A Visit to the Lavender Farm

In the summer, with news stories that the Lavender farm might close, Katalin and I decided to pay it a visit.
Here is the rather unique hexagonal entrance building. Inside is the shop and cafe. The outside area in the cafe, where we sat, has seating along each side of the hexagon.

As well as scrumptious cakes, there are cakes that are delicious and peculiar to the farm. I would not have thought that Lavender cake was especially nice - it seems strange to make a cake with it -  but it was wonderful.

How they cut lavender - Alastair Christie explains - there is expensive equipment that needs a lot of maintenance, but they found that hedge trimmers did the job just as well and at half the cost.

Although not at the height of the season, it was still nice to see these fields of lavender.

The bees fly amongst the plants and cross pollinate them.   When the resulting seeds germinate in April, they collect many up and keep them carefully.   Over a few years they keep an eye on these plants to see if there are any unusual ones – Elizabeth, which they now grow, was one of these plants.

Apart from its look – greyer than most and with soft, furry dark purple flower buds, it produces an excellent yield of a good quality essential oil, and also its flowers keep their colour well when dried.

Gradually they are increasing the number of Elizabeth plants in the fields, replacing the ‘Fring’ Lavender.   Plant Breeders Rights have been awarded, making it illegal to propagate and sell Elizabeth without a licence.

Swinging along! Well, Katalin and I went for a walk along the fields, and found this rope swing, which I enjoyed for a few minutes, then felt guilty when I saw an 8 year old girl and her mother had come along and were waiting patiently!

Distillation

Here at Jersey Lavender the process of distillation is pretty much based on the same principles as that which was carried out by the Egyptians over 2000 years ago – albeit with a modern oil-fired boiler and stainless steel stills.

How it works

The plant material (Lavender flowers, Rosemary leaves etc) is loaded into a mesh basket, weighed so that we can calculate the essential oil yield and them lowered into the still.   The lid is put on and tightened down with bolts.

Steam is produced by the oil fired boiler and this is them blasted under pressure into the space at the bottom of the still, below the base of the mesh basket.   The steam rises through the plant material – the heat breaks the oil glands in the leaves or flowers and vapourises the essential oil.   The mixture of steam and oil vapour rises to the top of the still and out through a horizontal pipe at the back and into the ‘condenser’ – here, cool water is fed in at the lower end and passes through a coiled pipe inside the condenser.   This cools the steam and oil vapour down to water and tiny essential oil droplets, which then flow into the glass ‘Florentine Flask’.  

The essential oil, which is lighter than water (and also does not mix with it) separates out and floats to the top.  The excess water is siphoned from the bottom of the flask and back into the still – though they are currently looking into the benefits of keeping and using this water which has a slight lavender fragrance.   At the end of each day they draw off the precious essential oil and store it away carefully.

As for the waste – the condenser cooling water emerges from the condenser as very hot water.   This is pumped continuously through the water cooler outside (the noisy machinery) where it is air cooled and recycled.   The old stalks and flowers from the distillation are put on a compost heap and in 12 months time will be put back on the fields and flower beds as lovely, nutritious compost.

Old Copper Still

This copper still from Southern Portugal illustrates the sort of equipment used for centuries, up until the 1800s.   The plant material was put in the ‘still pot’, with water, and a fire was lit underneath.   The condenser (on the left) is simply a coil of copper piping in a container of water.   This basic system works, but the quality is not as good as steam-distilled oil and the process takes longer.

Such copper distillation equipment can also be used to distil alcohol, and in fact in late 2012, a passable apple brandy was produced – for home consumption only!

Bottling room

In this room many of their fragrances are blended and products are filled and labelled.   All the equipment is simple to use, clean and maintain and is still manufactured by UK companies.   This sort of equipment would be widely used by small toiletry filling companies, and it certainly serves their needs very well.

Lotion and Gel Filling Machine – The lotions and gels are transferred into the 25 litre hopper, and by pulling on a lever (on the other side of the machine) the correct amount of product is dispensed into a bottle which is held under the filling nozzle.

Labelling Machine – A filled and capped bottle is slid into the correct position on a couple of rollers.   When a foot pedal is pressed, the motor activates and one label is automatically dispensed off a reel and onto the bottle.

