Mrs Heelis’ Legacy

This poem was inspired by listening to Eric Pringle's marvellous radio play "Meeting Bea" starring Stephanie Cole and Clive Swift. It's been adapted as a stage play, and it is something I'd really love to see put on in Jersey.

Mrs Heelis’ Legacy

Summer holiday in the Lake District as a girl:
And so it began: as the clouds above swirl,
Winds ruffle Lake Windemere, natural glory,
Start of the journey, the beginning of a story;
With imagination, observation, and sheer luck,
Peter Rabbit, Tom Kitten, Jemima Puddle-Duck,
Created her little books prepared for a little hand,
And children delighted in Tale of Piglet Bland;
Then she met and fell in love with Norman Warne;
He died: her heart was broken, shattered, torn;
The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse, wood mouse,
Bought Hill Top Farm to be her house;
And so there she went, to mourn, and stay,
Far from the city lights, found a different way;
A sheep farmer she became, amidst those hills,
Out in all weathers: hot summers, winter chills,
Becoming a countrywoman through and though,
No regrets, no backward glance, no time to rue;
So far and wide, now fell farming, she did range,
And with William Heelis came another change:
Marriage, a new way of life, Miss Potter lost,
Mrs Heelis now, and well worth the cost;
In Village Halls, they went: to merry dances,
While all the time, her vision, her plan advances;
Last twilight writing: small footprints in the land;
A story: The fairy caravan pulled by a tiny hand,
Across the valleys and low grazing lands it goes,
Telling tales of farming folk, in longer prose;
And the imagination fades, this life to forsake:
Sold to buy more of that land, beside the lake;
Save from greedy developers, a beautiful land,
Her legacy, unspoilt hills, farms, was all planned;
Now she is gone, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,
A legacy remains: a treasure that will not rust.

Postscript:

As I walk'd by myself,And talked to myself,Myself said unto me—
Beatrix Potter became a big landowner who eventually left fifteen farms to the National Trust, to help keep hill farming alive. When about sixty she was approached by an American who wanted her to write another 'Beatrix Potter' book for the American market. Eventually she agreed, and produced, after much labour, "The Fairy Caravan". It wasn't in the same class as her other work, but it enabled her to save another farm from the developers at a time when preserving the countryside for the future wasn't in fashion.

L'Etacq Woodcrafts

From 1966 Jersey Life. Now closed for many years. I have a brochure and will put that online sometime too. Hark at "the remote westerly village" - I've never in my life seen it called that outside of this article!

L’ETACQ WOODCRAFTS
BY THE “JERSEY LIFE’ REPORTER

In the remote westerly village of L’Etacq, where the farmers gather huge piles of vraic at low tide, and legend has it that a manor and an oak forest lie beneath the sea, a Jersey woodcarver, almost in spite of himself it seems, has created a tremendous tourist attraction. A large car park is now reserved for L‘Etacq Woodcrafts, and coaches and charabancs disgorge visitors who throng the little showroom and surge through blue stable doors up a wide stone staircase to explore the workshops in a loft above.

Following the crowd, I saw the broad figure of Mr. Phillip Le Gresley straighten up from his bench, where two delicately carved chess knights in the making were absorbing his attention. Glancing at his swollen cheek, I remarked sympathetically ‘Why, you’ve got toothache! Is it very painful?’

‘No, no’, he chuckled, ‘I expect plenty of people think that. You see I chew tobacco. I like a pipe but the smoke gets in my eyes while I’m at the bench’. The plug remained in his cheek, unseen and immobile for the next hour, and in no way affected his speech.

The son and grandson of Jersey woodworkers, Mr. Le Gresley struck me as a rather remarkable man. Good business man though he must be, the impression he gives is of a serene and simple person, with a great devotion to his craft.

‘I started wood-carving as a little boy‘ he told me, ‘and I’ve been at it ever since. I hardly know how all this came to pass. It was the visitors who pushed me into it. They used to post their letters by the window of my little workshop down the road, and they were always on at me to open a shop and sell my carvings’.

