Owl Dreams

[Painting by Mike Webb]

From 28/04/2005 comes this poem, based on a dream, and first posted on the "Norviscensian Seekers" group. It has I hope, retained the strange and surreal quality of that dream.

Owl Dreams

I dreamed of night, the coolest air
Fresh breezes, night sounds here
I looked out through the window
Then came rush of air, an inflow
Bring with it a black bag blown
A portent perhaps, for me shown.

I looked inside, bird was flapping
Trying to free itself, so struggling
To get out of the bag. I set it free
An owl, so very beautiful to see
Black and white feathers, eyes
Glowing and yellow, scrutinise.

Out flew the owl, happy but weak
It landed on my desk, as if to seek
A place of rest. Then its back broke
Somehow, and suddenly it spoke
Saying "Thank you", lay quite still
As if a task was finished to fulfil.

The owl lost its feathers, lay bare
I stroked it with pity, held it near
Suddenly it gave a loud cry, died
I saw it broken, bare, and I cried
It passed away within my hands
Departed now to promised lands.

A priest came to my room, he said
That this owl had been sacrificed
And must be offered up, held high
In Holy Mass, the time draws nigh
It must be given up for so many
This was a miracle for all to see.

I dreamed of night, moon so bright
I was on a road, within my sight
Thousands of people on this way
Family and friends too, so to pray
All going to church, a pilgrimage
To see the owl, so wise and sage.

Upon the altar, there was the owl
And ancient peoples wearing cowl
To modern people from the present
All came to see the owl ascendant
On the altar, and we are rejoicing
Then I awoke, and it was morning.

I dreamed this night, owls fleeting
To a parliament of owls meeting
There was praise and adoration
Three owls there were, and one
Feathers white as wool or snow
Renewed, I saw my owl once more
In the opening of dream's door.

Fort Regent in the 1970s - Part 4

I managed to get hold of this brochure which was printed in 1977. It is both sad and amazing when you see everything the Fort had to offer. Over the next month, I shall be posting extracts from this brochure which shows the incredible diversity of Fort Regent, and an optimism that has been sadly lost along with most of the features described in this brochure.

Fort Regent in the 1970s - Part 4

At Fort Regent, too you will find Jersey's Museum of World Sea Shells. Believed to be unique in Europe, the Museum will open your eyes to the wonders of the thousands of beautiful and exotic shells in a fascinating display linking shells with our daily life.

Shells vary enormously in their size and shape, in their colouring and texture, and also in their rarity and value. Even those found lying lifeless on the beaches around these islands differ from each other.

But even those marvellous holiday mementoes from Jersey beaches can teach us something not merely about marine life as it is today but also about the mysterious world that existed long before the coming of man.

At Jersey's Shell Museum you'll find not only the unusual shells of the Channel Islands but, especially, more exotic examples from the world over.

You'll see the fossilised remains of shells millions upon millions of years old the remnants of molluscs which, as they died, sank into the primaeval mud eventually to be perpetuated in stone.

You'll see Sam, the Giant Clam, one of the biggest shells in the world, over three foot long. Guess his weight and you can win a prize.

You'll see the much sought-after Golden Cowrie from the Pacific Ocean, the prize of all shell collectors.

This and similar examples from all over the world are shown at the museum.

You'll see shells used as bridal accoutrements from places as far apart as Ethiopia and the Gold Coast; you'll see exquisite Chinese playmoney from the eighteenth century, beautifully and delicately carved on mother-of-pearl.

There is a small additional charge to see these and many more astounding exhibits at the Museum of World Sea Shells.

How about a game of giant chess, draughts, checkers or dominoes? You've never played giant anything before? Why not have a go. 

You'll find you'll have a new perspective on chess, that's for sure. After all, have you ever tried checkmating a three foot high king after wrestling a similarly sized queen across the black and white chequered surface.

And dominoes? That'll take on a physical aspect, too, when you find yourself rushing backwards and forwards to check if you really did have a double zero or not.

You can book your game on the giant board at Titania's Palace.

Holidays wouldn't really be holidays without the chance to indulge in something either novel or energetic. At Fort Regent, we've been able to combine the two and we're able, for the first time, to invite you to try our Go-Skate rink. It's in the Piazza - indoors under the giant roof.

Perhaps the British did invent the sport of ski-ing but now the clever Swiss have got their own back with the Go-Skate craze currently sweeping Europe.

You've not heard of it before? Well, the idea is that you can enjoy all the sensations, all the manoeuvrability and skills of ice-skating without any of the inconveniences. It's the new iceless, bladeless, easy, way to go figure, hockey or pleasure skating during summer or winter.

Why not give it a try? You don't have to be an expert because the £150,000 Fort Regent Go-Skate rink is primarily for fun. Boots and skates are for hire, so nothing need stop you joining in. How is it all done? The rink itself - that's the floor to the uninitiated - is made of unbelievably tough plastic tiles which actually slot into each other rather like a jigsaw puzzle. That means the total area is firmly and safely interlocked.

The actual skates are moulded in glass-wool strengthened plastic with five small, hardened-steel, wheels mounted on ball-bearings and set in a line along the base. You're beginning to think that it sounds a bit like old-fashioned roller-skating aren't you? Forget it? It's just not the case.

These skates are so designed that only one, or at the most two, of the five wheels are n contact with the surface at any one time.

And that, quite simply, means total mobility and versatility - even those spectacular sliding stops.

So go ahead and Go-Skate. Expect one or two bumps, and maybe a bruised bottom the first time, but we know that you're going to have a lot of fun.

And then afterwards you can adjourn to the adjoining continental piazza cafe and licensed bar and watch others demonstrating their skill (or lack of it) while you enjoy one of the specialities of the Piazza meals or just a quiet drink.

Tunnell Street Signage Revisited

A look at improvements in Tunnell Street

Approach from Town Park to road area. Red warning mark.

A close up of the warning.

Toys placed as votive signifiers for the tragedy of Clinton Pringle.

Official plaque commemorating Clinton Pringle.

Pavement banding. While there is a line showing where the "pavement" part ends and the "road part" begins there are no extra indentations for blind people. It is a smooth surface.

Caution on opposite side approaching road.

New Zebra crossing lines, giving a clear warning to motorists to take care.

Signage for showing road is no only open to those needing access.

Close up of lower placed signage.

Polling Stations and Electronic Voting

Sam Mezec put this comment on Facebook.

“In 2016 I brought a proposition to the States Assembly to get agreement that polling stations . election time should be based in the most convenient locations for voters and that voters should be able to vote at any polling station. Every single Constable voted against that proposition. Every Single One.”

It is useful to look at the detail on Hansard, and it becomes painfully obvious that it depended on the introduction at the very least of electronic voting machines if not online voting..

Surely you need to get that in place in a proposition before bringing something which depends on it to the assembly? Regardless of its merits, it was not surprising it got voted down, not because of the bad Constables, but because it was badly presented. 

As Len Norman said: “I suggest we may not quite be ready for this and it will cause chaos, until the electronic system is in place.”

But where was that in the proposition? Nowhere to to be seen. It is like voting for air routes before an airport and runways have been built (both of which would need planning permission), as the cliche puts it, putting the cart before the horse.