Hand Crimper – The perfumes and the room spray have a pump-spray dispenser.   The filled container with a pump spray top loosely inserted into the neck is placed into the crimp head.   When the lever is pulled down the pump spray top is tightly crimped onto the container neck.

Liquid Filling Machine – This is used for filling the perfumes, the room spray and bath oil.   It works on a vacuum filling process.   An empty bottle is placed onto the filling head, creating the vacuum, so that the liquid is sucked from the glass container and into the bottle to the correct level.

Oil Bottle Filler – They fill small numbers of oil bottles as required by their customers.   This helps preserve the quality of the oil.   The basic filling pump allows us to accurately dispense the small 10ml quantity of oil into a bottle.   A dropper insert and cap are then put on.

Grounds and Van

There's an old fashioned promotional van in the grounds, so of course it was a photo opportunity for Katalan and me!

Gypsy Caravan

Here, Katalin looks ready to read someone's fortune! I do remember this with wheels at some point, but perhaps they rotted away. It doesn't look quite as good propped up like this.

Dovecote

We ended our stay after an extensive walk passing the small dovecote. There are still plenty of doves flying back and forth. The business is on the market, and unfortunately its future is uncertain. Let's hope the doves flying there are a sign of hope, that this very unique Jersey business and tourist venue will continue.

A Walk Around La Pulente

One afternoon during the Easter holidays this year, Katalin and I decided to walk around La Pulente headland. It is at the extreme south of St Ouen's Bay, a jutting out rocky coast, with a path that leads around to Petit Port Bay. It's a lovely walk, with lots of wild flowers, and the bramble bushes are thick with blackberries in the Autumn.

There's a good view of La Rocco Tower from La Pulente. This was a Jersey Round Tower, built rather in the style of a rook in a chess set, and unusually not on the coast, but in the middle of St Ouen's Bay, with a circular protective wall. They were built under the Governorship of General Gordon Conway as part of a strategy to defend Jersey's coastline against attack by the French after the French revolution. It was completed in 1796 and named Gordon's Tower but the name never really took. Instead its popular name came from the large rock on which it is built.

As ever on the path, there are benches to sit, and often they are dedicated to the memory of individuals. This one contains the maxim "rest your body and refresh your spirit". In a world so full of haste, that is surely important to remember.

This is not my photo, but Katalin and I have seen the odd glimpse of a green lizard at La Pulente. It is one of the places in Jersey where they can be found. The Jersey States website has this to say about them:

"Jersey is the only area in Britain where green lizards occur naturally. The species is amongst the largest in Europe with adult males reaching lengths of between 30 to 40cm (16 inches). Adult males are distinguished from the females by a larger head and a blue throat. The throat of a female green lizard is yellowish green. The breeding season takes place in April and May. Between 5 and 20 eggs are produced in June and July. The clutch is then hidden beneath vegetation or soil and warmed by the sun. The young emerge in September."




The coast goes round to Petit Port, a pleasant bay, with lots of rock pools at low tide. There used to be a well known restaurant called "The Sea Crest" owned by Julian Bernstein here, and I remember going once, and being struck by the waiter's very apposite name of Sergio Parmesan. The Sea Crest served good food, and I went there a few times.

It was also the place where the Nicholas and Elizabeth Newall were dining with their sons on the night that they were murdered. They vanished without trace, and it was not until much later that Roderick Newall confessed to their murder, and burying the bodies at Greve de L'Ecq with his brother's help.

Later the property was developed into flats, which is the white building that you can see by the nearest coast.




There is a path which takes you across the top of the headland, and there is La Sergente, probably one of the oldest Neolithic sites in Jersey. Katalin is pictured standing in the circular part, which would have been topped by a "beehive" structure of small stones.

We always like to visit this sacred site, whenever Katalin is in Jersey. Like many neolithic sites, it is built high up, so there are also good views of Corbiere lighthouse.

The original excavation in 1923 found a large amount of rubble within that was probably the fallen remains of a corbelled, bee-hive shaped vault. The style is unique to the Channel Islands.

It is sited on open land west of Le Parcq de L'Oeillière, with a line of sight to La Table des Marthes.

