Margins

Margins

Who is the outcast, left outside?
Self-isolating, shielding, all apart
The fear that causes them to hide
The beating of a lonely heart

Who is the outcast, left outside?
The virus stops them working now
Lost jobs, lost hope, without a guide
Struggling on with life somehow

Who is the outcast, left outside?
Mourning apart, and tears alone
No one there when loved one died
All they can do is weep and groan

On the margins: what is good news?
And how can we speak to those sad views?

Edward Le Quesne: The Bad Old Years

Edward Le Quesne (1882-1957) was elected a Deputy for St Helier No 2 district in 1925 and held the seat until he stood successfully for the new office of Senator in 1948. This is an extract from a journal he wrote entitled “50 Years of Memories”, written sometime around 1949. This part of his memoir looks at late Victorian Jersey.

Chapter 2: The Bad Old Days
By Edward Le Quesne

Although more could be bought with twenty shillings in those days than can be obtained with three times that amount to-day, wages were terribly inadequate. A good mechanic, plasterer, mason, carpenter or plumber was lucky if he earned 18 shillings or 20 shillings- for a week of 59 hours, and a labourer was rarely paid more than 12 shillings or 14 shillings for the same week. Work began at 7 am and finished at 6 p.m, excepting on Saturday when knock-off time was 5 pm.

Apprentices started work at one shilling a week, and the lucky ones gradually increased that to four shillings a week during their fourth year.

The majority of working-class families lived in one or two rooms without indoor sanitation and with a pump outside the house from which water was obtained for washing and cooking, etc. Some families, and I emphasise some, had a weekly bath-night, when water was heated in the washhouse copper, and then poured into the washtub. One filling had to do for at least two grown-ups or three or four children. The modern porcelain bath with piped water was almost unknown, excepting in the houses of very wealthy people.

Rent and food were remarkably cheap, if measured by 1954 standards. Bread was 5 ½ d. for a four-pound loaf, eggs were 6d., 7d. and 9d. per dozen, butter 1s 6d and 1s 8d per lb. and potatoes six pounds for 2 ½ d. A pig’s head for making into brawn could be bought for 2 1/2d per lb.'and conger for 1d. per lb.

But even at those prices the lot of a working man with a family was a hard one; and many went in dread of even a few days’ illness or a week or so of unemployment, for on their small wages little or nothing could be saved for the proverbial “ rainy day ”.

The great ambition of many families was to have a special suit or dress for Sundays, and great care was taken of these. Children wore them to attend Sunday School, had to change them immediately on return home, and change into them again if taken out by their parents on a Sunday afternoon or to Church or Chapel on Sunday evening. The majority of people were Church or Chapel members ; and large congregations attended both morning and evening Sunday services, plus a prayer-meeting on Fridays.

One of many inducements to attend Sunday School was the Annual Sunday School Treat, when the children, accompanied by their teachers and some of the parents, were taken into the country in charabancs and vans. Sports were then held, prizes distributed to the winners of the various events, and a bumper tea provided. The drive home in the darkness was often the beginning of a romance that years afterwards meant a courtship and marriage for those who had first met at a Sunday School treat. I have known of many such.

Another great day was the Sunday School Anniversary. Great preparations were made for this event at which hymns were sung by specially-trained children’s choirs, the lessons read by one or two of the senior scholars, and a sermon preached by the minister especially for children.

On the following Monday or Tuesday came the prize-giving day. Every boy and girl who had made a regular attendance at Sunday School received a prize. These prizes principally consisted of Bibles or the Pilgrim’s Progress, with now and again something of a less religious type, but never of the type boys and girls read to-day.

Some of the Sunday services in those days lasted for from two to two-and-a-half hours, with the sermon taking half the time. The story of Adam and Eve and the condemnation of the wicked to everlasting Hell-fire were consistently preached and accepted literally, and illustrated books depicting the wicked being prodded with pitchforks into raging furnaces were considered quite the thing to show to children in order to induce them to be good little boys and girls.

A Time to Re-Examine Bubbles

A Covid Party

Nine people have contracted covid after gathering in each other's homes at a number of different events - including one attended by someone who allegedly broke their isolation after arriving from a 'red zone'. Covid was the unexpected guest at the party.

The timeline was given by Bailiwick Express:

Saturday 6 February
In the afternoon, A visits B and C at B's house for four hours.
D and E join them. D arrived back in Jersey three days ago.
That evening, A and B attend a party hosted by F. F and three other guests later test positive for covid.
Thursday 11 February
A person in F's household (G) has a friend to visit (H).


