The Christmas Visit

Trawling though the archives on an old removable hard drive, I came across this short story, penned by a friend of mine, Rosie Kemp, and it seemed suitable for this season. It was written in 1999, and while most of it is fictional, I can attest that the ghostly element was based on her personal experience at Hurel Farm in Jersey as a young girl.

The Christmas Visit
by Rosie Kemp

Stonylane Farm had been Lucy  Hillwing's home for almost thirteen years now.  She would walk home from school,  making her way past brick cottages,  and there would be the old farmhouse, nestling  between the sycamore tree on one side and the old wash-house on the other.  It's thick strong walls had withstood many storms, had kept the family warm through many a cold winter,  while the tiny windows had seen many Spring days, when the apple trees were full of blossom and the surrounding fields ploughed and planted with early potatoes.

The adjacent outhouses were home to potato barrels, tomato crates, bales of straw along with the two farm cats, Brownie and Mischief. Three large greenhouses on the other side of the yard housed in turn, geraniums of every hue, sweet scented carnations and tomatoes.  The old pig sties  were home to some ageing pigs, since Lucy's father had been too soft hearted to send them to market.

The old house itself, though, had always held her in it's magic spell, and today was no exception.

 Lucy made her way along the lane, the holly bush was heavy with berries, that could mean a cold winter ahead.

"Mum,.Dad!", she called,  her voice echoing through the scullery, "I'm back!"  The ensuing silence meant that they were still out in the fields, probably picking Brussels sprouts, ready for the Christmas rush. Her parents worked hard on the farm, it wasn't always an easy life , but they were happy.  Lucy lit the gas for her cup of tea and went up the three small stairs and along the passage to the front room, where Toby their labrador was lying in front of the fire. "Hello old fellow,  Fifi is coming around later, isn't she?"  The old dog sighed and lowered his head deeper into his paws.

"Yes, I'd tried to forget", she thought, sadly. Fifi and her  owners, Philip and Celia Rockway were coming to see her parents tonight.   

 Mary Hillwing came indoors.  She looked tired from her long day.  "Do you want me to get the tea ready?", Lucy asked her.  She knew that her mother would be as miserable and worried about tonight as she was, but unlike her rather feisty ( and somewhat stubborn!)  daughter she was more accepting of what life threw at her, and seemed to have resigned herself to what she felt was the inevitable.

One thing was for certain, if they didn't get help soon, what was  now a strong possibility would become the inevitable.  She would talk to her old friend who always had a way of easing any of Lucy's worries and cheering her up. Old  Millie had been intimidating  initially but once you got to know her she really was very sweet.   

"That was it, she must talk to Millie as soon as possible".  Meanwhile it was time to prepare tea for them all.

Roy Hillwing, Lucy's father, came in from the yard and washed his face and hands at the stone kitchen sink.  "There'll be a good lot of sprouts to take to the market stall tomorrow", he said ,but Lucy knew that his mind was on other matters, just as hers and her mother's .

The clock struck eight all too soon and there was a knock at the door.  The Rockways had arrived, they gushed their way into the house, you could almost feel the door cringe as they  went through it.  Philip Rockway was a man who was used to getting his own way, he had made up his mind about this house and was ready and able to pay a high price for it.  His manicured wife simpered next to him, no doubt imagining herself idling the time away in one of the luxury flats which her husband planned to build on the site.  Roy Hillwing was beginning to waver. Some fast thinking was called for.

"It's far too late to decide anything tonight,"  Lucy heard herself saying, " Why don't you come for Christmas lunch next week, you can sleep over in the guest room on Christmas Eve. We can give you our decision after the Christmas pudding !"  Her parents looked at her in amazement, they knew how she felt about the Rockways. " Now, if you'll excuse us, my parents are both very tired.."

The week up to Christmas passed all too quickly.  There were so many preparations to make, as well as all the usual work on the farm. Even the impending visit of the Rockways couldn't dampen the Christmas spirit for the Hillwing family though.  Cards thudded onto the doormat, the smell of mince pies wafted from the kitchen and Great-Uncle Ernie turned up with an enormous Christmas tree which reached the ceiling. However, in all of the excitement, Lucy was thinking about Millie.

On the morning of Christmas Eve Lucy still hadn't managed to contact her friend.  Perhaps she had upset her in some way, if only she knew..  She came out of her bedroom and  went into the guest room;  it was all prepared for tonight, fresh bedclothes,  winter flower arrangement, guest soaps and towels.. " Oh Millie, I need your help!" she exclaimed, looking out of the large window to the lane below.

Millie was in her own bedroom, thinking things out.  She felt so old and tired.  Many  changes had occurred over the years, people had come and gone from the area. Some folk had taken an instant dislike to her , they didn't take time to get to know her, not like dear Lucy had.  She sensed that her young friend needed her now.

The Rockways had arrived, in spite of Lucy's desperate wish for a snow storm, punctured tyre, their precious Fifi to go into quarantine - anything, in fact to put off the dreaded decision time.  But there they were, ensconced in the front room, sitting on the sofa, doing their best to exude goodwill to all men.  She almost felt sorry for them, they were like fish out of water.

At 10 o'clock they had both yawned loudly and decided to go up to their room.  It was a relief to Lucy and her parents to have some time to themselves.. Lucy helped her mother to prepare the vegetables for the next day and made some apple and chestnut stuffing for the turkey.  At 11 o'clock, it was time for the candle-lit carol service on BBC 2. 

Celia Rockway was snuggled under her duvet, she had been trying to go to sleep for the last two hours although  her husband had no problems and was snoring soundly next to her.  It was a lovely guest bedroom, she was impressed by Mrs Hillwing's homely touches, but thought that she might have put a heater on in the room as it was so awfully cold..  At least the duvet was warm. Then, Celia felt the end of the bed sink down , " There's a good girl Fifi, come and snuggle on the bed with Mummykins"  She put her hand out to stroke the pampered pooch,  but no warm , furry dog responded, she moved her hand over the bed,  there was nothing there.  Celia sat up and put on the bedside light.  Fifi was nowhere to be seen.  The wooden floorboards creaked and the bedroom door slowly opened...

Celia  sat bolt upright in bed, she tried to speak, but no words came out, just a frightened squeak.

The bedroom door continued to open until she could see out onto the landing.  There was nobody there.

***

When Mary Hillwing knocked on the guest room door she was met by an exhausted and pale faced Celia, who was already dressed.
Philip Rockway was throwing clothes into a case. "I'm sorry" he said, "we've  had a change of plan. We really ought to be heading back".  The couple looked unusually flustered.

Roy and Mary Hillwing  had never wanted to leave the farm, not for all the money in the world, but they hadn't been able to stand up to the Rockways,  not without some help.