In those days Mr. Le Gresley ran his own joinery and carpentry business from his farmhouse home nearby. In 1952 he built his present house, looking out over I’Etacquerel Rock, converting the loft into workshops and a wood store. Six years ago he added a little shop-cum-showroom below, stone steps to lead from outside to the loft, and opened L’Etacq Woodcrafts.

Burmese teak, mahogany, American walnut, sycamore, beech, oak, lime and Lignum Vitae, one of the hardest woods in the world, are the principal media for his work. He dropped a piece of the Lignum into a bucket of water and it sank like a stone. There was much to admire, but the rustic tables edged in natural bark attracted me particularly. So did the carved lampshades, the little hall chairs of old oak and mahogany and the salad and fruit bowls, oiled to a rich deep brown. Huge wooden spoons hung over some of the work benches, inscribed ‘Please ensure that brain is engaged before operating mouth’. ‘Those are quite popular’, Mr. Le Gresley told me, ‘we make them to sell to the pubs for hanging in the bar’.

Mr. Le Gresley and his two young assistants (‘it‘s a nine-year apprenticeship, then they’ll probably start up for themselves somewhere’), work away placidly at their benches while the interested visitors wander around, breathe down their necks and ask innumerable questions, all of which are answered with courtesy and patience. ‘All the same, we have to catch up on the stock by working in the evenings’.

One end of the loft leads to the woodstore where huge lime logs cut in Grouville lie waiting to be turned into tables; fishing nets hang from the beams and seascapes by Jersey painters adorn the walls and sometimes sell to the visitors. He lends this wall space to an artist friend whose picturesque presence and conversation is very much in keeping with the atmosphere.

  

One of Mr. Le Gresley’s proudest achievements is a magnificent seigneurial chair in English oak ordered by the Parish of St. Ouen for presentation to the people of Sark. This led to an order for a similar chair from a lady resident of that island, in memory of her father, the late Mr. R. M. Lamb.

The extremely busy shop below, where the smaller wood-carvings are sold, is run by the son-in-law, Mr. Gordon Richard and the owner is not very often seen there. ‘I‘m happier up above carving’ 
he remarked, obviously longing to return to his Lignum Vitae chessmen, so I said good-bye.

Empire of Pain

What I mistakenly thought was sunburn turns out to be a case of shingles. Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. The term "shingles" comes from the Latin word "cingulum," which means belt or girdle; this is because the rash usually appears in a band or belt-like pattern.

Empire of Pain

Headache, the red sores, and pain
At times in waves, an ebb and flow
Strong tides break inside the brain
And I wish, I wish, that it would go

The ship is caught up in the storm
Strikes the rocks, breaking apart
Gradually falling apart, losing form
Too late the danger shown on chart

The fire ball in the sky, bright flame
Sound comes later: the shock wave
Reaching across air to shatter, maim
A deep mark on the earth to engrave

An empire of pain seen in many ways
Endures, time after time, endless days

Tyler's Shoe Shop

Tylers' Boots was established about 1861 in Leicester, which was the major footwear manufacturing centre of the time. It expanded all over Britain and crossed the Irish Sea to Dublin in the 1880s, and also established branches in Jersey. 

This brochure is not dated, but is clearly post-war - the New Era cinema mentioned opened in 1954. Internal clues are that it probably dates to the 1960s. 1968 saw the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank, which are separate here, as is Martin's Bank which was bought by Barclays Bank in 1969. Also Williams Deacon's bank was established in Jersey in the 1960s.

General History

In "LEICESTER AND THE GROWTH OF FOOTWEAR DISTRIBUTION,1850–1914", David Holmes notes that:

John Tyler and his two brothers separately commenced manufacturing boots and shoes about 1860. 39 Gradually they amalgamated their interests and became involved with retail. By 1891 they had about 100 branches throughout Britain and were especially strong in Ireland. By this time they also had a thriving shoe repair business. By 1891, Tyler had been repairing boots ‘for a number of years

The progress of the company may be charted, though its emergence as a family concern and take-overs of 'risks', to its establishment as a major shoe retailer with much attention paid to promotion and advertising. They were acquired by ShoeZone in 1986.