Sunday 14 February
Someone in H's household (I) starts showing symptoms and calls the helpline for a test.
H attends a party hosted by J with 10 people in attendance.


Tuesday 16 February
H and I test positive.
Contact tracing begins with the guests from J's party.


Wednesday 17 February
K, who has been in contact with F, is contact traced and tests positive.
A fourth guest from the original party on 6 February tests positive.

Restaurants, 2 metres, and airflow

So what if the party had been held at a restaurant? No one was showing symptoms for much of the time when H attends a party.

Part of the problem with the two metre rule is that it doesn't work in real life. A recent BMJ study showed that "Rigid safe distancing rules are an oversimplification based on outdated science and experiences of past viruses". They noted that:

"Droplets exist across a continuum of sizes. Contextual factors such as exhaled air and ambient airflow are extremely important in determining how far droplets of all sizes travel. Without exhaled airflow, the largest droplets would travel furthest (1-2 m), while the small ones would encounter high resistance (drag) and stay close to the source. When accounting for the exhaled airflow, clouds of small droplets can travel beyond 2 m in the air, and even large droplets have enhanced range."

And they point out that airflow within a confined space - such as a restuarant - can aid transmission:

"Specific airflow patterns, and not just average ventilation and air changes, within buildings are also important in determining risk of exposure and transmission. A case report from an outbreak at a restaurant in China described 10 people within three families infected over one hour, at distances of up to 4.6 m and without direct physical contact. The pattern of transmission was consistent with the transient indoor localised ventilation airflow pattern. Few studies have examined how airflow patterns influence viral transmission; most studies report (if anything) only average indoor ventilation rates. Neglecting variation in localised air flow within a space oversimplifies and underestimates risk modelling."

If anything, this was one of the major contributory factors to the outbreak at the Royal Yacht Hotel, where the hotel was unfairly criticised by social media for breaking the rules - they broke other rules, but that's a different matter.

Studies show that airflow is not consistent - so think of heating in winter, which causes convection currents to permeate a restaurant. There are not usually many "cold spots" which means that hot air - and any small droplets they carry - can go far beyond the two metre distance.

So what can we say: the two metre distance is good as a precautionary measure, and it can slow the spread of the virus, but the notion propagated by the government that it is a safe, controlled space, is a pure chimera.

Bubbles - the Safe Way to Re-Open

Putting all mixing of households into one basket is a major mistake. Back in June, one of many studies on the idea of social bubbles.

The best way to reduce the spread of the coronavirus post-lockdown is for people to limit their interactions to a few repeated contacts, or so-called social bubbles, research from the University of Oxford showed.

Social bubbles vary, but the basic idea is to have a limited number of interactions.

For example, in Canada:

No one is permitted to gather socially with anyone outside of their immediate household or “core bubble”. A “core bubble” can include a maximum of two relatives, friends, partners, or co-parents who happen to live in a different household.

The authors of the Oxford study comment that:

“Strategic reduction of contact can strongly increase the efficiency of social distancing measures, introducing the possibility of allowing some social contact while keeping risks low. This approach provides nuanced insights to policymakers for effective social distancing, which can mitigate negative consequences of social isolation.”

Support Bubbles

This is the approach taken successfully in neighbouring Guernsey, both as they came out of the March lockdown, and now again. First of all, they saw the obvious need for support bubbles:

Support bubbles can only be formed under a specific criteria is as follows:

Where there is only one adult (this includes households with one adult living alone or one adult and any children under the age of 18);

Where there is only one adult carer (this means households where this is one adult carer and anyone else living within the household has a disability and requires continuous care);
Where there is a child under one, regardless of how many other adults are in the household;
Where there is a child under 5 with a disability that requires continuous care (regardless of how many other adults are in the household); or
Where an individual needs to move to another household to support their physical and mental wellbeing.

Widening Bubbles

This happens as numbers decline:

"From today, all households will once again be able to 'bubble' together. That means households can socialise with members of one other home and Islanders do not have to observe social distancing advice with members of their chosen paired household. The rules are restricted to entire households, meaning people do not get to expand their bubble individually."

And this has been improved this year:

"A slight change this year will be that five people from separate households will be able to meet outside, as long as they socially distance. It’s hoped that this will allow people who might miss out on a bubble the opportunity to still socialise."

