my sister-in-law had emails to answer.
Adrian, tired for once, actually took a taxi back from the harbor after his Herm adventure and we had drinks at 6:00 and then tried our luck at the nearby L’Escalier restaurant – where we all dug into nice helpings of moules et frites. Adrian was a bit disappointed that there was no Guernsey representative when he chose the cheese platter at the end of the meal but we liked this place well-enough to return for a final meal here the following night.
Wednesday the 18th was used by the others for a long expedition to Sark but I chose to remain mostly at the hotel, resting up and avoiding the rough seas of a forty-five minute ferry ride. On the 19th we were picked up for the last time by Island Taxis and taken back to Guernsey Airport – completing in reverse our outward journey. It had been a very successful outing but I was unhappy to discover that my back had stiffened up considerably and that (with Naomi and Adrian returning to Philadelphia on Friday morning) I would have only one week of convalescence before the arrival of Gavan – and our expedition on the Norfolk Coast Path.
Footpath Index:
England: A Chilterns Hundred | The Chiltern Way | The Cleveland Way | The Coast-to-Coast Path | The Coleridge Way | The Cotswold Way | The Cumberland Way | The Cumbria Way | The Dales Way | The Furness Way | The Green London Way | The Greensand Way | The Isle of Wight Coast Path | The London Countryway | The London Outer Orbital Path | The Norfolk Coast Path | The North Downs Way | The Northumberland Coast Path | The Peddars Way | The Pennine Way | The Ridgeway Path | The Roman Way | The Saxon Shore Way | The South Downs Way | The South West Coast Path | The Thames Path | The Two Moors Way | The Vanguard Way | The Wealdway | The Westmorland Way | The White Peak Way | The Yorkshire Wolds Way
Ireland: The Dingle Way | The Wicklow Way
Scotland: The Great Glen Way | The Rob Roy Way | The Speyside Way | The West Highland Way
Wales: Glyndwr’s Way | Offa’s Dyke Path
Channel Islands: The Guernsey Coastal Walk | The Jersey Coastal Walk