The Jersey Brochure says:

"FOR many generations the name TYLER has been synonymous with all that is best in footwear. At Tylers the entire family find shoes that are up-to-the-minute in styling, produced by craftsmen from the finest quality materials at keenest prices too."

Other Information on the Brochure

Head Post Office. Broad Street, St. Helier, is open weekdays from 9am. to 5.30 p.m., except Saturday which is 9am to 4.30 pm. Deliveries: Letters -Island delivery 8.15 a.m., Restricted delivery 12.30 pm. A Trunk Call Office is established at the Central Exchange, Minden Place, St. Helier, for use of the general public.

[Trunk calls were phone calls made to locations outside of Jersey!]  

Half-day closing. Thursday (Banks Saturday).

Information.. The Tourism Committee and Information Bureau is situated at The Weighbridge, adjoining harbour. Telephone 24779

Banks

Barclays. Library Place, St. Helier and Quennevais Parade, St. Brelade.
Lloyds, Broad Street, St. Helier, Quennevais, St. Brelade and Five Oaks Parade, St. Saviour.
Midland, Library Place and Hill Street, St. Heller and Quennevais Parade, St. Brelade.
Martins, Halkett Place, St. Helier.
National Provincial, Royal Square, St. Helier and The Market, St. Aubin.
Westminster, Library Place and Beresford Street, St. Helier and Red Houses, St. Brelade.
Williams Deacon’s, Mulcaster Street, St. Helier and Quennevais Parade, St. Brelade.

Theatre. Opera House, Gloucester Street.

Cinemas. There are four Cinemas. The Forum, Green Street; Wests, Bath Street; The Odeon, Bath Street; and New Era, Georgetown.

Golf

There are two 18-hole Links and one 9-hole. La Moye Golf Club (18 holes) on the western side of Jersey; Royal Jersey Golf Club (18 holes) at Grouville, on the eastern side; and a 9-hole Golf Course known as St. Clement’s Golf Course at Greve d’Azette.

Bathing. Safe sea-bathing may be enjoyed at most of the bays and at the Jersey Swimming Club Bathing Pool at Havre-des-Pas.

Fishing. Many places may be found around the coast and private arrangements may be made with local boat owners.

North Marine Drive. This road which extends along the brink of the cliff for a distance of two miles around the whole of St. John’s Bay to the vicinity of the Wolf Caves, is not show on most maps. It is shown here but not named.

Jersey Zoo. Augres, Trinity. On Bus route. Open Daily 10 am. until dusk.

Speed Limit. 40 mph. throughout the Island.


Printed by the Guernsey Press Limited

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Terminus

This poem explores the themes of parting via the metaphor of a train station: the terminus, either for lives or to new hope, and I make no apology for linking the closing meditation on death to the ancient myth that a death is a new star in the sky. 

Yes, it is a myth, but what it represents is an idea of change and persistence, and that in this myth, the stars become a conduit to enable us to remember the dead. 

The function of mythology is not to be literal and appeal to the mind, but to reach the heart, in a way like music does, that cannot be properly put into words except imperfectly, and in this case, enable us to  come to terms with loss and grief. Stars are symbols of light in darkness.

Terminus

It’s the end of the line, say goodbye:
Partings are always sad, we may cry;
Sadness at the station, departing train:
Soldiers for the war, the mud, the rain;
Trenches await, but sweetheart kiss,
Sorrows of times lost, times to miss;
Another train leaves, children wave,
Parents telling them to always be brave:
They would not meet again, for death
In the gas chambers comes, breath
Cut short by poison; yet the transport,
However much it failed and fell short,
Saved children from that holocaust:
Kindertransport, those who crossed,
To safer lands, new hope, new life,
Away from the horrors of that strife;
And to stay and fight, or time to flee;
Today the choice again: the refugee,
Leaving possessions, exploding shells,
Of an invasion: cities to ruined hells;
But other partings closer, the loss
Of a loved one, taking up that cross:
Pain of parting, the infirmity of age,
Or dying remote, alone, off-stage;
Quiet lives, sometimes in despair:
A sudden loss too great to bare;
And terminus: the end of a line:
Remember in tears, that is fine;
And go out from that dark station,
Passing generation after generation;
Sunset comes, nightfall, but there
Appearing stars shine, light up the air;
And new stars are born every night:
And there is the mourned in sight,

In reminders: light in dark places,

As we remember beloved faces:
Now shining brightly so far above,
A sign of hope, and a sign of love.