As last time, this allows flexibility. Back in 2020, it expanded to a different stage, so that the household bubble of two household could 'double up' so your bubble now contains four households. This could be four single bubbles now joining together, two double bubbles or an initial joined bubble with two other single bubbles.

"By Phase 3 we were able to spend time with up to four households, with a subsequent move away from household bubbles in Phase 4 and we then reached a Bailiwick-wide bubble in Phase 5. "

Rather than just coming out with the ridiculous mantra that household mixing is not allowed because it cannot be controlled, our Government needs to take a close look at our neighbour and elsewhere where gradual expansion of "bubbles" makes a way to both have household mixing, and control contacts, in a much safer way than restaurants.

For more on Bubbles, see my earlier:
http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2020/05/why-jersey-needs-social-bubbles-urgently.html

Perseverance

As a keen amateur astronomer, what could I write about this week other than the successful landing of the new Martian rover.

Perseverance

Across vastness of space, it came
The journey to Mars, once more
A light for curiosity’s bright flame
It landed on that distant shore

Descending fast, a heat shield held
Until gently on the crater lands
NASA command erupts in yells
Rejoice at sight of Martian sands

Was there life? Will we find out?
An alien life, that swam in seas
Then dying in the solar drought
Now red dust in a Martian breeze

We persevere, to reach out so far
With science shining like a star

Edward Le Quesne: 50 Years of Memories

Edward Le Quesne (1882-1957) was elected a Deputy for St Helier No 2 district in 1925 and held the seat until he stood successfully for the new office of Senator in 1948. This is an extract from a journal he wrote entitled “50 Years of Memories”, written sometime around 1949.

Chapter 1: Early memories
By Edward Le Quesne

During the last fifty or sixty years so many changes have occurred in the life and outlook of all who have lived during that period that I feel it would be of interest, not only to the present generation, but to those coming along after we have passed away, for a Jerseyman who has spent the greater part of his life as an active member of this little community, to place on record some of the many experiences in which he has participated, and some of the many changes he has witnessed.

In doing this I am not attempting any orderly detail, although some items stand out in never-forgotten isolation, though they may appear to others as having no apparent logic or intrinsic value. What other people saw and experienced was not always what one lived through oneself.

Neither is this a history of Jersey in the early twentieth century. To the student, all that can be available is at the Public Library and in the files of the local newspapers kept there.

What I shall endeavour to set down ,are my own personal memories, which may be sometimes inaccurate, confused, or even chaotic, though to me they represent a true picture of what happened in those years.

The first thing I distinctly recollect was the unveiling of the Queen’s statue in the Weighbridge Gardens. This was in 1887, when, at the age of four, I was taken by my father to witness the ceremony.

My father was a special constable for the occasion, and, placing me in the front row, I stood between two soldiers. One of them quite accidentally, dropped his rifle on my foot, which almost led to a free-fight between my father and the soldier.

Soon after that I was sent to Mr. Ollivier’s school in Charing Cross, where Messrs. Huelin now have their ironmongery establishment, and I well remember being taken by the master, with several other boys, to see the first incandescent gas lamp.

This had been erected in the Royal Square by the Gas Company, and was a great improvement on the old fish-tail gas burner then in use, which, apart from being highly dangerous, created an amount of soot that quickly spoilt all decorations.

The first gramophone was also on view in the Royal Square, and for two pence you were permitted to place two unsterilised earpieces in position in order to listen to a piece of music played from a cylinder about six inches long, and which sounded much like the sound made by a man singing whilst suffering from a severe attack of nasal catarrh.

But whilst to-day records of that type are out of date and the insanitary method of listening would not be appreciated, in those days we boys thought it “ the last thing in entertainment ”, and every penny we could spare was used, in order to hear the same tune played again, that we had heard several times previously.

Another great source of entertainment in those days was Poole’s Myorama, that generally visited Jersey once a year and gave their “World-Renowned Show” in the Oddfellows’ Hall in Don Street, now occupied by Messrs. Tregear.

This show, which principally consisted of the unrolling of large pictures accompanied by appropriate descriptions from the compere, with various hangings of drums, etc., to represent thunder and broadsides of guns from warships, always drew large audiences, and on Saturday afternoons children were admitted for three-pence in front seats and two pence in the rear. I well remember the shoving and pushing that ensued immediately the doors opened and the shouting and cheering when an enemy ship was sunk during the course of a showing of the battle of the Tugela River.