A Reasonable Excluse?
Len Norman was Chairman of PPC and said Sam didn’t bring it up at a meeting. Apparently he did email Len Norman but got no reply. Why he couldn’t then telephone, or arrange to meet face to face, if he was about to bring about a proposition, I don’t know. I do know how easy it is to be swamped by emails, and for one to go missing. If he'd said.... I saw him face to face but he wouldn't talk about it, that would be a different matter.

Poll Cards and Costs

Everyone kept saying that the cost of the polling card in the UK was free. I’ve checked the accounts for 2015, and Royal Mail charged for their delivery. It has a price list. It even notes that:

“For example, where poll cards for a UK Parliamentary election are combined with poll cards for a district council election, half of the cost of printing and delivery will be charged to the Consolidated Fund and half to the local authority.”

The electoral commission noted that in that year, £9.85m was spent in poll cards for UK elections!

So the costing by Len Norman, while perhaps higher than it could have been (as envelopes would not be required) would certainly not be free, any more than it is in the UK.

I still think Philip Ozouf’s idea of an electronic reminder is far better. I get that from my dentist – a text message and an email, it’s all set up on an automatic system, and in this electronic age, surely that’s the way to improve matters.

Electronic Registers and Different Districts

Sam Mézec’s preamble (as noted by Deputy Wickenden) assumes technology to allow different polling stations to be used – so why isn’t that in the proposition itself, as it is clearly a major dependency.

The logistics of different districts is well laid out by Len Norman. The problem with current electoral registers is well laid out by Philip Ozouf. These are solved at a stroke by electronic systems.

The preamble by Sam notes:

“It would mean a move away from paper systems, onto a computer-based system where information on who has already voted is updated on an interactive database in real-time to ensure that voters are not able to vote at one polling station, then walk to another station and vote again. Such a system would not need to be online, but instead on a secure intranet which would be unhackable.”

So why didn’t he have a proposition to get that in place, rather than pushing for a change without that in the proposition itself? It is, as Len Norman and others said, poorly worded. No wonder it didn’t get through!

eGov and Electronic Voting

Sadly the technology has been extremely slow off the ground. This was 2016, and two years down the line, eGov is still not delivering.

Which brings us back to electronic systems, even (if not online) a connected intranet of electronic voting machines, as Sam mentions (but not in the proposition itself). 

This is perfectly feasible, but no progress at all has been made since 2016. It would be interesting to know how far Russell Labey is now getting with this. Under Len Norman we had applying to be on the voting register online, and streaming of States sittings. So what's happening now? The eGov project – not to be confused with Digital Jersey, which is entirely separate – simply isn’t happening. Deputy Wickenden says “I did inform the Deputy that this work is already underway.” So what happened to it? Over to you, Russell!

Voting Slips and Electoral Fraud

Deputy Tadier’s print on demand assumes the slips can also be numbered uniquely, and a counterfoil kept in a way which happens now in case a check is needed to be made against possible voting fraud etc. It’s a messy fudge. A booklet of counterfoils is far less likely to go astray than loose ones printed on demand. When you vote, your number goes on the voting slip and the counterfoil, so that should fraud be considered, it is possible to backtrack and match voting slips to the electoral roll, and also to ensure that the number of slips given out matches that recorded on the booklet – and none have gone astray. There are lots of other checks and counterchecks in the voting count, but this is an important one.

An electronic voting system keeps an audit trail of votes cast, which is essential to prevent fraud, and which can be checked. An interim fudge does not do this.

Proposition and Debate

Sam Mezec:

"The States are asked to decide whether they are of opinion - (a) that each registered voter should be issued a polling card in advance of an election; (b) that voters should be able to vote at any polling station; (c) that the location of polling stations should be reviewed by the Privileges and Procedures Committee to ensure that the polling stations are at the most convenient locations within each constituency; and to request the Privileges and Procedures Committee to bring forward the necessary legislative amendments to implement these changes in time for the May 2018 general election."


"Part (b) which is that voters should be able to vote at any polling station, now there might be some discussion here in that there are some practicalities you would have to get over because making sure that it is impossible for somebody to go to one polling station, vote, and then quickly run down the road to another polling station to vote again is something that of course we must absolutely not allow to happen. But Guernsey does this."

"So take my constituency, for example, where residents of Hue Court would have to go to Springfield Stadium to vote when they live just a few metres away from the Town Hall, St. Helier No. 1’s polling station, which they live closer to than virtually everybody in St. Helier No. 1 does. So to allow those people to vote at whichever polling station is most convenient, I think as long as we can come up with a secure way of doing it, which I am assured is relatively easy to do, you just need to put the effort in and make sure it gets done, then I would hope that would be something that the Assembly could support on the principle of making it easier to vote."

The Connétable St. Clement:

I can explain to Deputy Lewis why P.P.C. have not brought forward this proposition. Because 2 of the 3 requests in the proposition are already covered in the Public Elections (Jersey) Law, as I shall explain in a moment, and the third one, as Deputy McClinton said, is already in train.

Deputy Mézec is a member of the Privileges and Procedures Committee, and I hope he will not mind me saying that I find him a very valuable member of that committee. So I think it is a pity that he has chosen not to raise these issues at committee but rather come straight to the States with this proposition.

I say it is a pity because each of the suggestions in the proposition has merit. In fact, they all have significant merit but, sadly, the wording of the proposition and the report attached to the proposition raises more questions than it answers.

Taking each in turn, firstly, the Deputy suggests that each registered voter should be issued with a polling card in advance of the election. That is welcome and sensible. But the Deputy does not say whether this is in addition to the notice to be sent by the Parishes to each voter in general election year under Article 7A of the Public Elections (Jersey) Law. Now, that was an Article this House, this Assembly, put into the law after the last election. If I recall, it became effective after the last election, so it has never been used yet.

But what the Deputy was saying, he was concerned, understandably, that people did not know whether they were on the electoral list or not, unless they got a polling card. They will know when they get this notice under Article 7A, which will give them all the information they need. It is not called a polling card, it is called a notice, but that is already in the Public Elections (Jersey) Law under Article 7A. So it does seem to me that then doing polling card on top of that seems to be a duplication of effort and expenditure.

The Deputy, in his proposition, does not say if this card is to be sent out in the event of by-elections. Presumably, it is. Does it also include elections for Centenier and Procureur, which also come under the Public Elections (Jersey) Law? Presumably so, but the proposition does not mention the public elections or the Public Elections (Jersey) Law. It merely mentions elections. So will it have to include elections for Vingtenier, Constable’s Officers, Roads Committee members, members of the Rates Assessment Committee, roads inspectors? I assume not, but the proposition is certainly unclear.

In his report, the Deputy calls the cost of these polling cards, and he said it again: “A drop in the ocean.” There are currently more than 64,000 registered voters. Each will have a card posted to them, so the cost will be somewhere in the region of £100,000 each time the cards are sent to every voter.

When you take into account the cost of postage, envelopes, because they are presumably not going to be sent out without envelopes, so that everybody can see who lives at what address and so on, and of course, staff time. I really do not call that a drop in the ocean.