The large car  roared away up the lane. Neither Celia, Philip or even Fifi gave a backward glance.  If they had looked up at the guest room window they would have seen the figure of an old lady smiling down triumphantly at them. Millie turned back into her room, which was the Hillwing's guest room. "I think that my job here is completed now.." she whispered softly to herself, and  gradually faded away.

At Christmas lunch, the Hillwings sat around the dining table.  It was a grand spread, turkey with all the trimmings, crispy roast potatoes and of course, home-grown Brussels sprouts.  The pudding was  lit , the family raised their glasses in a toast. "Merry Christmas !"

  "Thank you, Millie, you gave us the best Christmas we ever had", whispered Lucy.  Her parents looked puzzled. "What's that dear?" they said. " Happy Christmas, here's to the new Millennium, Mum and Dad"

THE END

And so to bed…

And so to bed…
 
I always end each day with a quote on Facebook. Here are three recent favourites.
 
And so bed, quote for tonight is from Robert Louis Stevenson:
 
When I was a boy, Treasure Island was one of the stories that captivated me. The blind beggar, rapping with his stick. The black spot. The hidden treasure. Long John Silver. Ben Gunn. It was one of the best adventure stories I read, full of descriptions and enthusiasms.
 
But it was not until I became a parent that I came across his "Children's Garden of Verses". Such a different tone, but such genius to capture the soul of childhood. Here is one of my favourites.
 
The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;
She shines on thieves on the garden wall,
On streets and fields and harbour quays,
And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.
 
The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,
The howling dog by the door of the house,
The bat that lies in bed at noon,
All love to be out by the light of the moon.
 
But all of the things that belong to the day
Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;
And flowers and children close their eyes
Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.
 
And so to bed... quote for tonight is from T.F. Powys:
 
"Modern Short Stories" was part of my reading at Secondary school, although I used to dread the reading around the class – not that I had any problems, but listening to the poor unfortunates speaking one word at a time, and losing the flow of the sentence was sheer torture. I am perhaps more sympathetic to their plight now, but it is still something I would avoid.
 
One of my favourite stories in there was "Lie Thee Down, Oddity" by T.F. Powys, and I found it captivating, and have now read many of his books and short stories – "Fables" is a particular favourite collection. This comes from his philosophical ponderings – "Soliloquies of a Hermit", and for once, he is as explicit as he ever was in describing his thoughts about the deeper meanings of life:
 
"I will tell you what my soul is. My soul is a waiting, hesitating, longing silence; it is the most delicate, the most ethereal, the most ready to die of all the silent noiseless feet that we feel moving in our lives. And my soul waits, and often its flame goes out while it waits. It is not chained to the moods; it is the waiting silence in us that is free."
 
And so to bed... quote for tonight is from Eugene Field:
 
"I love books, so this one is a good choice to end with. I usually end reading a book until I fall asleep and it falls from my hands."
 
All good and true book-lovers practice the pleasing and improving avocation of reading in bed ... No book can be appreciated until it has been slept with and dreamed over.

Les Trois Rocques

This picture above of a stile in Winter was the subject of a poetry challenge in a group I belong to, and as there is a style of sorts leading to the neolithic site known as Les Trois Rocques, that became the theme and title of the poem.

The stones are something of a mystery. They are clearly neolithic, but lack the supporting trig stones at the base of single standing stones or menhirs. There is no archaeological material to place them. My own guess is that they are the last remaining stones from a much larger dolmen or passage grave which stood on the site.

Les Trois Rocques

Cows graze in summer, but now bare:
Soft Winter Sun, not Summer glare;
And I climb the stile, into the field:
Beyond such treasures yet to yieldl
The field is fallow, green, green grass,
Not many come this way to pass;
But I do, for here is one chance,
A sacred site to come and glance;
In the field beyond, lo it is there!
From long ages past, many a year,
Since the tribe put up these stones,
And now they are but dust and bones;
Once so many stones, but not so now,
And I don’t know either when or how,
They were destroyed, but now alone:
There are but three, mark sacred zone;
Huge granite rocks, set along a line:
Why were they built? Perhaps a sign?
And I come here on the Winter’s day,
Over style and field, along old way;
They call to me, from time long past,
These three stones, now just the last;
And once a year, I touch the stones,
Lost legacy, so many unknowns,
And then return, across the grass,
For even these, will come to pass

Some Thought Experiments in Collective Responsibility

In 2004, I penned this piece, which never actually saw the light of day. Now that the Council of Ministers have finally moved to "collective responsibility" (in 2014), it is perhaps more pertinent than when it was first mooted as part of Ministerial government - something that actually never happened in 2005 but was supposed to!

I'm not wholly convinced that the new "collective responsibility" deals with all these scenarios.

Some Thought Experiments in Collective Responsibility

The States change to a Ministerial style of Government will involve the concept of “Collective Responsibility”. However, it seems that this is being pushed through "in principle" without spelling out the fine print, and looking at how it would work in problem scenarios.

As I understand it, the basic principle of Collective Responsibility as proposed can be understood as follows:

· A person might grant that collectives can bear responsibility for a state of affairs even in situations where one or more of its members fail to bear responsibility for the same state of affairs.

· In these situations some members of the collective may play a dominant role and others a subordinate role in bringing about a state of affairs.

· While those who play a subordinate role may not do enough to warrant the ascription of responsibility for this state of affairs, they are indirectly tied to the responsibility by their membership in a collective which is responsible for this state of affairs.

I would like to consider this with respect to three thought experiments.

Scenario One:

Let us say a minister was part of a Government.

A majority agreed with a decision to pass laws widening access to conditions for abortions, or altering the time scale of abortion, or permitting genetic experimentation on foetal material (or such material to be sent from Jersey for experimentation).

Would the minister be able to exercise a right of conscience to abstain or object without resigning?
How would the "right of conscience" be worked out in principal?

Scenario Two

A member is elected on a particular mandate. They are elected by the States as a minister.

The government later decides to take actions which contradict specific and important policies from their mandate.

Would the minister be able to exercise a right of conscience to abstain or object without resigning - despite the fact that this contradicts the government’s “collective responsibility”?

After all, they could ague that they have a moral duty to keep faith with the electorate.

Scenario Three

A member is elected on a particular mandate. They are elected by the States as a minister.

They are a deputy. They are asked by their Parishioners to take a petition to the States objecting to a Government decision/policy which adversely effects the Parish.

Would the minister be able to exercise a right of conscience to abstain or object without resigning? Would they be able to take the petition to the States

Conclusion

It seems to me that what is needed is not Collective Responsibility as a blanket system for agreements, but details of circumstances where a minister can legitimately abstain or declare an opposing viewpoint, and orderly procedures for doing so in such a manner as not to disrupt good government.