Mark Patton noted that the corbelled vault required a rock such as schist, which fractures to give long, flat slabs, and in Jersey, the available rock was not suitable. Consequently, while La Sergenté is the earliest passage grave in Jersey, it collapsed soon after its construction, because of the unsuitable building materials available, and was not repeated elsewhere in the Islands."(Patton 1987a).

There are some rather nice steps back down to the coast, and back to where I had parked the car. The best way to visit La Pulente is to go round, then up, visit the dolmen, and down the other side. Then you descend to some wonderful views of St Ouen's Bay.

I have, I notice, forgotten to mention the rather impressive German bunker on the headland, and it can be seen in the background of this very nice photograph of Katalin holding a small wild flower.

A Visit to La Rocque

It was not the finest weather when Katalin and I stopped off at La Rocque, but the rain kept off, despite the dark thunder clouds above, and we were about to enjoy a walk at this small but delightful little bay. La Rocque is on at the south-east corner of the island, and has always been a location for fishing village, although the houses along the seafront are perhaps of a better quality than the poor Jersey fisherman could afford.

Inland, a Methodist Chapel, recently closed, was built for the fishermen. As the nearest church was some way off, fisherman tended to go to the close Methodist chapel, so not to be outdone, Abraham Le Sueur, Rector of Grouville Church in Victorian times, built an Anglican chapel.

There is a small jetty which leads out across the bay, and on the way there, we saw a bench with a memorial plaque on it, from 2009. Often you don't know the story behind these memorials, but in this case, the tragic tale is in the public record. The newspaper report tells us

"Alain Georges Pelletier (37) was catching a bus from north India down to Delhi to meet his girlfriend when the bus ran over his foot.He went to accident and emergency but staff said there was nothing they could do for him and sent him in an ambulance to another hospital. On the way there he suffered an embolism and, despite his friend trying to resuscitate him for over an hour, he died before he got to hospital."

It's such a sad story, that an accident could lead so quickly to loss of life, and a reminder to us all of the fragility of existence, and why each day is important.

The jetty curves out at an angle. Originally, there was a wooden structure, but the boat owners complained to the States about boats damaged by strong winds, and a stone structure began in 1827. Alas, it was poorly constructed, and suffered storm damage. It was not until 1843 that the present structure took form, and while the fishermen continued to complain, the harbour remained as it was, and as we see it today.

The 1986 Domesday project has this report on the harbour:

"You will generally see around 30 boats in La Rocque Harbour, varying in size and colour with names like Mimi, Daddy, Busy Bee, Nancy and Lizette. The harbour is of local granite and there are metal rings to tie your boat to. Many of the fishermen are around retirement age. There are not only less fishermen these days, but less fish than before."

Of course La Rocque is also famous for the "Battle of Jersey". In 1781, Baron de Rullecourt, on behalf of the France, but very much also a soldier of fortune, arrived with 2,000 soldiers. 800 landed and passed by the guard hut; this being 5 January, the guards had been celebrating Christmas with gusto and were very much the worse for wear, and still drinking (as the trial after revealed). The second division landed on the rocks, and was lost, the third was unable to land so only the fourth of 200 made landfall.

De Rullecourt made his way to St Helier with 1,000 men, and ambushed the Governor (then residing in the Royal Square) with a magnificent bluff. Here are my troops; I have more all over the Island. But thanks to the gallant Major Peirson, the militia refused to surrender, and after a pitched battle in the Royal square, when both Peirson and de Rullecourt lost their lives, the French surrendered.

A final battle took place at La Rocque, where the French rearguard faced more soldiers, plus the Rector of St Martin who brought along his own cannon! With no escape possible on the tide, they too surrendered.