The Deputy need not worry about whether, if he does not return his electoral form every year, that he is just going to drop off because, under the Public Elections (Jersey) Law, after 3 years, if one has not sent in his electoral form then the Constable has to write to that person to advise them they are going to be removed if they do not respond. But every effort is made by the Public Elections (Jersey) Law and by the Parish Halls, to make sure that people are not taken off the electoral list until every effort has been made to notify them.

The Deputy also asks that voters should be able to vote at any polling station. That is an excellent idea, and something we are working towards. We all want to make it easier for people to vote, but until voters are checked off the electoral list as they vote electronically, this would be a recipe for disaster. When we have the electronic list, fine. But until then I think there is a recipe for chaos.

It may work in an Isle of Wight election or referendum, where the same candidates and the same questions are voted on at each polling station.

When, for example, a St. Clement, say, presents himself at St. Ouen, it will be perfectly possible for the Autorisé at St. Ouen to phone St. Clement, check the validity of the voter’s credentials and that he has not already voted, issue him with a Senatorial and referendum ballot paper which for St. Ouen will hold exactly the same ballot papers that are held at the other polling station. Then the St. Clement Autorisé can cross him off the list; job done.

But when voting for Deputies or Constables, it will be necessary for every polling station to hold voting slips from every other polling station, and then have some mechanism for them to be distributed after the polls have closed from every polling station to possibly every other polling station, and there are usually about 17 of these. I suggest we may not quite be ready for this and it will cause chaos, until the electronic system is in place.

Finally, the location of polling stations, and I understand what Deputy Mézec is saying about that. Wherever you put a polling station, you move one and it will be more convenient for others, less convenient for others. That is the nature of things. But there is already a mechanism for this under Article 26 of the Public Elections (Jersey) Law. An excerpt from it: “The electoral administrator for the Parish where the poll is held shall provide one or more polling stations in such a way that the Autorisé is satisfied that all persons have reasonable facilities for the exercise of their right to vote.” So what the Deputy wants already exists under the law, and I do not think it should be a role of P.P.C., a political body, to substitute its opinion for that of the independent Autorisé.

As I said, all of these suggestions have merit, considerable merit, significant merit, but, as always, associated problems. If the States approve this proposition, P.P.C. will have to implement them despite some of the problems which I hope I have identified. Better, I suggest, would be for the proposition to be withdrawn or rejected by the States, and the Deputy bring these matters to the Committee on which he sits for proper and mature consideration. [Acclamation]

Deputy S.M. Wickenden:

Before the Deputy lodged his proposition, he very kindly contacted me first to get my views on what I thought about this on a digital level, on is it possible on what is there. I did inform the Deputy that this work is already underway, which he has mentioned within his proposition.

But it did shock me that the fact that I said that we are already speaking with the Law Officers, we are already speaking with all the relevant people to get this piece of work to happen, still meant that the proposition was lodged.

But I do thank the Deputy for supporting my team, the eGov team, in the work they are doing towards this very fact. We are looking at this and the Deputy, in his report, rightfully says that it has to be electronic. The way that we currently do our polling, our electoral roll-call map now, would not allow us to do what the Deputy is asking us for. So that work is happening.

There are 2 streams. There is the core eGov stream that is going to happen, that is looking at the wider picture for our little democracy and the way that we deal and work with our constituents and residents of Jersey in a digital format from Government. But there is also a piece to try and get something in place to allow us to use the data we currently have at the next elections, and that is something that I am passionate about, making sure that we have this electoral roll in a digital format in a way that when you cross it off in one place it is crossed off the other.

There are challenges, as the Connétable says, about Deputy positions, making sure that they have the correct polling card, that is marked for their Parish or their District. There could be a way of printing it off. I am not going to solutionise it right here and now. But then, after that, I think that the Connétable was right to be saying this, how do you get those votes in time to the polling stations doing the counting for that District, so they can all be counted in one place? So there are some challenges around here. I think the Connétable was absolutely right in what he was saying about the challenges there.

But, obviously, the polling cards, again, people are told about this in the Election Law, but is there a way of making it even clearer, that the Deputy has mentioned in his proposition? Possibly there is. Is the cost right? Well, I think we would have to look at that. But in there it says, I think this should be last on the one, because if we can get polling stations anywhere and you can vote anywhere, the polling card itself does not need to say where you can vote. It just says: “Go to a polling station.”

So I would like to say, this work is happening. We are looking at making this happen for the next elections. The conversation has been going on for 6 months in different areas to make sure that we are in the right place for it by the next elections. So I thank very much the Deputy in supporting the work that my team is doing towards making this happen, and thank you very much.

Deputy S.M. Brée:

There is some merit in what this proposition is trying to achieve. There are a lot of questions about it. How is it going to work? Will it work? How on earth are you going to get an electronic voting system that is secure, robust, communicates well with central servers in place in time for anybody to go into any polling station and effectively use an electronic terminal, which will not only register their vote but register the fact they have voted in the election that they are entitled to vote in. So there are a lot of questions.

Deputy Tadier

It could well be, and it has been suggested, that of course it will be much easier for voters to be able to vote at any polling station with some degree of electronic digital backup for that. It would absolutely be necessary to at least have an intranet system between all of the polling stations so that in real time you know who has voted and who has not voted so that we do not get a duplication of voting; that, of course, goes without saying and I think that is well within the current technology that exits. It also stands to reason that in the future we may want to consider having electronic voting machines alongside the traditional methods of casting a vote.


But I do take on board the comments that have been said: “Well, what about the practical elements of the ballot papers?” Would we have to have ballot papers for all of the Deputies and all the Constables in every polling station? Well, that depends on the method that is chosen of course. If you have an integrated system, computer linked up to a printer with the correct type of paper you can, of course, just print a ballot paper securely on demand so you do not need to have all these excess ballot papers. We know that there will be ballot papers left over at any one time because turnout is not 100 per cent. It is much less than 50 per cent. So why are we printing ballot papers unnecessarily when, of course, you could probably just have a system where ... specialised printer, you print the ballot paper out for the relevant constituency as and when you need it. That is just one idea and I am sure that P.P.C., when they look at this, will be able to put more meat on the bones and they will tell us whether it is possible to do it for 2018.

Philip Ozouf

Voter confidentiality and voter safety is of the highest importance for the integrity of the voting system. The voting system has to work. It has to be effective. It has to be equal. It has to have voter equality to the greatest extent possible and there has to be voter equity and there has to be a massive change, I am afraid, in the way that effectively the electoral registers are compiled.

The good news is that technology can do a lot of that. It can do a lot of the heavy lifting and it can do a lot of the real offsetting of the controls that exist which are the concerns previously of people simply popping into any single voting station where you do not know them.

Parish people know their people because if they do not they will find out who they are. There are risks, I am afraid, with anybody going to any single polling station and being unknown. Yes, they can show some form of I.D. but where are the controls in Deputy Mézec’s proposal in dealing with these issues? There is an issue. We all want everybody to vote. We all want to get more people out to vote but there is the issue of voter fraud and what has happened in other countries, being very real issue.

I say to Deputy Mézec, he is on a committee and if he is committed to voter reform and getting the electoral registers properly organised in an electronic way, harnessing the power of technology, then he will be working to find a solution and coming forward with not a proposition that is just an expression of a desire with no evidence, with no offsetting issues of controls, and he is not going to like it. I know he is not going to like it, but I am not prepared to vote in favour of something which is not effectively properly worked out, complete in dealing with all the modalities that need to happen for the voter registration and the voter safety.