We boys were little snobs and because we were being educated at private schools, were not supposed to mix with boys from the elementary schools and the Ragged School that existed in those Bad Old Days.

This Ragged School was situated in Cannon Street, where are now a number of modern service flats. Many of the children attending this school were poorly clad and ill-fed and I have seen many, even on a cold winter day, going to school in rags and minus boots or stockings. 

My mother frequently made the washhouse “copper” into a soup-making vessel, and provided a number of these children with a midday meal of hot soup containing plenty of meat and vegetables. Collections of surplus clothing were made by members of the various churches and chapels for the benefit of these unfortunate little ones.

Grumbles from the Pulpit

Bad Statistics in Jersey

Guernsey: Tuesday 16th February - We currently have 142 (known) active cases of COVID-19. There have been 3 new cases found in the last day and 37 people have recovered. Of the new cases, 1 is a contact of known cases and 2 were identified through planned workforce screening and are not directly linked to a source.

Jersey - we get the statistics about workforce screening, but we don't know if they are directly linked to a source or not. This information is not forthcoming.

This is a key metric, and without it, picking up planned workforce screening tells us very little about the transmission of Covid in the community.

Since Thursday 11 February, 4 individuals have recovered and 7 new cases have been identified (6 through planned workforce screening and 1 through contact tracing)

So are the 6 cases unknown community source or not? The statistics we get are abysmal.

The Grand Strategy: It's the Economy, Stupid!

Jersey's Grand Strategy. Don't even think of household bubbles. No household mixing. But if you go out to a restaurant, you can socially mix with another household as long as there is 2 metre distancing. And you wear your mask when not eating, so are putting it on, taking it off, precisely what they tell us not to do with advice to wear a mask on streets between shops. Contradictions like this don't surprise me, because the underlying principle is to get hospitality open first.

A friend writes: "Those of us who live alone would love to have a household bubble. In the past year I haven’t visited anyone, apart from going to family at Christmas."

And a Deputy writes:

"For two months we have not permitted our children their partners nor our grandchildren into the house . And this to carry on being against the rules from 22 Feb. So now we are told it's ok then it because . We can go to a restaurant and eat out with them for two and half hours. Unlike our homes which we control the risk in the restaurant we have no control over the risk nor from other dinners . Are we supposed to believe this in the interests of people's health . Comment from a family member worth repeating .. " it's about money are we to taken as fools .' All the evidence shows that trust is key"."

Guernsey so sensibly opens up with limited and gradually growing household bubbles. And the Chief Minister refuses point blank to consider such a sensible option which helps mental health - and instead has this restaurant opening strategy, which as my friend in the UK points out, led to their second lockdown. 

Remember Boris and "eat out" until it all went horribly wrong. I've been told that I should note there is no excuse for behaviour that endangers innocent members of the community. Quite honestly, and if one could, I'd impeach the Chief Minister and Health Minister on those grounds!

Pre-Natal Scans: A Deficit in Sense and Compassion

Very good points by Deputy Louise Doublet and Senator Sam Mezec on the state of affairs: partners not able to be present at pre-natal scans, while different households will be able to meet and eat at a restaurant, with obviously no face masks while eating or drinking (and talking at the same time). Another example of a government totally out of touch and inconsistent.

The Government is Singing from the Wrong Hymn Sheet

Imogen Nichols: ""I fail to see how 15 grown men huffing and puffing in a rugby scrum is deemed a safe activity when my choir of 15-plus socially distanced teenagers is not and I would like to know please, in the next 48 hours, the reasons why the one is permitted by the Government of Jersey and the other is not so that I may plan the choir's activities for the coming weeks."

I fail to see it too. But then the current government has not been noted of late for rational decision making, despite calling on STAC (when it seems useful to do so). As with the families celebrating Christmas Eve, the Government lives in an Ivory castle remote and untouched by the concerns of the wider world.

Remember when the use of gardens was allowed for social distanced meetings, and the Chief Minister expressed surprise (in a Q&A) that there could be gardens only accessed through the house! It's another world.

And finally... from "Yes, Minister"

Hacker: The three articles of Civil Service faith: it takes longer to do things quickly, it's more expensive to do them cheaply and it's more democratic to do them in secret.