At La Platte Rocque is a building affectionately named by the actors and film crew of "Bergerac" as the "Psycho House" - you can see why! There is an interesting tale told in the 1986 Domesday project:

"At La Platte Rocque there is a house which was to be turned into a restaurant. But a lady started a petition against it. She said it would disturb the beach and the fishing as well as spoil some historic buildings. They would have knocked down the round tower and German bunker which are there still. The tower is built out of granite and the bunker is made out of concrete. "

"The front of the nearby house would have been made more modern and the windows would have been made bigger. In front of the house are some plants, shrubs and turf. Those would have been dug up and the front would have become tarmac. There is also a wall which would have been knocked down for a large entrance. But luckily the petition succeeded. "

Katalin and I saw some sea birds, and this is very much a place to view them. On the Jersey Birds website, it says:

"La Rocque is located on the south east corner of Jersey. It is one of the best localities from which to view waders and seabirds as well as visible migration during spring and autunm"

"Waders roost on the rocks here, flying around into Grouville Bay as the tide falls. Impressive movements of seabirds such as Terns can be witnessed in late summer and a winter visit will be likely to produce Divers, Grebes and Red breasted Mergansers. Look for the Peregrines sitting on Seymour Tower, offshore to the south east."

As we went along the harbour, I took this picture of Katalin, against the backdrop of rocks and fishing boats. It was a grey, overcast day, as you can see, but it was still a delight to share this location and its history with her, as she'd never been here before.

Looking inland, you can see how the corner of the coast juts out, making it very like a peninsula. In this photo, you can see how comparatively small the bay is. It's not a long bay, which is part of its charm.

Out in the distance at sea, is Seymour tower. The tourist guide tells us this:

"Seymour Tower sits two miles offshore on one of the largest inter-tidal reefs in the world. Built as part of Jersey’s coastal defences, this square tower dates from the 18th century. The isolated location means access is dependent on tidal conditions and all guests must be accompanied by an accredited Seymour Tower guide. Seymour Tower is only available to rent when the tide allows safe and manageable access on foot."

"The accommodation in this coastal tower is spread over two floors. Solar panels on the roof generate enough power for lighting and a fridge. A gas stove for cooking, basic crockery and cutlery are provided. Bunk beds accommodate seven guests (sleeping bags not provided). Seymour Tower has no running water, but drinking water is provided along with logs for the wood burning stove. Seymour Tower is perfect for anyone wanting an adventure. Use it as a base for low water fishing, guided walks at low tide, bird watching and fishing."

I once walked to Seymour tower with an expedition led by Charles Green (affectionately nicknamed "Gloop", although I never found why), and it was a great walk, although I don't know if I'd be fit enough to do it now. You do need to be very careful with the tides, and scarcely a year or two goes by with someone needing rescue when they take refuge at the tower, or a rescue platform a bit further inland. Once, two horses got stuck out there, and I think had to wait for the tide to go down before they could be safely rescued. The very flat rocks mean that the rising tide can easily go down rocky channels ahead of the unwary walker.

The craggy rocks at low tide are often described as a "Lunar Landscape", and it is one of the most unusual coasts in Jersey in that respect. The 1986 Domesday project has this report:

"The fishermen fish for shrimps, lobster and low water fish which they sell to the market and their neighbours as well as keeping some for themselves. The fishermen have to be very skilled as there are lots of sharp rocks and many strong currents around La Rocque. My granddad has a certificate for rescuing three people who were marooned on a rock. The speed of the tide is very fast and you can easily be trapped."

The rocky coast is also popular for children, and I remember coming with my sister, with buckets and nets, and looking for marine life in the rocky pools - shrimps, small craps, and other tiny sea creatures. We would take them up to the beach, picnic and watch them swim in the bucket, and at the end of the day, return them to the sea. It was heartening to see that this still continues today, a simple pleasure far removed from the sophisticated toys of the 21st century.

A Walk Off the Beaten Track

If you go along past Les Quennevais Sport centre, past the Pétanque club house, and the playing fields, you reach a rather nice woody path going North. It was on a hot day in August that Katalin and I decided to take this route, and quite a lot of the route is nice and shady, a welcome respite from the noonday sun.

Nothing much grows under the pine trees which make this covered path.Pines trees usually make the soil beneath very acid, and it is also starved of light. The space beneath the tree branches has its own microclimate, and it is one of the most difficult places for plants to grow. So while there are the odd clumps of grass, most often the ground is bare of anything but pine needles.





Further along, and fenced off, is a natural pond, which was at the time rather green and slimy. Not very enticing, unless, of course, you are a duck, in which case there is probably a veritable feast of insects living off the algae and pond weed.