1066-1966 Archery Tournament: Jersey versus France

1066-1966 Archery Tournament
By Marcel Le Masson

JERSEY AND ITS connections with Normandy are well known, concrete proof of this was found when the Jersey Archery Society paid their first visit to ‘Valognes’, a small town situated close by Cherbourg in the centre of the Normandy countryside, that Valognes suffered badly when the allied forces landed on the nearby coast is clearly marked by the almost newly built Town Centre, a focal point being the clean stone of the not yet completed church contrasting against the darker older buildings which form a shopping centre round a neat and tidy kept square.

The Jersey party of ten archers led by Honorary Secretary Roy Moody, travelled by air to Dinard then using three cars drove via St. Malo and Avranche straight up the peninsular at speeds unusual to Jersey drivers used to the forty mile limit, the complete drive was accomplished in a little under three hours. Upon arrival at Valognes the party were welcomed by Monsieur Jacques Daubuch, President of the town’s Archery Society and Chamber of Commerce the body responsible for sponsoring the tournament.

After spending a very comfortable night at the Agriculture Hotel the party awakened to find the main streets of the town sprouting gaily decorated poles that marked the route of the May Queen procession to take place later in the day. In the meantime a group of French Horn Blowers dressed in hunting colours visited almost every street corner and played their fanfares.

Archery ranges had been set up at the Bourgneuf Municipal Stadium de Valognes, the first shoot was against local French archers and teams from other areas including Monsieur C. Boulanger seven times champion of all France and winner of this tournament, each member paired with an opposite then shot forty arrows at fifty metres, a distance not normally used by the Jersey archers.

                                                                                 

Scoring was by number of hits, so close grouping counted heavily, rafter a number of sighting shots the Jersey archers settled down and soon began to make an impression of their French hosts.

A very highly regarded personage at the celebrations was Monsieur De Brerill, Minister of State without portfolio who arrived with an escort of smart white helmeted outriders and convoy of fast Citron State Saloons, Monsieur De Brerill played an important part in the independence negotiations with Algeria.

At the now crowded stadium the procession disbanded; here, on a special stage, the bands, dancers, singers and French horn blowers entertained the capacity audience whilst the archers in colourful green, red and black mediaeval- style jerkins shot with friendly competition against each other in a balloon shoot.

The amazing accuracy of the shots brought gasps of amazement and surprise from the audience numbering well over three thousand.

All too soon the afternoon entertainment came to a close, but competition for the Jersey archers continued when they tried their hands in the dogem cars at the fair going full swing during the evening.

A return visit from Valogne by the French archers has been suggested next September. After such a successful visit the Jersey Archery Society has forged very strong links with a town steeped in the history of 1066 and all that.

Crocs and Daisies

A blatant reference to Lewis Carrol's famous nonsense poem! But something silly yet a homage seemed appropriate! And following it, a little bit of fun in a short poem about Medusa.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Doth_the_Little_Crocodile

Crocs and Daisies

Crocs on the grass, but is that right?
Shouldn’t they have teeth to bite?
How doth the little crocodile, they say
Neatly spreads his claws, in hunt for prey
Then what about the daisies? But
When gently smiling jaws snap shut,
After a grin so nice and full of cheer,
It’s pushing up the daisies, dear!

Medusa

On meeting Medusa face to face

Seeing her snake-like writhing hair

I thought, dear me, so little grace

So she fixed me with a stony stare

A Jersey Success Story: Briggs of St Ouen

From Jersey Life, 1966

A Jersey Success Story: Briggs of St Ouen

IF VARIETY is truly the spice of life Mr. Neville Briggs can surely claim to have experienced his fair share He has been a hairdresser, wartime soldier, van driver, potato packer in a local store, restaurant manager, guest house proprietor with his wife and, again in partnership with his wife, a successful shopkeeper in St. Ouen.