Look-A-Like

Pat Butcher, the Scout Leader in "Ghosts"




Jeremy Macon, the Politician in Charge of Education

Does anyone think there's a resemblance between Jeremy Macon and Pat Butcher? I know they do not look exactly alike, but they both resemble Scout leaders. All Jeremy needs is a woggle.

As Jeremy takes over at Education, is he prepared? 

Restaurants Opening: A Misguided Strategy

Restaurants Opening: A Misguided Strategy

The Chief Minister has defended the decision to soon allow up to ten people from different households to sit at a table in a hospitality venue, but not let them do the same in someone's home.

Cafes, restaurants and pubs that serve food can open from Monday 22 February, but rules on household mixing will remain the same..Senator John Le Fondre says the medical advice is that uncontrolled mixing in households remains risky.

"They're going to do temperature checks when you go in, there is the normal contact tracing side, there is the fact it is time-limited (two and a half hours), it's seated, it's spaced, and therefore your behaviour will be relatively controlled.

"The risk is lower than, for the sake of argument, a group of people in a house where you're there for an unlimited amount of time, you might relax, you might start hugging and you might just get a lot closer.

That is why in Guernsey, they have "bubbles" where you link, initially with just one other household, and as numbers fall, the bubbles can grow gradually. It worked well for them in the first lockdown, and they are starting it again in a very limited way (as before) in the second lockdown.

Essentially a bubble of two households means they are treated as one for the purpose of examining virus transmission. It is highly restricted, and a lot safer than the restaurant opening where if staff in a kitchen get Covid, the risks of transmission to customers are proportionally far higher.

I'd like to know if anyone who makes these rules about restaurants - and two metre seating - has any idea what two metres looks like.

A three seater sofa is normally around 2 metres. That means you'd have to be seated off each end of the sofa to be two metres distance.




The length of a double bed is around 2 metres.



And this is what it looks like with a table.


And remember tables need to be that distance apart.

And also remember shared toilets!

Large venues - like the Royal Yacht - will do well, but smaller restaurants - like Mark Jordan's will barely be able to open.

A few other facts.

If there is a fan or current generated in a closed space such as a restaurant, particles will also travel farther. This was shown in a paper from China: People in a restaurant downwind of an infected person became infected even though the distance was greater than 2 metres. In this cold weather, do restaurants have heating? Is this mentioned in the guidelines. No! And yet this is a known scientific fact from studies of Covid transmission.

If servers wear masks, that will afford a layer of protection, but customers eating and talking could still spread the virus. One way to mitigate that risk in this imperfect situation, at least from a public health point of view, would be to have tables surrounded by protective barriers, such as plexiglass or screens, or put tables in separate rooms with doors that can be closed.

And finally...

Recently advice has been given by the Health Minister to keep masks on in town as going in and out of shops and taking off masks when outside and then putting them on again increases the risk of contamination by touching the mask. However, in restaurants, you are now being told to put on masks when not eating or drinking, take them off to eat or drink, and put them on again between courses.

Icebound

a



Icebound

Now is the time of snow and ice
Jack Frost is up this frosty morn
Strong wind grips in colder vice
Red sky morning, Shepherd's warn

The pond is ice, all frozen still
The lungs ache in the freezing air
Weather now to catch a chill
And lots of clothes to wear

Sleet is falling, the frozen rain
And I remember the saying old
Rain, rain, go away to Spain
And take with you the bitter cold

Now the temperature is falling fast
East Wind brings a freezing blast

Church News from 1978

Here's a selection of three pieces from "The Pilot", the Anglican Church Magazine for Jersey, from 1978. We have the St Helier Pilgrimage, news from St Aubin on the Hill, and news from St Brelade's Church. 

With St Aubin, there is mention of the Village School, and the fight to save St Aubin's School was led by the Vicar, Terry Hampton, and his wife Rosemary. They managed a stay of execution, but of course falling numbers meant the school would close later. 

St Brelade has mention of fundraising in order, in part, to restore the Fisherman's Chapel. I remember cycling down there on a Saturday morning where a group of fellow students met with Charles Green, our Maths teacher (affectionately nicknamed for some unknown reason "Gloop").At that time, you could only vaguely make out the wall painting of the Annunciation, and the others were hidden behind plaster. A damp day would make it more visible, but of course, that was also symptomatic of the deterioration of the roof. The Rector's fund raising was successful, and Warwick Rodwell came both to excavate as an archaeologist, and as part of a team restoring the chapel. Hidden wall paintings were painstakingly uncovered and restored, and now of course the inside is fantastic. Despite the pandemic, it is open in the day - Mondays excepted - and I would recommend a visit if you want somewhere dry and relatively warm to go to on a cold day.