Algae are unattractive, and some kinds are potentially harmful, but despite their being aesthetically unpleasant, they are very important members of a pond ecosystem; they provide food for species at the lower end of the food-chain.





We walked along, and on the left hand side of the track, it opened up into a vista onto the La Moye golf course. The golf course has moved over the years, and thereby hangs a tale.

In 1905, members of the Tabor Chapel congregation had objected to playing golf on a Sunday. They could see the Headmaster of La Moye School, who was also the organist from another Church, frequently playing on the La Moye course as they passed close by. With the support of Captain Le Gallais, the Golf Club acquired land which allowed the holes to be moved to the west of the railway line, thus appeasing the church congregation!



Moving along, we now saw the start of the sand dunes. These go all the way down to St Ouen's Bay, and I remember when I was a teenager that I came here with some friends who wanted to do some surreptitious and illegal smoking, something which never appealed to me. I think one is now a lawyer, and one a hotelier at a major hotel chain. I wonder if they still smoke.

We also had our school cross country on the dunes, and I managed to come fifth in my house, and get a house tie to wear as a result. I've still got it somewhere. It's nice and green, if a little short.

The States website has this to say about the dunes:

"Les Blanches Banques Site of Special Interest is Jersey’s last remaining sand dune system. Measuring approximately 100 hectares, it is a site of international ecological importance due to the exceptionally high floral diversity and rarity of the habitat, and the many species of animals that use the area as a refuge."



I've recently been learning about wild plants and flowers from Jeff Hathaway, so Katalin had to endure me identifying this clump of ragwort, one of the few plants I can now identify pretty accurately. It is poisonous to cattle, but because of its bitter taste, they avoid eating it. So the real problem is more when it is growing in a field, alongside grass, and gets collected in the hay gathering. They don't recognise dried ragwort in hay, so that is a real danger.

We didn't know which side of the path to go, and unfortunately the way we went gradually got more tangled with vegetation, so we came back and went the other path, closer to the sand dunes.



The track moved inland, and Katalin and I were once again in the heat of the sun. There is a lot of gorse here, and bracken, and it is a very different ecology. It is amazing that St Brelade has such a diverse environment - housing estates, shops, and a rather urban landscape, and dunes, and small winding paths in the country side.

A little further along, a side gate takes you to a housing estate, and to the cemetery, but we carried along the main path. We did pop into the cemetery on the way back, but that's another blog.



The path was by now more of a farm track, with the odd house on one side, and a field full of Jersey cows grazing away. Since the lifting of the ban on alien cattle and semen, you can now see black cows in Jersey fields, which seems very strange to me. They are grown for meat, whereas the Jersey cow is mainly prized for its delicious rich and creamy milk. And looks beautiful, just how a cow should look!



As we were feeling the heat, and the path was becoming more roadlike as it progressed, we decided to turn around and head back. On our way, I took this photograph of Katalin, in this canopy of greenery which forms a natural tunnel. There is something very magical about that, and such canopies always remind me of C.S. Lewis and Narnia. You almost expect to see Alsan around the next corner.

A Visit to Rozel Bay

"One of, if not the sweetest bays of Jersey, is Rozel", Henry Inglis, The Channel Island, 1834.

On Battle of Flowers day, Katalin and I decided to try to get to Rozel Bay, on the presumption that most people would be at the Battle, and we would stand a fair chance of getting parked. We had tried once before, but it was a sunny day, and the bay was packed out.

It is one of those bays part of whose charm is that it cannot be too crowded, because it is difficult to get there, rather like the restaurant in the G.K. Chesterton story - "It was a thing which paid not by attracting people, but actually by turning people away.".

Rozel is a small fishing port at the north east of the Island, and the name means "reed". It comes from the ancient Roselle family in Normandy, and the family also went across to England with Duke William, from which came the Anglicised version of the name, Russell.

One of the highlights of Rozel, and a reason for its popularity, is the "Hungry Man", a beach cafe which serves all kind of food, most of which is probably not healthy in any shape or form, but which is very, very tasty! So of course, we went to eat there. As Trip Advisor says:

"The Hungry Man is a Jersey institution, right on the harbour at Rozel, Kate and her team serve up everything from crab sandwiches to Jersey cream teas and bacon rolls to tasty burgers, all ready to eat at the alfresco tables outside"

And they are not wrong!