In the U.K. polling cards are dealt with freely by the post office. They are delivered free with other election materials and we had discussions with the Jersey Post to do it. The reality is that postal cards are not things that people communicate with. I do not communicate by letter and post; I communicate by email. I want a smart phone. I want a message on my phone which basically comes up and says: “You are entitled to vote tomorrow.”

Not only is that better and more effective and safer but it is also going to be much more cheaply and effectively dealt with. Those are the things that you do if you want to improve voter turnout and voter participation. It is by harnessing electronically, by having a common database which Deputy Wickenden is doing valiant work on with other people and Digital Jersey and his eGov Team. You do that and you reform the whole system and can we do things by 2018; yes, we can but let us not come forward with piecemeal propositions that are just used as a stick to come and bash P.P.C. later with to say: “No, you have not done this.”

Sam Mezec

In terms of the polling cards, I mentioned in my opening remarks that this is something that has been done in the U.K. since 1948. The figure of £100,000 was floated for how much it would cost. I mean I have never heard something so ridiculous. Of course it is not going to cost that much. It does not cost much money to get something put in a postal drop when that is being combined with what is already being put out in a postal drop anyway. The card is cheap. You can print labels to put different names on it and one was that they would have to go in envelopes because you would give away the identity of the people living there. Well, what do they think is going to be on the envelope? The name and address. It is utterly ridiculous. When you get them in the Isle of Man or you get them in the U.K. or other jurisdictions you get just the card through the post because there is no confidential information on it that would not also be on the cover of an envelope as well.

The work, as Deputy Wickenden said, is being done to look at the technological side of it. I am not someone who has a great grasp of computer technology and programming and whatever but my father does it professionally and I talk to him about it and sort of get ideas about what different ways there are to do it because computer programming, in many ways, can often be more like arts than like a science. I am sure Deputy Wickenden knows what I am talking about there in terms of how you approach creating systems to deal with these issues.

Good Intentions

This poem was inspired by reading Rory Stewart's book "Can Intervention Work?" when he looks at the lost hopes and false dreams of Afganistan and the West:

"Governments have become ever worse at acknowledging failure. Partly it is the absence of anyone to challenge policy. In the nineteenth century we had many deeply knowledgeable officers, who’d spent their whole careers on the ground in British India, and on the Northwest Frontier, working with local communities, in local languages, who had learnt through long experience what could and could not be done, and were not afraid to disagree with government policy. Today, by contrast, our officials live much more isolated lives, know much less about the countries in which they serve, are much more memorized by abstract jargon, and find it more difficult to challenge policies, even when they sense that they are wrong."

In Afghanistan, more troops, more aid workers and agencies, and more money is pumped into the country without any real understanding of the people, or the culture. Virtually no one even speaks their language. And the terms of stay are usually so short - 2-3 years - that there is no time to do so.

Good Intentions

Peace keeping they call it, marching as to war,
No lessons learned, mistakes as made before
Every more soldiers, sent to fight the foe
Afghanistan: we just cannot let it go.

When we came with arms, Taliban did flee
But it was a hollow, hollow, empty victory
Soldiers sent as if to die, soldier’s death to praise
And always evermore, expectations raise

We see this heaven sent, as if by call of God
But where the bombs now fall, empty dust is trod
Might on side of right, deluded so are we
And international aid comes, full of charity

New generals come and go, but victory on the wane
Aid workers, financiers: they will still remain
Always one more hope, that we will prevail
But in the end is empty, and promises do fail

Behind armed barricades, here’s a happy throng
None speaks the language, joins the Afghan’s song
Never giving up, like leeches we still cling
Never understanding what the Afghan’s sing

Fort Regent in the 1970s - Part 3

I managed to get hold of this brochure which was printed in 1977. It is both sad and amazing when you see everything the Fort had to offer. Over the next month, I shall be posting extracts from this brochure which shows the incredible diversity of Fort Regent, and an optimism that has been sadly lost along with most of the features described in this brochure.

Fort Regent in the 1970s - Part 3

Did you know that Jersey was the first place in the British Isles to have a pillar box? And did you know that the Jersey Postal Service is entirely independent of that of the U.K.? Those are just two of the facts you can discover when you visit Fort Regent's Postal Museum.

This fascinating exhibition features material from Post Office archives to tell the story of the Islands postal history from the appointment of Jersey's first postmaster in 1794 up to the present day.

The story is told with the help of models, maps and pictures- On display are postmen's uniforms, equipment and even letter boxes. Jersey was the first place in Britain to have pillar boxes.

Some were in use in France and had been seen by the celebrated novelist Anthony Trollope who was also a Post Office Surveyor for the South West District which included the Channel Islands. He suggested to the British Postmaster General that they were a good idea and should be introduced to Britain. So seven were erected experimentally - four in St. Helier and three in Guernsey.

Unfortunately none of the original boxes have survived.

From the period of the German Occupation you can see stamps, moving messages sent via the Red Cross from Jersey people, military and civilian letters, mail from islanders held in German prison camps as prisoners of war and internees and even letters from all over Europe to slave workers. Plus many other rare and interesting items.

Jersey achieved postal independence in 1969 and since then the world famous stamp issues have illustrated the history, archaeology, flora and fauna of the Island.

On display, too, for those interested in the technicalities of philately, are the various stages in the production of the stamp - from the artist's original drawing through to the finished design.

All the current stamp issues are available from a sales counter so instead of taking home the usual stick of rock why not take with you a packet of Jersey stamps as a present that will actually increase in value. Eager philatelists can ensure, too, that their letters and cards will receive the special Postal Museum "cachet" in addition to their usual cancellation.

There is no extra charge for admission to this museum.

In the year 1509 the slim eighteen-year-old King Henry VIII of England displayed no sign, gave no hint of the monster he would become. There was no augury of the appalling series of divorces, beheadings and imprisonments to be suffered by his nearest and dearest.


The year 1509 was also the starting point for the incredibly successful BBC TV series "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", seen, praised, and critically acclaimed in more than fifty countries the world over.

See how Henry's various Queens all influenced contemporary fashion in their own way. Catherine of Aragon, for example, brought a Spanish style to the English Court which showed especially in the long pointed sleeves and rather stiff farthingale. Ann of Cleves preferred the higher waistline favoured by German fashion.

To enhance the display even further many of the costumes will be shown on full figure models complete with heads of Henry and his unlucky regal consorts.

If Keith Michel's virtuoso performance as Henry was an acting tour de force then so was the artistry displayed by the make-up experts associated with him. So on display, too, will be a section showing how make-up aged Keith Michel from a young man to the corpulent old man on his death bed.

You'll find this exhibition of costumes from the BBC TV series, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII", complete with sound effects and music, in the elegant carpeted, Gallery just off the Piazza and, apart from the entrance charge for the whole Fort, you won't have to pay any extra.