I've also added advertisements on these pages of the magazine, which have some "blasts from the past". "The Missions to Seamen" is now, with changing times, and more woman at sea, "The Mission to Seafarers". Benests of Millbrook has been taken over by another supermarket - and always to me brings to minds that advertisement on Channel Television, barked out by Mr Benest himself - "Remember the Name! Benests of Millbrook, and Fineprice, St Clements Coast Road". Big Deal Carpets has also gone, and not my area of retail expertise, but I suspect "Pour Madame" has as well.



The Pilgrimage

How splendid, we thought, that this year St Helier’s Day, July 16, falls on a Sunday, especially as last year so many people asked that the Pilgrimage should always be held on a Sunday. Unfortunately the tide will be up during the afternoon, so that we are left with the alternatives , of making the pilgrimage in the morning or evening during normal service times, in the afternoon in swim-suits, or on a different Sunday. So we chose Sunday, July 9, which happens appropriately to be Missions to Seamen Sunday.

Pilgrims are asked to assemble at the Town Church at 2.30 pm, and use Church House as a robing-room. We shall proceed through the Royal Square, along King Street; Parade, Cheapside, West Park and along the Causeway through the grounds of Elizabeth Castle to the Oratory Rock, where a short service will be held. The Constable Of St Helier will then lay a wreath within the shrine. After wards pilgrims may take the one opportunity of the year to enter the shrine, which is normally kept closed.

St Helier is the Island’s saint, and not only the town’s, so it is hoped that many people from all parishes and all denominations will take part, and especially clergy, choirs, servers, church officials and Youth Organisations. Please be as colourful as possible - Robes, banners, uniforms etc

Those who feel the walk from church to shrine and back is too arduous may join the procession at any point they wish. But do come.

St Aubin on the Hill

LINK WITH THE SEYCHELLES. At our recent Church Council meeting, Philip Daubeney told us that the Lent gifts for the Seychelles had come to £60. We shall be sending tapes for the Christian broadcasts they are making, and the money left over will be sent to Archdeacon French Chang-Him to use as he wishes. His church has asked what we would like, and the answer is a white altar cloth. This is being made by his parishioners, and will be a visible link with God’s family in the Indian Ocean. We shall have sent off the remaining money given in memory of Claude Russell to Mvumi Hospital for Elisabeth to use on what- ever is the greatest need. And the CMS Treasurer will be rejoicing over a cheque for £100 towards our missionary’s salary.

FLOWER FESTIVAL. Do make this known to your friends, come yourself and offer to do a stint of duty. Saturday, Sunday and Monday, June 3—5, are the days when the church will be decorated by the Jersey Flower Club, and we are very grateful for their skills. This display will link in with the centenary of our village School. We hope that many former pupils will be joining us at the school on Sunday, June 4, for a short time of thanksgiving prayers taken by the Dean, who will also be our preacher at the Family service. (I’m hoping we may get a band to lead us down the hill to cheery music, plus helping us to get to church on time.)

It was members of St Aubin’s who first worked for a village school. A Dame school started in Market Hill, then moved to Hibernia Vale, and finally a special building was built for the pupils. It‘s often forgotten, now that States have taken over the running of education, nearly all teaching was once financed by Christian people It should be a reminder to us to look around and see what areas of need there still are, in Jersey, and overseas.

VISITOR FROM DOWN-UNDER. One other important date is the first weekend of July. The Rev. Charles Widdowson will be with us, plus Alice his wife, and they will be sharing their experience of God the Holy Spirit’s work Down Under. There will be a special Seminar forth Confirmation group on Saturday, July 1, at 11am. Any others are very welcome to attend. Charles will speak at a Praise evening in the Vicarage that same day, and again our Sunday Family Service. We hope to have a congregational beach picnic after that service. In the evening there will be an open meeting at Communicare at 8 pm. Alice wants to meet the women of St Aubin and we have planned that for Tuesday morning, July 4, at 1030 am. Both Alice and Charles will be at our Tuesday evening Bible study and prayers. So make sure you earmark time to meet them both; they really have some wonderful experiences to share with us.