The name ‘Briggs of St. Ouen’ is a familiar one in the North West of the island and not only in the North West, the shop is a familiar sight to all ,who pass along the main road from Beaumont to Plémont for it has an attractive and ‘go ahead appearance. Many will remember that some 11 or 12 years ago there was a semi derelict shop on the site but all that has changed and the premises are now a store of which anyone can be proud. All this was not achieved in a day, much hard work, much thought and not a little heartache must have gone into it but now Mr. and Mrs. Briggs are reaping the reward of their work and their faith in themselves and their ability.

It all started back in 1947 when Mr. Briggs, after army service in Africa was demobbed and came to Jersey for a holiday; he had been apprenticed in gent’s hairdressing in his youth and, liking the island, decided to stay here and took a job in hairdressing. He later became a van driver on country delivery to meet people and gain a knowledge of the island, a knowledge which has stood him in good stead.

In 1950 he managed a St. Helier restaurant, gaining more varied experience and a year later he met and married his wife. ‘We managed a five-day honeymoon in Guernsey but have not had a holiday since’ he recalls.

In 1953 the couple took a small guest house in St. Ouen and while helping his wife to run it Mr. Briggs realised that there was no gent’s hairdresser in that part of the island and deciding to put his experience in that field to practical use, opened a salon in an annexe to the guest house opening in the evening between 7.30 and 11 o’clock, he also took an agency for Semtex household tiles and for a short spell worked in a potato store. 

In 1956 shop premises became available at Haut du Marais, the shop had been empty for some time and the adjoining house needed a great deal of work done to it but Mr. and Mrs. Briggs seized the opportunity offered them and having sold the guest house, with the help of a close friend acquired the Haut du Marais property.

They converted the existing shop into two shops and established the hairdressing business in one of them; Mrs. Briggs hit upon the idea of opening the second shop as a small draper’s shop selling wool and baby wear realising there was a potential in the country for an establishment of that sort.

After a year the chance came to open a sub-Post Office—there had been one at the old shop some time before—and this opportunity was grasped. The shop was altered to incorporate the post office, a new wing being built and at the same time the drapery department was extended.

The property had been in a very dilapidated condition but by dint of hard work on the part of Mr. Briggs this was gradually put right; the couple suffered severe flooding three times before the States Main Roads Department put in an extra drain to take off the flood water, that was only one of the obstacles which they had to surmount but sheer grit and determination pulled them through and gradually more space was made available to take more departments. Whilst running the shop Mrs. Briggs also managed to raise her three children, Peter, Jane and Sarah, making most of their clothes herself.

And so the venture prospered, Mr. and Mrs. Briggs were accepted in the parish and came to make many friends amongst their fellow parishioners—they had proved themselves and in any country parish the world over that means a great deal.

After ten years of trading they decided in 1966 that extensive alterations were required to project a more modern image and to display goods to ‘even better advantage and so the present shop was born. The store now included the Post Office, departments for the sale of toys, haberdashery and wool, hardware, baby wear, men’s wear, children’s and girls’ wear and a 12 ft. display stand for greetings cards for every possible occasion by the firm of Forget me Not, a facility which is greatly appreciated by the customers at the store.

As Mr. Briggs now has less time for active participation in the hairdressing section, this part of the business is under the capable direction of Mr. Les Edwards, who has been with Mr. and Mrs. Briggs for the past four or five years. Although the store has been modernized, it has not lost that personal touch. Mr. and Mrs. Briggs are always available to help and advise customers with their purchases. They both like St. Ouen and its people very much indeed, ‘They have been good friends and loyal customers to us’ remarked Mr. and Mrs. Briggs.

This is a success story, success which is richly deserved by this still young couple who have had the grit and determination themselves, city folk in a Jersey country parish, to establish a flourishing store where nothing like it had existed before. That it is a flourishing concern is evinced by the extensions which have been added and by the fact that whatever time of day one passes there are always cars on the car park. Perhaps within the next year or two Mr. and Mrs. Briggs will be able to enjoy that holiday which they have not been able to take all these years.