If you feel like shopping then Fort Regent is only too happy to help you. Our shops and boutiques are able to offer you items ranging from VAT-free luxury silks, cashmeres, and costly perfumes, to cigarettes and souvenirs, paperbacks, sticky plasters for those minor cuts, and tablets for those summer heat headaches. And you can buy flowers and fruit, suntan oil, expensive and exclusive lighters, and cheap boxes of matches. All those things plus mementoes of many other of the Fort's attractions.

So, when you're planning your day make sure you leave enough time for browsing around the shops. And we don't mean window shopping. Not at Fort Regent. Here we want you to go right on inside and find out just what is on offer. You'll enjoy it.

Diversity and Discrimination

Back in March 2013, Deputy Montfort Tadier suggested that if there was a move to larger multimember constituents, then reserving seats for women in Jersey's next election may help overcome the gender bias in the States.

Now the same idea has surfaced again in the “States Assembly Gender Audit: Diversity Forum Report” presented by Deputy Louise Doublet with Deputy Jess Perchard, Deputy Kirsten Morel, Lucy Stephenson and Peter McLinton.

“Options discussed by the audit group include requiring there to be an equal number of male and female senators; permitting job sharing; and requiring gender balance in multi-member seats.”

This seems to be badly thought through, and I’ll explain why. Any political assembly which works by democratic voting has a trade off between equality of opportunity to stand, and the resulting imbalances in the composition of that assembly.

Now if you are taking a sample of the population, and you want it to be representative, you will take that sample and overlay on it the weightings for the makeup of the general population from the census. This can be by gender, by nationality, by ethnicity, by age range. The aim is to produce what is called a “stratified sample”, one which has been adjusted to reflect the makeup of the general population.

That’s fine for a sample, when you want to make it as representative of the makeup of the population as a whole, but it doesn’t work when you are looking at adjusting the results in a voting system. A democratic assembly should allow everyone an equal chance to stand, and an equal opportunity to get voted in, regardless of creed, colour or gender.

To impose a bias on a system such as gender simply begs the question: why that bias, and not others. If we look at ethnicity, 8.2% of the population in the 2011 census count as Portuguese and 3.3% as Polish. So we should have 1-2 Poles in the States, and 4 Portuguese members if we wanted to reflect the same diversity as we see in the general population.

The problem with forcing the makeup of the assembly to reflect a kind of diversity within the general population is that there is no firm case for prioritising one group over another. While the makeup of the States shows a gender imbalance, it also shows an imbalance with regard to ethnicity. 

And there are other ways of slicing the population map. As the report itself notes, Professor Sarah Childs, looking at the UK Parliament, suggests that “A greater diversity of MPs should be present in the House of Commons, not least in terms of class, disability, ethnicity, sex/gender, and sexuality.”

But diversity in itself is not a compelling justification for the use of structural preferences of this kind.

A lot of confusion stems from ideas of discrimination. Where someone is discriminated against standing because of various factors common to that sector of the population, there should be mechanisms to rectify this imbalance outside and before they stand, and after they stand, to ensure that the demands of being an elected member do not prove a burden. (On passing, I'd note that a wheelchair user might find considerable difficulty to access the States Chamber).

An older example is the payment of States members. Before that was introduced, the ability of anyone to stand for election was severely curtailed so that the makeup of the Chamber tended to come from those with sufficient independent means to stand. In that instance, positive discrimination came from remunerating members so that no one, however talented, could be disbarred from standing because of lack of financial means.

Another example from recent news also provides an illustration of positive discrimination. New mothers who work for Jersey States will get paid breastfeeding breaks, starting in September. The Social Security Minister wants all employers to provide facilities and time for breastfeeding or expressing milk. Now the same should be true of women in the States, should they also have young children. This is discriminating in such a way as to provide a fair and equitable playing field. It is removing obstacles from standing to the States and participating in the Assembly.

In this respect, it is a good suggestion of the report that “A room where priority is given for breastfeeding mothers should be made available in the States Building when it is next required.”

Another note by the report, although this is not strictly gender related (and I can say that as a single-parent who sometimes had to juggle work and looking after children) is also sensible: “Sitting hours are generally family-friendly but late sittings can be agreed without notice, which causes problems for Members and staff with childcare responsibilities. The audit group considers that the Assembly should decide by lunchtime whether or not to sit beyond 5.30pm, to provide time for Members with parental and other caring responsibilities to make plans so that they can stay late. If necessary, this could involve changing Standing Orders.”

But there are other suggestions which come back to the kind of forcing matters to reflect diversity rather than positive discrimination against obstacles.

“The audit group considered that it should be mandatory for the Chief Minister to have at least one male and one female Assistant Chief Minister.”

At present, the Assembly largely consists of independent members, although there is a rough political spectrum which might be charted out. But it is assumed that the political position of the Council of Ministers should form a more or less cohesive body.

Now if the political makeup of the Assembly meant that taking this on board meant that the only candidates willing to stand were opposed to the whole direction of the Council of Ministers, that kind of ideological straightjacket would surely be detrimental to democracy. Notice that it is, after all, not mandatory to be Assistant Chief Minister, and Senator Valois relinquished that post – it is not that there would not be enough women, it is a question of also being willing to take on that responsibility.

In these cases, we have to look more carefully at the obstacles for women becoming Assistant Chief Ministers, and also the nature of the post. With any position, the Chief Minister, as with any job, should be able to appoint whosoever they consider to be best suited for the role and responsibility, and that should be the key consideration rather than gender (or any other marker of diversity).

In general, where we are looking at the removal of blatantly discriminatory practices (which can ignore obstacles) which is different from the kind discrimination which tries to fix numbers in the Assembly. As soon as we look at affirmatory discrimination such as attempts to fix ratios, we are running into problems. Should there be a Minister appointed who has a disability of some kind in order to ensure that diversity is also reflected in the States Chamber?

As someone who needs two hearing aids to understand speech, I was appalled by the refusal of some candidates to use microphones in the last hustings in 2018, and the choice of venues with no hearing loop system in place. Would someone deaf in the Council of Ministers help the cause of deaf people in the Island?

Given the sorry state of play - the loss of the only social worker with level 3 British Sign Language - it could be said that there is a marginalisation of the deaf community as small and relatively unimportant. But surely what is needed are politicians who are better informed and educated about the deaf community (of which there are probably only about 5 in the States) rather than better representation by the community.

When we look at affirmative discrimination, it is worth looking at an instructive case in the USA. This was a 1996 court case of a white woman named Cheryl Hopwood who was denied admission to a Texas law school, even though she had higher grades and test scores than some of the minority applicants who were admitted. Hopwood took her case to court, arguing the school’s affirmative action program violated her rights. She was not being treated equally because of a numbers game which was biased against her. In trying to create diversity to better reflect society, the admissions practice was actually discriminatory.

What I think we must distinguish between is fair opportunity to all citizens - removing obstacles which can prevent that from being fair, from discrimination which sets forth preferential treatment to groups who have been underrepresented. If we muddle the two, we will end up in a mess.

Combined Sewage Overflows: Why they occur and what can be done?

29 July 2013: Due to the intense rainfall earlier this afternoon, the drainage system was unable to cope in the Dicq area and there was a diluted sewage spill into the sea for 30 minutes. As a precaution, Transport and Technical Services (TTS) is advising the public not swim or fish in the area of the Dicq slipway today (29 July 2013). TTS also advises not to take anything from the beach such as shells etc and to wash hands carefully if you’ve been in the area. The tide will refresh the beach overnight and swimming can resume tomorrow.