For example, warning ministerial colleagues that you disagree, and as a matter of conscience, you will be objecting in the States.

However, what is needed is to consider and test the proposals against thought experiments. I have given three examples, and clearly many more can be considered.

The lack of such considerations suggests undue haste, and problems arising because not enough attention has been given to the "fine print".

A Tide is Rising

A Tide is Rising

A lot of scary stories about rising sea levels in the JEP recently, coupled, of course, with photos of flooding because of the tide.

In fact, the tidal range has hardly risen at all over the last 10 years, and not by any significant amount at all. So why do we see more flooding now?

What we have, I believe, is a higher incidence of strong winds. Strong winds, when they are coupled with high tides, often cause flooding, and that is nothing new. But the prevalence of high winds has increased, and so the coincidence of high wind with high tide has become more likely.

So that does mean we need to improve coastal defences, but that’s not against rises in sea level, but a against high tides and winds bringing flooding. It is still a problem to be tackled, but it is not quite the same problem, so the solutions might be slightly different. It is flood defences that are needed, not higher sea level defences.

The reason nothing happened in the past was that the coincidence of wind and tide was much less frequent, and people just lived with the occasional event. And given its rarity, politicians – as you might expect – buried their heads in the sand. That’s not an option now, because a wind is rising, and the tide is coming in.

Rise of the Dictators

In the Roman Republic, the dictator (“one who dictates”), was an extraordinary magistrate (magistratus extraordinarius) with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate (magistratus ordinarius)

Dictator, noun: A person invested with or exercising absolute authority of any kind; one who assumes to control or prescribe the actions of others; one who dictates.

In Jersey, the ministerial powers to decree orders has a resemblance to the trappings of power of the Roman dictators, used in a technical sense. This was not in the sense of someone seizing control, but rather – as in the Republic – one who legitimately has a measure of absolute power bestowed upon them.

Ministerial decisions, such as that by Susie Pinel, seem very much like that. They are brought forward without any States debate, which they simply bypass. It is notable that laws are now often framed in such a way that Ministers can amend something in place by a Ministerial order, whereas in the past, they would have had to brought significant changes in a law to the States.

As a recent example, Susie Pinel has just extended by Ministerial decree the period from 6 months to 12 months with respect to allowing unfair dismissal claims.

Now it could be argued that this will help the economy. The problem of unfair dismissal claims has almost certainly driven the move to zero hour contracts, where there is effectively little provision for unfair dismissal.

So doubling it might encourage employers to take on more staff on permanent contracts rather than zero hour ones. But, of course, we don’t know, as this kind of economic decision is more a matter of guesswork than hard science. Nevertheless, this is a case which could I think be made, as Deputy Pinel does:

"I also believe that this change has the potential to motivate employers to offer more permanent terms and conditions of employment to employees, rather than entering into casual staffing arrangements."

That’s a nice supposition, but it would have more merit if some kind of poll backed it up statistically with employer intention on permanent contracts. Getting lists of employers who sign up to change their employment practices before making a change would have also been a good move, especially if it was known that the information could be released into the public domain; that would ensure employers kept their pledges.

But what I find wholly reprehensible is for a Minister to make such a radical change without putting it before the States to debate. This is the kind of decision making which calls for arguments for and against to be aired, and a measured debate, whatever the vote.

The way in which Ministers can simply effect change by Ministerial Decree, even with the approval of the Council of Ministers, is something I find profoundly disturbing. There should be guidelines in place to suggest a kind of threshold as to when something can be passed by decree, and when it should go before the States.

That would be democracy, but it is worth noting that even the city state of Athens, with its democratic assemblies, was troubled instead by those who came, took power away from its citizens, and simply dictated to them. I think we are in danger of losing the democratic sovereignty of the States.

Liberation Day: Will Islands Diverge?

“In Guernsey, the anniversary of the liberation is celebrated on 9 May, the day in 1945 the German garrison surrendered during World War Two. But that is a Saturday in 2015, so seven deputies have called for Friday 8 May to be a public holiday in lieu.” (BBC News)

And the BBC news notes:

“The last time Liberation Day fell on a weekend, in 2010, the States agreed to make Monday 10 May a public holiday in recognition of the momentous event in Guernsey history.”

I seem to remember that there were Scrooge like mutterings and nothing like that happened over here. The general argument was that it was celebrated on one day, and that was it regardless of which day that was. So there! These are no doubt the same pedants who celebrated the new century on 1st January 2001, a year after the rest of us.

The notion that liberation might just also give rise to a spirit of generosity, of exuberance, of celebration, that might be best recognised by an extra weekday, much as when Christmas or New Year’s day falls on a weekend, seems to have passed by in Jersey.

The economic argument, I recall, was that it was another day of business lost. Or to put it in terms that Ebenezer Scrooge would have approved of: "A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every time Liberation day falls on a weekend.”

Political Odds and Ends on Health

The Politics of Health

“Senator Zoe Cameron spent the weekend considering her position and whether she could have an impact on the future of Island healthcare as a backbench politician. A political newcomer, her election campaign focussed strongly on Jersey’s health system. However, after voicing her desire to be Health Minister she lost out on the role to Senator Andrew Green.” (JEP)

I’ve heard suggestions that some higher officials at health may have briefed Senator Green about Zoe Cameron regarding her not getting the position of Assistant Minister. I don’t know how true that is, but it does remind me of the Yes Minister Diaries, especially when you hear that she was told by some States members that "it was inappropriate to work in an area where you had expert knowledge" (JEP)

Hacker says: “I was expecting to be Minister of Agriculture, as I've shadowed Agriculture for seven years, and have many good ideas about it, but for some inexplicable reason the PM decided against this.”

And the reason is revealed as follows:

“We found a memo from Sir Andrew Donnelly, Permanent Secretary of Agriculture, to Sir Arnold Robinson, Secretary to the Cabinet, imploring Sir Arnold to make sure that Hacker did not get Agriculture as he was too ‘genned up' on it. Cabinet Papers show that Sir Arnold managed to convey to the PM that it would be better for Hacker not to go to Agriculture because ‘he's been thinking about it rather too long and is perhaps in a bit of a rut'”

Is that along the lines of what happened here? Surely no one in the health service could be anything like the mandarins in Yes Minister, and give briefings against her?