THE BISHOP. It was great to have Bishop John [Taylor] with us last month and to meet an old friend, Ron Diss, the Chaplain. One point the Bishop made very strongly. It was that an alive church is one which is talked about by its members as our church. It’s not the Vicar’s or the Wardens or even the church council’s! It is our church, and this means that we all have jobs to do, gifts to offer, prayers to make, and time to put aside for our church.

QUIET. When we went to Spain for a week‘s holiday after Easter, the one thing I noticed about the local church we went to was the noise before the service began. Then once we started the Communion, people kept coming in and disturbing others. It got so bad that the priest had to tell some late-comers to “pipe down!” Do try and have that five minutes before a service begins quietly praying. Pray for yourself and other worshippers, and remember the minister, he needs your prayers too! (It is possible that even he might be feeling a bit off colour or simply not like taking the service.)

It is our service after all, and we can all help to make it a wonderful time of singing, listening and fellowship together.

Terry Hampton, Vicar



St Brelade's Church

ST BRELADE’S CHURCH DEVELOPMENT FUND.

“One sows and another reaps . . . others have laboured, and you have entered into their labours.” When Jesus said these words he was quoting a saying which was to apply supremely to his own work and that of all those who were to follow him. Whatever may be said of the history of the Christian Church, and there is much that is not particularly creditable, there is no doubt that the truth of these words has been well borne out. The faithfulness of generation after generation to the truth about Jesus which they have learned, and their care in handing it on intact to their successors is an impressive fact of history.

Here, in St Brelade, in a rather less dramatic way, we have entered into other’s labours. Undoubtedly the greatest labourer in this corner of the vineyard for many years has been John Arthur Balleine. He has bequeathed to us a Parish Church of considerable beauty, restored with a taste and discrimination which was rare in his age. He also did his best, as the insights of the time allowed, with that unique jewel the Fisherman's Chapel. With regard to the wall Paintings he wrote: “It has been decided to leave the matter in status quo, believing that science may shortly assist us to unravel the problem". Since those words were penned, the science of the preservation and care of wall paintings has made considerable progress, and from the advice and reports we have received in recent years we are reasonably well able worthily to complete what John Balleine handed over to us.

One development which John Balleine did not foretell —- or at least did not refer to — was the stranglehold which the motor car was to exercise upon our lives, and the very considerable growth which was to take place in his parish. This, of course, has now happened, and, whether we like itor not, virtually all our worshippers come to church by car. Our tiny car park is quite inadequate to cope with even a moderately large attendance, and once a certain number is reached, people have either to walk, or stay away. Sad to say, I fear some do the latter. Further, when the Church Hall was built in 1927 the small cottage provided at its rear was of very modest proportions, and had no proper bathroom or toilet facilities. This we have now had to put right, with the addition of a second floor, with the result that the cottage is in every way up to modern standards of accommodation.

At the annual general meeting I formally launched our seven to ten year development fund, which is intended to raise the capital necessary to carry out these four tasks which have been handed on to us by our forebears. Our target figure is £120,000. Ways and means whereby parishioners and other well-wishers can share in this challenging programme and help to preserve these beautiful buildings and ensure the ministry here for the future will be made known very shortly. In the meantime, please pray for God’s blessing on this programme, and in particular, that we, in our turn, may be faithful, that one day other men may enter into our labours and thank God for what, in his name, we have achieved.

HOLY BAPTISM. Michelle Marie Joumeaux; Carlton Anthony Journeaux; Jade Ashley Neate; Sanchia Rebecca Neate; Victoria Lyon Priest; Giles Rutherford Morrison.

HOLY MATRIMONY. Timothy Paul Feely to Mary Dominica Brant; Peter Steven Le Long to Gina Doris Renouf.

BURIALS. Geoffrey Edwards, 58; Bronislawa Roquerbe, 90; Louise Drury, 81; Richard John Mark Amy, 11 hours.

Michael Halliwell, Rector

A Hero Remembered

What could I write about this week but Captain Sir Tom Moore, and his extraordinary walk. One of the last of those who fought in the Second World War, in India and Burma - I allude to India in the poem - and a true hero. An ordinary man who showed us extraordinary things, who personified the "Bulldog spirit" of that war, in peacetime, against the very different enemy of the pandemic. I've also put some of his sayings into this poem, as well as a conflated quotation from Ecclesiastes - "the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong".