12 August 2019: Islanders are advised against swimming in the Havre des Pas beach area for the next 24 hours, following a sewage spill at the Dicq in the early hours of this morning. Lifeguards will close the bathing pool during the 24 hour period, during which there will be two tidal changes. Heavy rain during last night’s storm led to the spill from the Dicq pumping station at approximately 2.30am today. Teams from Growth, Housing and Environment have cleaned the spilled waste from the beach, and samples of the water have revealed high levels of E.coli and enterococci. The Dicq pumping station contains both foul sewage and surface water, and is connected to St Helier’s combined sewer system. When it rains heavily the surface water can overload the network.

What is a Combined Sewer Overflow?

These events happen because most of that area has sewage and rainwater runoff water in the same pipes. Most of the time, all this wastewater is taken to the sewage treatment plant at Bellozanne, where it is treated and then purified and bacteria free water is discharged via an outfall to St Aubin’s Bay.

But, as the United States Environmental Protection Agency explains, there are circumstances when this breaks down:

“During periods of heavy rainfall or snowmelt, however, the wastewater volume in a combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the sewer system or treatment plant. For this reason, combined sewer systems are designed to overflow occasionally and discharge excess wastewater directly to nearby streams, rivers, or other water bodies.”

A Legacy Issue

It’s not just Jersey which has this problem. It is part of the way in which most sewage systems were originally constructed. As John Tibbetts explains in “Combined Sewer Systems: Down, Dirty, and Out of Date”:

“When combined sewer systems were introduced in 1855, they were hailed as a vast improvement over urban cesspool ditches that ran along city streets and spilled over when it rained. These networks of underground pipes were designed to dry out streets by collecting rainwater runoff, domestic sewage from newly invented flush toilets, and industrial waste-water all in the same pipe. Waste- and storm water was then discharged directly into waterways; in the early twentieth century, sewage treatment plants were added to clean the wastewater before it hit streams. Combined sewer systems were—and still are—a great idea, with one catch: when too much storm water is added to the flow of raw sewage, the result is frequently an overflow.”

“The sewers have been specifically designed with escape overflow pipes so that the mixture of sewage and storm water doesn’t back up into buildings, including homes”

That’s why the Jersey overflow took place, to protect homes and drains from sewage bubbling back and coming out of toilets or roadside drains. When sewage overflows into homes and businesses, expensive remediation and decontamination is needed to make them safe again.

By far the safest option was to flush it into the sea, even if that meant environmental hazard.

As to those hazards, Tibbets comments:

“CSOs flood waterways with contaminants including microbial pathogens, suspended solids, chemicals, trash, and nutrients that deplete dissolved oxygen. Microbial pathogens and toxics can be present in CSOs at levels that pose risks to human health. CSOs can therefore lead to contamination of drinking water supplies, beaches, and shellfish beds.”

Why the Cavern didn't work?

Part of the problem caused by storm surges has been tacked in cities such as Boston, Chicago, and Atlanta with the building of deep storage tunnels to hold storm water overflows. Jersey has just such a one in the form of the cavern.

However, the overload was purely at the Dicq – too far down the chain to affect the cavern. It deals with, on average, about 12,000 tonnes of waste-water a day, but was overloaded.


Mr Duncan Berry, assistant director of liquid waste, said the Dicq deals with sewage from the east of the Island as well as a mixture of run-off water and sewage from town. He commented that:

“The Dicq deals with sewage and run-off water but because of the rainfall it was inundated with clear water and the pumps were going like crazy to get it to First Tower, but the maximum level was beaten and then it overflows and goes out to sea. We have an alarm system and we get an alert when that happens.”

The impact of Climate Change, Population Growth and Land Use

Experts say climate change is causing an increase in precipitation, flooding and high-intensity storms and combined sewer systems like Jersey’s could experience more overflows as result. Climate scientists predict that precipitation levels and the amount of rainfall from heavy downpours will increase over the next century.

There’s an additional effect from population growth and more houses and flats. With continued population growth, the demands on Jersey’s combined sewer systems have increased.

Moreover, houses and flats on Brownfield sites make more paved surfaces which can increase the volume of runoff when it does rain.

What are the options?

What can be done? As far as engineering is concerned, there are a number of options available.

Upgrades can include improvements like larger and newer pipes, even converting combined sewage systems to separate sewer systems, where storm water runs through a completely separate set of pipes. But these will be costly, even if they do help offset the impacts of heavy downpours.

“Treatment Techniques for Combined Sewer Overflows” by S.M. Scherrenberg looks at other solutions.

In Jersey’s recent overflow, some sanitary products and larger matter went through the outfall to the beaches. But there are solutions for that, such as the Netting TrashTrapTM System of Fresh Creek Technologies Inc. This is a modular floatable collection system located at the CSO outfall. Using nets is an inexpensive and simple way of removing trash and floatables without using electrical or mechanical power.

As Scherrenberg notes:

“In general the nets need to be replaced regularly to prevent odour annoyance to the surroundings and visual pollution. Replacement of the nets will take about 30 minutes.”

But they are efficient at removing larger floatable materials from storm surges and overflows.Maybe those fatbergs would have been trapped.

Another solution he looks at is Hydrodynamic Vortex separation:

“In the USA hydrodynamic vortex separation (HDVS) devices are applied for the removal of suspended solids and other easy settable particles.”

“The system is self-inducing so there are no moving parts. Because of the gravity the solids will be pulled down. The floor of the vortex is under a slope to sweep the solids towards a central drain. Vortex separators can be applied when dealing with extremely high flows”

“In the past years more advanced vortex separators were developed. The Swirl Concentrator, the Fluidsep® and the Storm King® (illustrated in Figure 3-1) are examples of these advanced vortex systems, which are used for treatment of CSO water. In these systems inorganic chemicals (coagulants) can be dosed for coagulation and flocculation. In this way removal efficiencies increase dramatically (Averill et al., 1997) and colloidal matter, which will not settle by gravity, will also be removed (Helliwell and Harper, 1993).”

It should be noted that will not remove all the problem, only larger solid material. Disinfecting the water is a challenge, as UV systems cannot cope with storm surges.

So perhaps it is also time to address new buildings for the increased population, and more permeable surfaces. I hope to examine that in a later blog.

References
https://www3.epa.gov/region1/eco/uep/cso.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1257666/
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d5cd/609c8dc11d7cf5b478d154cc43ef9c1186c6.pdf

The Call

What is the nature of our vocation, and when we hear a siren call for help from those who need our aid, do we obey that call? This poem explores how we understand our lives, how vocation makes sense of the whole journey of life, and gives us a vision to inspire and call us to follow.

The Call

I saw the sun so slowly set, it now was time to rest
The winter lands await me now, ending of a quest
I saw the seasons joyful bright, and now ever so sad
Here is now a resting place, and that has made me glad

A land of famine, sorrow, death, a voice that cries to give
Here is the purpose, calling now, and only thus we live
Let love, compassion, ever flow, as a life giving stream;
I heard a voice now calling me, it said “I have a dream”

This is the call, the task for us, to be this dark world's light
Beneath the hopeless times of dread, to shine as angel light
Bring living water where is drought, below the blazing sun
And in that light of life to walk, till travelling days are done.