I tend to be rather cynical about civil servants, ever since Bill Ogley left with a pot of gold, having decided he couldn't work with Senator Ozouf. Bill Ogley, it should be remembered, also organised a good leaving deal of £125,000 for his chum, Mike Pollard, whose wife was also in Assistant Director of Human Resources at the time. Bill Ogley also organised what appeared to be an unminuted meeting to brief Chief Officers against Stuart Syvret, which we only know about because Graham Power was so concerned he made a file note.

Of course that is in the past, but has the culture of secrecy and backroom briefings wholly changed?

Pot Luck?

On the subject of health, I see that Andrew Green turned down the request of Ann Hill (a multiple sclerosis patient,) for Sativex a legal, cannabis-based medication not on grounds of legality but on grounds of cost. It was already available privately but would cost £5,000 per annum per patient.

In fact the cost varies widely, and the drug is not suitable anyway for most patients. The Sativex website notes that:

“Sativex is indicated as treatment for symptom improvement in adult patients with moderate to severe spasticity due to multiple sclerosis (MS) who have not responded adequately to other anti-spasticity medication and who demonstrate clinically significant improvement in spasticity related symptoms during an initial trial of therapy”

And notes that:

“Five patients per 100,000 of the general population are likely to be eligible for ongoing treatment with Sativex, which means its budget impact is limited (2-5).”

And they give an estimate cost of £10,070.55 per year.

A Multiple Sclerosis blog looks at an academic study in 2012 and notes that:

“Sativex® appears unlikely to be considered cost effective by UK funders of healthcare for spasticity in MS. This is unfortunate, since it appears that Sativex® use is likely to benefit some patients in the management of this common consequence of MS.”

The Vale of York Commissioning group came with a cost of £2798 to £5596 a year, and notes that:

“It is estimated 9 per 100,000 population would be treated with sativex of which 4 would continue after 1 month. This would equate to £11,192 - £22,384 per 100,000 population per year.”

Why the high cost? Dr Rick Bayer, fellow in the American College of Physicians, and a proponent for medical marijuana to relieve pain and other debilitating conditions, notes that:

“Although Sativex is expected in Europe soon, US regulators delayed approval by requiring a tamper-proof delivery system to ‘lock’ the number of doses patients can access. This will cause delay and add expense to the product.”

And in fact the cost appears to derive in part from the manufacturer having an effective monopoly on the market – and an exclusive exception to British law by means of licence. It is actually produced in Britain, not in the USA where it is mostly sold, which may come as a surprise:

“GW Pharmaceuticals is the only company in the UK with a license to produce medical marijuana. The company harvests an estimated 300 tons (600,000 pounds) of cannabis every year for the manufacturing of Sativex and the R&D of other marijuana-derived medications. “

“Although this allows GW Pharmaceuticals to conduct extensive investigations into the safety and benefits of Sativex, it also restricts patients from considering medical cannabis as an alternative. Likewise, Sativex comes at a much higher price to patients in the UK, priced at £125 for a 10ml vial.”

And the high cost is a problem, but it seems as if alternatives may be coming on the market at cheaper prices from the USA itself.

“Most PCTs and health authorities are refusing to fund Sativex because of the extraordinarily high price that GW and its UK distributors Bayer want to charge the NHS. At about £175 per bottle, Sativex costs around 10 times what organised crime sells cannabis for on the streets. Products that are pharmacologically identical to Sativex are available from medical marijuana dispensaries in the US for around $20 per bottle”

Clearly, they would need to be licensed, especially by the FDA before the UK took an interest, and there would probably be some resistance from GW Pharmaceuticals, but it does I think point the way forward to the future.

Competition is not always good for the market, but neither are monopolies, especially for those who suffer chronic and debilitating conditions.

Links
http://sativex.co.uk/healthcare-professionals/budget-personnel/who-is-suitable-for-sativex/
http://multiple-sclerosis-research.blogspot.com/2012/10/research-sativex-costs-too-much.html
http://www.valeofyorkccg.nhs.uk/rss/data/uploads/prescribing/tags/march-2014/17.-sativex-tag-draft-recommendation-nov-2013.pdf
http://www.netag.nhs.uk/files/appraisal-reports/Sativex%20appraisal%20report%20-%20NETAG%20-Oct2010.pdf
http://www.alternativesmagazine.com/33/bayer.html
http://www.cbdscience.com/
http://www.pharmatimes.com/article/13-03-21/Almirall_may_pull_Sativex_in_Germany.aspx
http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/04/21/what-is-sativex/
http://www.medithrive.com/tinctures1.html
http://greenly.me/product/anxiety-relief-tincture-alta-california-botanicals-copy-cannabis-tincture/

Which Drugs are Our Problem

As the States debate whether or not to permit cannabis to be used in cases of acute need as a treatment of choice against chronic and intense pain in particular circumstances, I thought I would post this piece from “The Pilot” from 1994.

The Reverend Bill Matthews was Vicar of Gouray Church. Here he discusses young people’s attitude, why they don’t listen to the heath messages, why the health officials clearly don’t listen to them, and whether decriminalisation is possible for some drugs.

My own view of the subject of cannabis and tobacco is that it is very much an accident of history that one ended up being criminalised, and one was legal.

The contingent nature of history could have been so easily different. In terms of effect, tobacco is at least as destructive of human health as cannabis, but because it became acceptable early in our history, it is simply not possible to criminalise it. Moreover, as the Prohibition era demonstrated, criminalising a drug like alcohol only drives the problem underground, and plants the seed of gangster culture.

So I think that while health professionals stress the dangers of tobacco, there is a certain degree of reticence and hypocrisy inbuilt into the system by the history.

Incidentally, I have not yet come across murder by cannabis, but there have been a number of cases of people extracting nicotine from tobacco and using it for murder, usually disguised in a food like a curry, and one man was sentenced only this year for killing his wife by nicotine.

The evidence for cannabis is more varied. There is certainly anecdotal evidence linking cannabis use to some homicides, such as a murder in Colorado this year, but on the other hand, recent crime statistics for Denver show a significant drop in robberies and violent crimes since marijuana legalization went into effect. As John Vibes notes: “It is important to mention that this strong correlation is not definitive proof that legalization is the cause of this drop in crime, but it does strongly suggest that this is the case.”

I think the USA legalisation experiment will provide far better data to form opinions on, and any arguments, either for or against cannabis use, should contain a qualification that these opinions may be revised once more data becomes available. I would be extremely distrustful of any positions which were rigidly fixed, either for or against, because at the moment, the jury is still out.

Which Drugs are Our ProblemBy The Reverend Bill Matthews

Concern grows on the island about the increasing traffic in drugs. The obvious consequence is that they will be more readily accessible to consumers. Consumers include our children and this is something that should concern all of us.