A Hero Remembered

Walking, walking, along, and more:
Fundraising today is Captain Moore;
The sun will shine again, he said,
And such a sense of hope he spread,
When he told us clouds will go away,
And tomorrow will be a better day;
An ordinary man, elderly, and yet,
When the NHS came under threat,
He showed how this quiet veteran
Could make a difference, he began
A walk to remember, a walk of hope:
To inspire those who could not cope;
To find that fire that burns so bright,
One of the last soldiers, come to fight;
One Indian summer, in twilight years:
One man against so many of our fears;
"We will get through this stronger still":
Where there is a way, there is the will;
And even though Covid took him then,
And he now walks far beyond our ken,
He will be remembered, in many hearts:
One hundred laps, in fits and starts,
For the race is not always to the strong,
And now, farewell, Captain Tom, so long;
You gave us hope when needed most
And now the bugle sounds a final post;
A new journey beckons, our rolling stone:
And now you will never walk alone.

An Occupation Tale: Maurice Green

I knew Maurice in his later years, he was a friend of my mother. At that time M.E. Green & Co, Printers was still publishing from Peel Terrace, where he also lived. It's been gone quite a while now. His diabetes was quite visible at times, usually when he hadn't had enough sugar in his diet, and he would show symptoms of hypoglycaemia.

Being diabetic from birth it was instilled into him as an instinct that sugar was bad, like poison - you'll see in the text below that he couldn't have Red Cross chocolate from the Vega - and it could be quite a struggle to get him to take anything sugary, as in his confused mental state from hypoglycaemia, he might think we were trying to poison him. Fortunately we were always able to get him to eventually take a sugary drink and stabilise his sugar levels. But it taught me a lot about diabetes, especially in the case of those born with the condition.

He was extremely lucky to survive the Occupation, being diabetic, and part of that was the kind gift of a German soldier, which shows that even in war time, the face of the enemy is not always as black as it may have been painted.

Fervently against the Common Market or EEC, as it was then, I remember he had a framed (and signed) photo of Enoch Powell, who with Tony Benn, was a leader in the 1970s Referendum fight against Britain remaining. His politics were, I suspect, more aligned with Powell than Benn!

His printing company also produced a few novelty car stickers for the back windscreen, and I still have one, although I have never had the nerve to put it up - it reads "Preserve Wildlife - Pickle A Traffic Warden". Now they are termed Parking Control Officers, the joke has probably worn thin.

An Occupation Tale: Maurice Green

When the Occupation began, I was 12, my sister Esme was nine, and my brother Leslie was 17.

We lived at Five Oaks with my father Stan, who was the manager of West’s Cinema, and my mother Maud, in a house that was opposite the Victoria Cottage Homes.

When I was born with diabetes in 1927, insulin had only just become widely available for babies. So I survived, eventually to become the only Channel Islander with diabetes alive at the end of the Occupation.

In those days, children could leave school at 12 if they had an apprenticeship, and I did that — except that I immediately went into business on my own as a printer using the £5 105 6d I had earned from cleaning windows, chopping wood and digging gardens to set myself up.

When the Occupation began I was on 90 units of insulin 3 day When stocks began to run out it dropped to 20, then ten, and finally to nothing.

Some was sent from France, but the final batch had been diluted and it was useless.

Another batch arrived, but the box was empty, the contents believed stolen

We were all called into the hospital and fed on cabbage with a boiled egg and cabbage water to drink. You couldn’t live on it, and many died.

There were 32 diabetics in Jersey, 26 in Guernsey and one in Sark, and I was the only one left when the Vega arrived.

When I couldn’t take the hospital any more, I walked out, but I was still under age, so they sent the police for me.

Three days later, I walked out again. When I was brought back, I was taken before Dr McKinstry and Dr Darling.

I walked out yet again and said that I would look after myself. I had a lot of rabbits and they lived on grass and dandelions, so I did too, and I ate rabbit meat.

One day a German came to the door and said that the Herr Doktor at the hospital had told him that I was diabetic. ‘I have for you a pre-sent.’ he said.

It was two bottles of insulin which he had bought to send to his mother in Hamburg. She had been killed during the bombing by the RAF.

I was 17 when the Vega arrived with food and medicines for the beleaguered Islanders. My own doctor, Dr Hanna, drove me down to the harbour to pick up the insulin from the ship, and I had to go into hospital for a week while they started me on it again.

I couldn't eat the chocolate from the Red Cross parcels, but I could eat bread and Quaker oats, and it made a real difference to how I felt.