Fort Regent in the 1970s - Part 2

I managed to get hold of this brochure which was printed in 1977. It is both sad and amazing when you see everything the Fort had to offer. Over the next month, I shall be posting extracts from this brochure which shows the incredible diversity of Fort Regent, and an optimism that has been sadly lost along with most of the features described in this brochure.

Fort Regent in the 1970s - Part 2

Considering that just 160 years ago the main object of Fort Regent was to repel strangers, it's now surprisingly easy to find ways into it. 

For a small entrance charge you can spend a day or an evening in what is fast becoming Europe's premier entertainment and sports centre.

Almost certainly the visitor to Jersey will have seen those brightly coloured little cabins floating above the town and buzzing their way up to the Fort. Those cable cars are probably the easiest, and certainly the most enjoyable, way to get into Jersey's sports and pleasure complex. From Snow Hill, in the centre of St. Helier, you can be whisked aloft to the highest ramparts in a matter of moments.

Utterly reliable, utterly safe, the cable cars leave Snow Hill continually fron ten o'clock every morning.

By the way, the cost of your cable car ride includes the daily entrance fee.

Carborne passengers for the cable cars can leave their vehicles in the Snow Hill car park. It's open 24 hours a day and costs very few pence an hour.

Perhaps cable cars aren't your favourite mode of transport. Possibly you feel happier with two feet or four wheels firmly on the ground. Still, if you're going to spend the day at Fort Regent you'll have to leave your car somewhere. There are some spaces available outside the Fort's main entrance. You can get to them by driving up the Fort Regent Road.

Otherwise, the best place is the multi-storey car park in Pier Road. There's room for 700 cars and it's open 24 hours a day. Once again, parking costs very little in Jersey - a few pence an hour.

If you do use the Pier Road park you're going to have to use your feet a little. You can either walk up the Fort Regent Road or, if you're feeling particularly energetic, you can climb the steps up to the Fort. There are 122 steps, count them for yourself.

You can also try walking into the Fort up the Glacis Field that's the grassy expanse to the south of the Swimming Pool.

"Glacis" is a military term meaning a bank sloping down from a fort on which attackers would be totally without cover from gunfire. You can see for yourself what an effective defensive system it must have been. Another credit to the Fort's builder, John Humfrey.

There's always something to see or do but, naturally, the amenities vary according to the time of day and the season.

The granite ex-fortress, once grim and gloomy, is now Jersey's exhilarating entertainment supercentre.

The ramparts that once echoed only to military bands and shouted commands is still a home for the rhythms of marchtime. But these days the sound could well be created by the familiar frontline of a traditional jazz band. Or it could be that the strains will be the softer sounds of a skilful trio.

But music is just one facet of the live entertainment that is available. There's so much more than simply music. There's utter peace and tranquillity for those who want it. But let's have a look at the sort of entertainment available during say, the summer school holidays. And, don't forget most of the entertainment is included in the very moderate charge you will pay to enter the Fort.

The morning is devoted to children's entertainments that everyone can enjoy. Entertainments like magicians and illusionists. Or there will be the all round appeal of the harmonies and harmonious sound of a three-piece band.

Things change in the afternoon. That's when you will find an exciting show based firmly in the wild and woolly west a cowboy special to delight all the family.

The Wild West Show takes on a new flavour come evening time. That's when those pardners you have seen in action during the afternoon take on a new look and a new sound with a more direct appeal to mum and dad.

Once again, may we remind you, most of the live entertainment may be seen completely free of any extra charge.

Look out for details of our entertainment programmes on your hotel notice board or ask at your hotel reception desk.

And please remember, if you don't like the music or the other entertainment we offer, then there's still plenty of room for you to do absolutely nothing.

Fort Regent is so big that there are plenty of pockets of peace where you can reflect undisturbed.

Titania's Palace is the world's finest display of art in miniature, a priceless assemblage of a lifetime's collection of tiny objets d'art.

It's the home, or more formally, the regal residence of Her Iridescence, Queen Titania, her Royal Consort Oberon, and all of the Royal Family of Fairyland.

The Palace was opened to the public in 1922 by Queen Mary and has subsequently been seen and admired by millions of people the world over - from children to art-lovers.

Just how small is it? Well, there are sixteen rooms each of which is twenty seven inches high; and every piece of tiny craft in those. crowded rooms is uniquely and perfectly to scale.

There aren't any cats in Fairyland, consequently mice are more commonplace than in our own homes. Look for the occasional mouse under beds and chairs.

You'll need the very detailed guide to the Palace obtainable at the entrance. Titania's Palace is a collection that could never again be equalled or even replaced. It's a unique assemblage of antique miniatures plus some of the most perfect examples of modern craftsmanship ever made by human hands.

Combined with the splendours of Titania's Palace is an outstanding collection of dolls. They've been assembled over the years by local antique dealer, Mrs. Violet Norman, and the display is remarkable both for the beauty and the rarity of its content.

Undoubtedly the finest dolls in the collection are the two "Bru Junior" specimens from France, the most sought after dolls in the collectors world, as well as being stunningly beautiful. Also on display is an early wax doll reputed to have belonged to Lady Hamilton - long before she turned her attentions to Lord Nelson.

And you can make sure that your memories of this display are kept fresh by taking home with you a memento of your visit. Available are postcards of this valuable collection.

There is a small extra charge to these displays.

A Night on Prospero’s Island

Occasioned by tonight's weather, this sonnet is a mood poem.

A Night on Prospero’s Island

From behind the clouds the moon
Emerging brightly in the dark night
Shadows over stone and ancient rune
And the darkness of the barrow wight

Now the wind speaks, rustling the trees
There is a faint echo of a chanted song
A time of haunting melody, of unease
Blowing, blowing, all the night long

The sea, foam flecked, across the sand
The bay is empty now, glistening white
Far the journey to the near grassland
And in water, dances there a sprite

Stranding on the moonlit shore, staff raised high
Prospero conjures forces of sea, shore, sky

Fort Regent in the 1970s - Part 1

I managed to get hold of this brochure which was printed in 1977. It is both sad and amazing when you see everything the Fort had to offer. Over the next month, I shall be posting extracts from this brochure which shows the incredible diversity of Fort Regent, and an optimism that has been sadly lost along with most of the features described in this brochure.

Fort Regent in the 1970s - Part 1

The general telephone number for all parts of the Fort is xxxxx.

BUT for squash Court enquiries please ring xxxxx
Aquarium enquiries please ring xxxxx
Skating Rink enquiries please ring xxxxx
Bonaparte's enquiries please ring xxxxx


At Fort Regent you will find several public telephone boxes. There are two at the main entrance, one at the entrance to the swimming pool, one near the fountains in the water garden, and one at the squash courts.

In the event of First Aid being required please ask any Fort Regent attendant or contact the information centre. The centre for lost property is Main Reception. Public toilets are located within the Swimming Pool complex and in the Piazza; toilets for disabled persons are also to be found in the Piazza as are special facilities for mothers and young children.