However, is it a time for moral panic or reactionary hysteria? If a new social disease is threatening to affect even younger age groups then certainly we should take it seriously. Certainly we should respond quickly and try to take steps which are effective. But how can we do this in the face of what is a growing worldwide problem?

Moreover, the problem is distorted by media sensation and much ignorance amongst the general public. So, perhaps the best step we can take is to examine it as realistically and dispassionately and analytically as we can. But let us do this ourselves and not leave it to others, especially if our children may be involved.

One of the issues in this debate that we often fail to take into consideration is the view of young people themselves. Frank Colfield, Professor of Education at Durham University, together with a colleague, Les Grafton, have this year undertaken research with young people ("Drugs and Young People," 1994). In this he draws a clear distinction between soft and hard drugs. He says that young people often have well thought out reasons for taking soft drugs and reasonably want any discussion to take into account all forms of legal and illegal drug taking. This includes cigarettes, alcohol, sleeping tablets, tranquillisers, anabolic steroids, glue sniffing, cannabis, cocaine and heroin. A more disturbing debate!

They ask which drug causes most social damage? The annual death rate in the UK caused by tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs is about 100,000, 30,000 and 300 respectively. Since 1982 only four people, all adults, have died as a result of cannabis. That needs to be compared with one million who died from tobacco during the same period. It seems fair then that young people should want to include in discussion the smoking and drinking habits of adults.

Of course, it can be said that drug taking part of the "pop culture" which young people adopt as this alternative to the notionally "straight" world of adults. There are many good arguments to justify why young people find the adult world unattractive. Also, there are many indicators which suggest that cultural conditioning from parents, state, education and churches is not what it could and should be.

So, the attractions of the hedonistic, anti-aggression rave culture are not hard to understand. It includes music, dance, vocabulary and allegedly safe drugs like ecstasy. In a post-industrial society young adults in particular have a disposable income even if unemployed and have time which they seek to make exciting. One good feature about the soft drug scene is that it often seeks love and peace and is directly opposed to the violence of being louts.

We then have to ask the question: "Are drugs all bad?" The Department of Health's guide to parents for drugs in 1992 states:

"There are no hard or soft drugs, no good or bad drugs."

Professor Colfield says that this remark flies in the face of young people's experience and so they tend to reject it together with other drug education which is an attempt to con them. All his informants made a clear distinction between soft (ganja or marijuana, acid, poppers and even ecstasy) and hard drugs (cocaine, crack and heroin). To them that is a wide gap and no slippery slope between smoking cannabis and the injection of heroin. They were as averse to the common stereotype of addicted junkies as the rest of us.

Professor Colfield also makes a case for the decriminalisation of cannabis in line with some other European countries such as Holland, Spain and Germany. He also advocates an experimental legalisation period of five years which would enable us to examine the situation in a controlled way. Well, there is something to be said for a controlled experiment, particularly for decriminalisation and certainly we need a much more balanced and detailed examination of the whole issue of drugs.

My opinion is that it is all as much part of our cultural malaise as anything. If young people reject the models of adult society then we must strive to provide that which is better. It is no good saying that the young have always done this. We should be concerned to seek what is more inspiring and exciting. From the very earliest days in our teaching of children we should seek to offer them high ideals and moral clarity. We should offer them positive projects which can inspire their imagination. Most of all we should treat them seriously and involve them in all discussions about their welfare as part of the common purpose of life together.

My point is that there is no point in seeking to address the problems of society without first addressing the causes. Houses need to be put in order in the State, in the churches, in the schools and in homes before we can expect a more acceptable and accepting young generation.

To Start you Thinking – Postal Pampering

From “The Pilot” of 1964 comes this extraordinary piece, which was evidently deliberately intended to provoke comments.

The good reverend would probably rejoice in the less frequent mail delivery of today – one a day, and not on Saturdays at all (except in the run up to Christmas). However, along with a decline in mail being sent comes rising prices, and he would probably still be grumbling away.

When he was writing about telephones, not everybody had a telephone, and for country exchanges in Jersey, one had to call the operator, and ask for a number. People also had “party lines” when a telephone line, often in a flat, was shared with other occupants. So his piece reflects the technology of the times.

One thing which does strike a chord about the telephone, which could apply equally well to the internet, of course, is when he points out that telephones encourage people “to ring each other up instead of meeting each other.” He is speaking in particular of the clergy, but what he says applies just as much to society in general.

The internet especially can actually be very isolating. There is a cartoon (above) about Facebook and a Funeral. Facebook friends can well be, in many ways, virtual friends, and what appears to be close and friendly can in fact be a mirage. Social media can dupe us into believing we have relationships with people because the chatty way it is used suggests familiarity.

On the other hand, it does enable people to stay in touch at a distance – family and friends who are out of touch. My niece is in New Zealand, and she can Skype to her mother. I can Skype to my girlfriend. But this does not mean we do not meet, or that I do not meet other close friends on Facebook.

A chat over a coffee allows all the social cues and nuances that relationships need, and it is always nice to actually meet people who have previously just been friends on Facebook, in person, and talk to them.

The virtual community of the internet allows people to be in touch with each other, but it should not be a substitute for meeting people. That is always the danger inherent, that we lose the social skills which our grandparents and parents had.

Although it has allowed me to find what in the old days were called “pen friends” whom I email, and who email me back. That can be done much more easily with email than with the old means of letter writing, and more cheaply. I dare say that the Reverend Francis might approve.

To Start you Thinking – Postal Pampering
By the Reverend P. H. Francis

My mail is delivered to me twice daily. 1 do not need it delivered so frequently; and l certainly do not like having to pay for this unnecessary luxury, nor do I want to be pampered in this manner. Two deliveries a week for people living in the country, and three deliveries each week for townspeople, should be sufficient. If business firms want their letters more often they could collect it themselves from the Post Office on the other days.

The Post Office is encouraging us to live in a hand-to-mouth way, and we now feel uncomfortable if the postman does not call twice each day, and imagine we cannot do without being waited on in this fashion.

It is the same with telephones, which suit people who cannot think ahead. Few people need telephones, and they are a luxury for most. The government should refuse telephones to farmers, shopkeepers and clergy. Farmers do not need telephones.

Shopkeepers need them only because other shopkeepers have them; and if none of them had telephones, shoppers would be compelled to think ahead, and give proper orders, instead of ringing up for goods whenever they remembered they wanted them, and life would be much easier for shopkeepers.

Telephones are a nuisance to the clergy, and encourage parishioners and clergy to ring each other up instead of meeting each other.

If the chief of a business has a telephone on his desk, it probably shows he can't think ahead, and does not know what he will do next or what others will do; and that his business is inefficient, and run in a hand-to-mouth way.