A singular feature of "The Hungry Man" is the fabulous pieces of artwork by local artist Edward Blampied."My art is a reflection of how i see life...colourful, sexy and very funny", he says, and it is certainly the case.

Waiting in the queue - and there is always a fair queue at the Hungry Man - means you have time to enjoy these very funny pictures, almost in the old seaside picture postcard style, although while cheeky, not quite as rude as Donald McGill.

I don't know if Edward Blampied is directly related to the famous Edmund Blampied, despite looking on his website, so perhaps it is just a name in common, not a genetic talent.




We had a roll with sausages each - and yes, that is the standard size, not the "Heart-Wrecker" one - and a portion of chips between us. Often that's a side order and quite small. At the "Hungry Man" it is almost two side orders in one. Here I am, chomping my way through the roll, with as ever, some tomato ketchup also on the plate! Anyone who knows me will know I am a fiend for ketchup.

No one knows how the word "ketchup" came about. There are theories that it was Chinese in origin, or Malay or Arabic. The word appeared in Britain during the late 17th century, appearing in as catchup (1690) and later as ketchup (1711).

We managed to get under shelter, because there was an occasional light shower, but close enough to have a nice view outside - well, Katalin did, as can be seen here. I had a nice view of her, so that was good too!





The food was very filling, but we just had enough room for a soft scoop ice cream, which we shared between us. Jersey ice cream has a creamy quality that the shop bought ice creams simply do not have; it is all the richness of Jersey milk. Heart attack heaven!

We bumped into my friend Debbie, who was there taking her uncle around the sites. It is amazing how small a place Jersey is, and how despite there being a population of 90,000, you still find yourself meeting up with people you know.




Katalin wanted to look for shells on the beach. She loves collecting sea shells. So we went down to the beach to see how many there were. But she doesn't sell them, so we are not quite into tongue twister territory. However, if you, gentle reader, would like one appropriate to the shore and sea shells, try this:

"She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore shells."

Try saying that fast!



Going inland a bit from the bay, there are some interesting road signs, including one which warns drivers of "ducks and geese on road". Actually we didn't see any on the road. However one enterprising motorist who did see them made this short video.

Further inland, the road winds past an antiques shop and several houses. There is also a wall mounted post box, still in use.




The initials ER II, standing for Queen Elizabeth II, show that this was put in place during the post-war years, when the tourism boom hit Jersey, and people posted massive amounts of postcards. It's all gone now. The tourists are not over in such numbers, and mostly they take camera shots with mobile devices to place instantly online.



There's a nice bench given in memory of Bill Dilks on the pier, which is a fitting location for a fisherman to be remembered. I like these "in memoriam" benches, and the way they tell a tale. And poor Bill was only 56. Who was he? I have not, alas, managed to find out more.

As we walked around, I spotted an old house which had a datestone. Datestones are descibed by Alex Glendinning:

"The initials of husband and wife and a date were often carved on a piece of granite and used as a lintel above the front door. Sometimes the two names have between them a heart (or two entwined hearts - as above) hence the description marriage stone. These stones rarely commemorate a marriage however, but usually mark the inheritance, construction or alternation of a building."

This one is "JRS & JLS 1832" next to Fishermen's Rest, Rozel Harbour. Alex has done a lot of work identifying the people on date stones, but this one is still unknown.

Along the harbour wall are fishermen's huts, some in quite bright colours, like the pinkish / mauve one in this photo. These are a particular feature of some of the smaller Northern bays of Jersey, like Rozel and Bonne Nuit, but are not much in evidence elsewhere in the island. It is a reminder that the Island's fishing heritage is still very much alive in Rozel today, as it was when the postcard below was taken some decades ago.

Rozel has a small and beautiful harbour. It has come a long way from the 1685 survey when it was only described as "a small creek called Rosel, where the Islanders keep several boats, both for fishing and for going to the Ecrehou". The Northern bays tend to be smaller, more intimate, than those on the South and West coasts, and Rozel was certainly one of the nicest for us to visit, despite the overcast skies, which could not mar its beauty.