At the entrance to Fort Regent you will see a notice announcing the name of the Duty Manager of the Day. He's the man who is responsible for the day to day running of the whole complex. If, during your stay at the Fort, you have any problems, complaints, or suggestions, they will be dealt with at the Information Desk which is located in the Main Reception adjoining the Piazza.

Dogs are only allowed into the Fort if they are kept on leads, and then only in exterior places. That means that dogs will not be allowed indoors anywhere in Fort Regent unless, of course, they are guide dogs belonging to, and being used by, any of our blind guests.

As far as children who have strayed from their parents, or from those looking after them, are concerned, the Lost Children Centre will be Main Reception.

For your safety a sophisticated Fire Detection system has been installed and if fire should break out alarm signals will be set off directly in the headquarters of the Jersey Fire Service.

Please take careful note of any information that is broadcast over the public address system.

If you are staying in the Island for some time you will probably find it worthwhile to become a member of Fort Regent. Please ask at main reception for full details of members' benefits and subscriptions.

Frank Erault

May I, as Bailiff of Jersey, bid you a warm welcome to the Fort Regent Leisure Centre.

This historic Fort is being converted to provide for both Islanders and holiday makers the finest entertainment and sports amenities possible. Local residents are indeed fortunate to have such a splendid Centre on their doorstep, and I am sure that they will want to visit the Fort often to enjoy its many attractions.

If you are a visitor to our Island, may I wish you a very happy holiday among us. There is so much to see and do at Fort Regent that I hope you will enjoy at least one full day here, and perhaps find time for an evening visit as well.

Some sort of defensive system has existed on the hill guarding St. Helier, Le Mont de la Ville, for at least 450 years and probably for far longer than that. But Fort Regent as we know it today was actually built between 1806 and 1814. It was designed by Lieutenant-General John Humfrey for Humphrey) of the Royal Engineers and named in honour of Prince George, later King George V.

When Humfrey began his work in 1806 he recorded that he had a total of 553 men plus such Masons and Miners as could be supplied from the inhabitants".

Later he assessed his workforce requirements at more than a thousand including 700 labourers and 124 miners.

Fort Regent is estimated to have cost £375,000 to build. Not overly expensive considering that some of those walls are 18 feet thick!

But however strong the walls, any fortress has to have a water supply. The well of Fort Regent reaches a depth of 235 feet and took nearly two years to sink.

Even before work on Fort Regent began, in fact, 98 years before the foundation stone was laid, the Signal Station was in operation. It was established in 1708 and is thought to be the oldest in the United Kingdom. Still used is the private system of signals first compiled in 1792.

The Union Flag flies at the masthead during all daylight hours. It's lowered at sunset and raised at dawn. The flag is never otherwise lowered save only on the death of the sovereign. Even then it's hoisted immediately in honour of the successor.

However, almost as soon as it was completed, Fort Regent was no longer needed. A year later Napoleon had been defeated at Waterloo and the French wars were at an end. British military forces continued to garrison the fortress until they finally abandoned it in 1932; although the Fort itself remained in the possession of the British Government until 1958 when it was sold back to the States of Jersey for the knock-down price of £14,500.

No battle was ever fought at Fort Regent but claims that the guns of the Fort never fired a round in anger are somewhat exaggerated. Second World War pilots can testify to the fusillades of anti-aircraft shells which the soldiers of the Third Reich sprayed into the skies over Jersey - without, it's claimed, any success at all.

Now its glory has been given back. Fort Regent, built to repel outsiders, now welcomes all-comers. Fort Regent has been transformed into Europe's most comprehensive sports, entertainment and leisure complex.

The first major attractions of the Fort Regent sports and entertainment complex to be in operation were the superb swimming pools.

One is a national size pool - and that means it's all of thirty three and a third metres in length. Even if the day is a little chilly outside (and you'd better believe that's not usual in Jersey) the pool inside is a different story. For those statistically inclined, the 175,000 gallons of water in the pool are all in the region of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or, if you prefer, 26 degrees centigrade.

The pool also figures in the Guinness Book of Records as the scene of the most profitable sponsored swim the world has ever seen. In a 2% day marathon effort 1,750 swimmers raised a total of nearly £20,000 for local charities.

What happens if you're up at the Fort and you suddenly fancy a swim but you've forgotten to bring your bathing things with you? No problem- You hire them.

Safety is the main aim of all those who work at the pool. On duty every moment that the pool is open to the public is a team of experienced lifeguards.

Safety, too, means that a children's pool has been installed. It's right next to the big pool so that the youngsters don't feel left out but shallow enough to reduce the chance of accidents. The small pool has its own supervisors.

But maybe you're one of those whose bathing suits never get wet- You are? Well, we've got a place for you, too. Try the sun-terrace where you can improve your tan and sip a refreshing drink at one and the same time.

Or if you only want to watch the swimmers in action, visit the spectator’s gallery which is entirely free of charge.

But your stay at the swimming pool need not just mean things aquatic. Afterwards why not try the newly decorated and luxuriously furnished Springboard Restaurant where Alfredo and Margaret will be delighted to serve you with coffee, tea, light snacks, or even their own specialities of the day. Or, if you fancy something a little stronger, try the licensed Hi-Dive lounge bar.

At the pool, too, you'll find the solarium. Just the thing to start off your holiday tan. Before you venture on to Jersey's beaches make sure that you start the bronzing process with a few minutes under the lights of our solarium. The price includes the swim you'll no doubt enjoy afterwards.

Once you have paid your initial entrance fee to Fort Regent the swimming pool complex is free to spectators, except when there are special galas.

The ramparts of Fort Regent tower 175 feet above the sea and if majestic views are what you expect, majestic views are what you get.

Breathtaking views. Magnificent views of the town and the harbour of St. Helier and of the distant country parishes. Views, too, that demonstrate the invincibility of Fort Regent.

With such a panorama at your disposal why not try the telescopes that are dotted here and there around the highest parts of the Fort? They'll bring details sharply into focus and give you an amazing new angle on St. Helier.

As evening draws closer those stimulating walks around the 22 acres of Fort Regent are transformed into softly-lit promenades for gently strolling romantics - undisturbed arbours for those in love.

Below the ramparts are yet more gardens. Rose gardens with the pink, carmine, crimson, and claret-coloured blossoms of everyone's favourite flower. The water garden with its sparkling fountains and rippling rivulets. Soothing and relaxing. 

And the peacocks. Flaunting their unbelievable tails and attempting to dazzle the attentive peahens with their magnificence. Listen to them calling each other. Isn't that raucous yell an anti-climax after their gorgeous plumage? By the way, it's best not to upset them. They have been known to get a trifle aggressive.

But there are smaller birds, too. Near the peacocks are the aviaries to walk through as more than a hundred brightly coloured natives of the tropics and exotic places whirr past your head and fill the air with their song.

Look out especially for the pair of white crested jay thrushes who lovingly sleep side by side covering each other over with their wings.

As you toured the walls of the Fort, did you notice the picnic spots? We've made places for you to sit down and we've even made tables for you to use. Please do use them, after all that's why we put them there. And afterwards, please don't forget to tidy up and put all your litter in the baskets.

Entry to all these areas is included in your daily admission charge to the Fort.