The only people who need telephones are doctors, invalids, hospitals, fire brigades, police, and other similar people or organisations. A call box in each village or town should be sufficient for emergency calls by private individuals. Private people should not be allowed to have telephones, but if they must have them, should be made to pay heavily for the luxury.

It is no use complaining about high postal charges. Instead we should stop demanding luxuries, and the postal and telephone services could then be operated at one-tenth of the present cost, and in return we should find life would be much easier, and far less of a horrid rush and hurry.

John Seaford on Christmas

Here is a piece by John Seaford, Dean of Jersey, in 1996 from “The Pilot”. I’m not sure I entirely agree with it. During his time, John Seaford, though clearly very intelligent, often had a reputation as a “gloomy Dean”, and there’s a touch of that here when he considers a particular Church advertisement. Mind you, that particular advertisement does seem to have a touch of brash American evangelist rather than English restraint.

But I do like what he says about “ivory towers”!

John Seaford on Christmas
I know I have said it before, but one of the good things about Jersey is that secularism is not so advanced here as it is in the UK. The significance of Christmas is that, since that critical moment in Bethlehem nearly two thousand years ago, it is impossible to argue that religion is a fringe activity. No longer can we say that some aspect of creation and everyday life is irrelevant to the Kingdom of God and his elsewhere. eternal purpose. In Jersey, Church and community are not so divided as they are

The Christmas message is not that God is somehow present in all things, a holy gloss on life, but that all history, the story of mankind, is divinely significant. The fact that many people deny this, does not invalidate it. The fact that some people trivialise it, does not detract from it. The fact that some people ridicule it, is a cause for concern. Now, God does not need us to defend him, any more than he needed an army of angels to protect him, but there comes it time when the Church should put out positive statements to counteract any damage that may be done, intentionally or unintentionally.

That, I think, was the problem with the notorious Christmas poster produced by the Churches Advertising Network for this year, which you will probably not see in Jersey: indeed, you may not see it anywhere. It showed three grotesque green kings on i t purple background, with the text in bold orange letters: "Bad hair day'?! You're a virgin, you've just given birth and now three kings have shown up." If you look very closely, you may just notice a PostScript, in almost invisible tiny letters, which says, "Find out the happy ending at a church near you."

Apparently it was designed for people who do not normally go to church, especially young people. But it ridiculed the Christmas story, and did not have a clear positive message. Except for getting people talking, it was unlikely to do any good.

Maybe the message of "peace and goodwill to all men" has lost its impact, particularly in an increasingly confrontational and selfish community. But in an age when people are continuously calling for "them" to come down from their ivory towers and get involved with "us," to understand "our-" needs, meet "our" expectations, and solve more very relevant. "our" problems, the unchanging message of Christmas that "God is with us" is once more very relevant.

God cares, and Christmas in church is that supreme festive occasion when we can say, "Thank you!" and prove that we care too.

"Because of his boundless love Jesus became what we arethat he might make us what he is." (St Irenaeus)

Find out all about it at a church near you this month.

Mortality

Mortality

There is a knock, a sunset touch, so near;
And is there time to still know fear?
The veil is so close, and closer still:
A life so short, so much yet to fulfil,
An hourglass swiftly running out of sand;
A darkening sky, clouds across the land,
Bare trees, icy fingers, pointing in the night,
And the cold, cold days of winter’s blight;
It happens to us all, but not now, not here,
Rain pouring down, heavens weep, a tear;
Cold the stones, dragged, set, upon high place:
The portal in which to know death’s face;
And they remain, echoes, whispers of past,
Of ancient bones, crumbling, gone at last,
Wind, cold, seeping through flesh, slices,
Mourning ahead, adorn body with spices;
Night falls, the crimson blood red sun,
And now the race is over, barely run;
And the ending is ahead, so final, stark,
Prayers now and always, light the dark;
And silence comes, hush now, be still,
The moving pen lays down the quill.

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.

Electricity and Explosions in the Bailiwick of Guernsey

I’ve been looking at some stories in the Guernsey Press recently on Alderney and Sark.

Is the future for Alderney electrifying?
“A FRENCH tidal power project which would pave the way for a much larger scheme in Alderney waters moved a step closer yesterday. Manuel Valls, the French prime minister, announced that following a rigorous selection process, naval shipbuilding giant DCNS had been chosen to partner in the development of a pilot tidal turbine array off the coast of Normandy. ”

“The project will see the installation of seven tidal turbines in the Raz Blanchard which will stay there for 20 years. Alderney Renewable Energy, which is part-owned by Open Hydro, a DCNS company, wants to build a 150-turbine 300MW tidal array in the powerful currents of the Alderney Race by 2020. That project would also see a France to Alderney to Britain inter-connector installed under the Channel.”

This news about Alderney is most welcome – with the Island transport links already fragmented and the population in quite steep decline, Alderney needs some commercial incentives and a boost to the economy to draw people there.

If Alderney can benefit from tidal power, it may well also be in a position to sell power cheaply to the other Channel Islands, putting its economy on a firm footing, and perhaps being able to subsidise better transport links.

One of the comments on the Guernsey website was as follows:

“Good on Alderney for having the bottle to see a golden opportunity - shame guernsey politicials have done nothing but prevaricate over alternative power. A shame but what we've come to expect.”

In Jersey, the late Dan Murphy, Constable of Grouville, was Chair of the Tidal Steering Group, tasked with looking into energy from maritime resources. I don’t know what has happened to that since his death, but whatever has been going on has been so low key it could well have sunk without trace. Nothing has appeared in the media.

Here is surely an opportunity to become more self-sufficient and less dependent on a critical lifeline to France for our electricity, but since 2011, I can find no mention of “Jersey Tidal Group”. There is a January 2011 document entitled “Tidal Power for Jersey: The Next Steps”, but this seems to have turned into a dawdle, if not stationery.

Technology has moved on considerably since 2011, when it was deemed too expensive, and perhaps now is the time for a second look.

Explosive Times in Sark
“AT LEAST 60 German mines - a number of which are live and filled with explosives -were yesterday uncovered by bomb disposal experts in Sark. Two officers, Simon Hamon and Stuart Allan, have today been digging out the buried Second World War S-mines, found in a field near the Belair pub when they were ploughed over the day before. The number of mines, which each contain 360 ball bearings, remains unknown, as they continue to find more buried deeper. Pc Hamon said they had never come across such a large quantity of mines in one area - including around a dozen that were live.”

Isn’t it extraordinary that even today, nearly 70 years after the end of the Second World War, we are still finding mines or unexplosed shells in the Channel Islands

Of course, given the recent decision to close all the Barclay Brother’s hotels in Sark next year, this has prompted a flurry of comments:

Whispers from that bastion of truth the "Sark Newspaper" say these mines were planted by the Seigneur's stormtroopers in response to the recent hotel closures.

It`s a Barclay`s message, Sark`s MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, and the sooner you all realise that then the sooner we reopen Sark.

Throw them at Brecqhou.

Shouldn't Sark invite Mrs Merkel to send over a few disposal officers? I'm, not sure why Channel Islanders should take that risk on. "After all, Miss - THEY started it..."
(and maybe they could give Michael Beaumont a few tips on running a regime like 1930s Germany, while they were around?)
I wonder if the Barclay brothers have a sense of humour. The Barclay Brothers funded Sark Newspaper, which Private eye recently reports on, likens the Seigneur, Michael Beaumont to a Nazi ruler. Two recent examples will suffice:

“Most German civil servants were willing to accept and work with the new regime, which made a strong appeal to the nationalist, anti-democratic, authoritarian traditions of the service.” “Civil servants were prominent among those seeking to insure their positions and pensions by joining the Nazi Party.”* Sark’s civil servants are willing to accept and work with Michael Beaumont’s regime for the same reason.-

“With clear parallels to 1930’s Germany, Mr Beaumont and his feudal fundamentalist supporters dis- tort reality and manipulate the truth into lies and propaganda in order to discredit and criminalise people with opposing views as well as to persuade Islanders and the world at large that Sark’s par- ticular form of feudalism is merely a benign tradition and that the recent rounds of law reforms have given the People of Sark democracy - when these reforms in effect have enhanced the autocratic feu- dal lord’s already considerable powers.”

I wonder if anyone takes this nonsense seriously. In the normal course of events, it would probably be seen as the ravings of a political crank, but as it appears to be funded by the Barclay Brothers, it gets airtime, although none of this relentless diatribe ever finds its way into the more sober Barclay owned Daily Telegraph, Now isn’t that odd?

Taxes and the Compassionate Society

This posting was placed on Facebook:

"Have you ever thought how people would cope if it was not for tax payers? Thousands of people are paying their taxes this week in Jersey, me included and I was wondering how people would cope if it was not for tax payers........ nothing more.”

And another individual commented:

"We would all be much better off because we would not have government interfering in our lives, raising the price of everything, telling us what to do and how to do it. We could make our own arrangements which would better serve the community that the bureaucracy does presently."

I’m not sure where this is coming from, but I detect a strong emphasis on individualistic self-sufficiency with the corollary that those who are less well off should jolly well not scrounge off the State and get gainful employment, and should not be supported by taxes. Of course, this is not stated in any obvious means, but rather like dangling a line, the comments are surely intended to catch this particular fish.

Making one’s own arrangements – for private healthcare, education, housing etc – is a very individualistic and egocentric point of view. It also assumes that everyone is placed in society with the same kind of advantages and opportunities.

Rabbi Jason Rosenberg can see both the lure of this position, and its inherent weakness

“There is a natural, human tendency to favour those to whom we are the closest. We tend to take care of our own, and to be wary or afraid of “the other.” The mitzvah of welcoming the stranger is, in part, a counterbalance to this reflex. It reminds us that this person, whom I do not know is, among other things, a human being”

It is not clear where there is a place for those who, for no fault of their own, are orphaned, or handicapped, physically or mentally, or suffer a debilitating and progressive illness such as Alzheimer’s or multiple sclerosis, or have had, perhaps by accident, physical restrictions on mobility and the ability to do anything. Who cares for them?

As Rabbi Rosenberg comments:

“We are told over and over that we are obligated to protect the weak — the Bible commands us to protect the widow and the orphan, because those categories were the weakest, and the most vulnerable, in ancient society. By contrast, ‘They’re not my problem’ appears exactly never in our text.”

By contrast, in this brave new world of “making our own arrangements”, no consideration seems to have been given as to how those who are vulnerable can cope, those who can’t make their own arrangements - and when I raised the matter on Facebook, no reply was forthcoming.

It is fine to champion a kind of free-market lifestyle, with an option to opt out of taxes and into private welfare systems if you have the cash to do that, but some people – those vulnerable, and that may include women fleeing an abusive marriage with children – cannot easily cope without the State’s help. And that means taxes to pay for that help. That’s the price we pay for a compassionate society.

The Victorian method of dealing with poverty was to supply help – but make it so unattractive, so harsh and unpleasant, that they thought it would act as much as a deterrent as an act of charity. The workhouse segregated men and women so they could not breed. Life in a workhouse was intended to be harsh, to deter the able-bodied poor and to ensure that only the truly destitute would apply.

It was this attitude which so incensed Charles Dickens that he returned to it in several books. And of course, in particular, we see this in Scrooge, the self-made man, the person who grudgingly supports the workhouses with his taxes, and who sees poverty as a vice.

"At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."

"Are there no prisons?"

"Plenty of prisons..."

"And the Union workhouses." demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"

"Both very busy, sir..."

"Those who are badly off must go there."

"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."

"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

Traffic Congestion in Jersey

There are too many cars on Jersey’s roads, according to Transport Minister, Eddie Noel. The question is what to do about it.

Carrots and Sticks
In a study on transport management strategies, Todd Litman looks at the problems of overcrowded roads. One of the main problems which he highlights is that the consumer has little choice because the alternatives are so poor.

“Although consumers have many choices when it comes to purchasing a vehicle, they often have few alternatives to driving if they want to participate in common activities. In most North American communities walking and cycling conditions are poor, public transit is inferior, intercity bus and train service is infrequent and expensive. Employment, commercial, education and recreation centres are usually located for the convenience of motorists, which is often inconvenient for access by other modes. See for yourself -- try living without an automobile for a few weeks. This is not a problem in a few communities that offer good transportation choices, but in most areas non-drivers are severely disadvantaged”

This is much the same in Jersey. For instance, there is no bus service which enables the user to get from La Moye, for example, to the Jersey Bowls or Rugby Club or Garden Centre. The positioning of the hub system means that a user would either have to take two buses and walk some distance – the 12 and the 15, or use the central hub, and go into town, and take another bus out of time. Not only is this inconvenient in terms of times, it is also much more costly.

In terms of the economics of driving, Litman also points out that taking alternative forms of transport actually does not benefit the motorist much at all:

“Current pricing fails to return to individual motorists much of the savings that result when they reduce mileage. For example, commuters who shifts from driving to another mode usually reduce traffic congestion, parking requirements, accident risk (and therefore insurance costs) and environmental impacts, but these benefits would be widely dispersed rather than returned to the individuals who make the change.”

He suggest that in order to encourage people to give up driving so much, and take alternative forms of transport, there must be sufficient incentive to do so:

“When you make a transportation decision that reduces automobile use (for example, by riding transit, cycling, telecommuting or simply using a closer destination) you reduce external costs. Your neighbours benefit. An optimal market returns more of these benefits directly to you, increasing your incentive to choose the most efficient travel option for each trip. You would not give up all driving, but you would probably reduce some car travel to take advantage of these additional savings, just as many consumers respond to retail store sales and discount coupons.”

One alternative strategy is to suggest car sharing, but car sharing can also reduce the use of public transport, leading to more subsidies being required for that service. Nevertheless, some kind of car sharing would reduce transport costs, especially for commuters.

This is not, incidentally, the use of cars for payment, as in a taxi service, but commuters with spare capacity simply giving that capacity free of charge to neighbours, at regular times. This has been tried on social media, but not entirely successfully, because for it to work, you really need a proper central system whereby people can sign up to the times of their commutes and others can contact them.

Social media such as Facebook, with a tendency to lose entries down the history on the wall, is poorly suited for this purpose. What is needed, perhaps, is a system more like that set up a while back to allow users to send in pump petrol prices across the Island, and which could be sortable by journey locations and time.

Such facilities exist elsewhere – Litman calls them “rideshare matching” and he points out that an investment in such a database can reap benefits elsewhere – “These can provide financial savings to governments, businesses and consumers, as well as environmental benefits”

“Transportation management associations provide services such as rideshare matching, transit information, and parking coordination in a particular area, such as a commercial district or mall. This achieves more efficient use of resources and allows businesses of all sizes to participate in commute trip reduction programs.”

There is always a stick to bring, and as with London, one option is a congestion charge. The ability to recognise number plates is improving all the time:

“Congestion pricing is road pricing with higher fees during congested time periods to encourage shifts in route, time and mode. Such pricing is an effective ways to reduce traffic congestion and encourage use of alternative modes”

He also notes that land use and planning should feature in any transport strategy, and indeed building of estates is mainly driven by available sites, and little consideration is given to how close that is to modes of public transport; if it occurs, it is a lucky accident.

Planning and Structural Causes of Traffic Congestion
In Tayebeh Saghapour’s look at congestion in Iran, he comments that land use has a direct effect on congestion and the use of the motor car:

“Land use pattern has a significant influence on accessibility, the way different uses distribute in the city and neighbourhoods directly affect the decision, purpose of trips and type of travel pattern”

And Saghppurr also points out that this is in part a structural problem:

“Increasing car ownership led to the dispersion patterns of development in cities. In this pattern of land uses, residents had to make long trips for daily activities which significantly increased fuel consumption as well as car dependency. So, the distance between homes, works, schools and shopping centres affected on the length of trips, especially in low-density and widespread cities. That would also make people more dependent on private cars and less interested in walking or cycling trips. In most cities, the main structure of the city has been shaped to encourage people for using more private cars in comparison with other modes”

“In many cases, increasing the car ownership has encouraged residents to migrate to suburbs, in this way; they usually commuted between city centres and their living suburbs at least once a day. In fact, urban planning after World War II has been faced with a trend towards suburbs”

This suggests that whatever remedies can be put forward, part of the reason why they can only mitigate and not solve the problem of congestion is how the developments have fed off the motor car. Locations developed for housing have been profitable because they depend on the ability of the occupier to be able to use a motor vehicle.

The more salubrious suburban developments, and the rural developments in Jersey are themselves a planning structure which necessitates use of motor cars for the kind of lifestyle in which people now find themselves, in which work and shops may well be situated at some distance from dwellings.

This is something which has changed historically. The change of styles work, in which there are increasing pressures on time, and the increased demand of leisure time (which may be used, as well, for taking children to extra-curricular activities) has lead to a frenetic lifestyle, fast paced, and the kind of world in which people cycles from St Ouen, or walked into work from St Brelade, have long gone (and yes, I know of two people who did that, and they were not alone)

What can be done is for future planning to look for existing transport systems such as buses or cycle lanes close by to where the development takes place, or to consider extra bus stops if a bus goes close to a new development.

We cannot reverse the effect of planning decisions of the past with a legacy of migration away to rural locations, but we can ensure that future planning takes into account the existing public transport as part of the planning process, and at least not add to the problems.

Conclusion
The number of cars in Jersey has grown with the number of people, so that what was once only a problem during summer months (in the tourism boom years) now occurs all year around. As the population grows, whether internally or from immigration, the number of cars is set to increase.

Part of the problem, which effects all urban spaces with a commuter belt of suburban and rural housing feeding into it, is a legacy of structures of the past. This means that there is little if no public transport readily available or economically available at appropriate times of day - both work, and in evenings. This acts as a disincentive to use the car – after all, if you have various fixed costs – insurance, service etc every year, it makes sense to use it sometimes for convenience, in less accessible locations, by necessity.

Some kind of investment in rideshare either by setting up associations, or by providing such groups with suitable database functions would help curb congestion. At the moment, there is I believe one Facebook group, but it is ad hoc, and not well structured. 

Proper investment of time and effort is needed, but the rewards in terms of lessening cars on the road could be significant. Rideshare depends to a degree on altruism, but I suspect sufficient altruism is there – it just has not got the proper support structure to work properly.

And finally, technology suggests that a congestion charge might well have an effect. It may not diminish the traffic, but it may spread the times of commuters, and would also provide a greater incentive for rideshare schemes, especially if those could be offset against such a charge.

References
Win-Win Transportation Management Strategies: Cooperation for Economic, Social and Environmental Benefits. Todd Litman, Journal of Business Administration and Policy Analysis, 1999

Achievement of Sustainable Transportation through Land-Use Mix at Local Level: Case Studies of Two Urban Districts in Shiraz City, Iran. Tayebeh Saghapour, Journal of Sustainable Development, 2013

Sir Robert Le Masurier

The painting by Norman Hebblow shows Sir Robert Le Masurier (1913–1996), Bailiff of Jersey (1962–1974).

In 1966, he was interviewed by Jersey Topic, and here is that interview.

Sir Robert Le Masurier

If it is a bright sunny day, no matter what time of year, you will find that Jersey's Bailiff, Mr. Robert H. Le Masurier, D.S.C., will walk the long way home from his chambers in Royal Square to his comfortable house in Green Street-via the Harbour and Mount Bingham. This gives him a chance to look at the boats at anchor and particularly at his own new ten-ton sloop Broad Axe.

He jokes about his great love for the sea. It has been said of me that I carry a picture of my boat with me instead of my wife and children" he says. "They never add what I think is really important-that it's a coloured picture!"

He called his sloop Broad Axe for a variety of reasons. The main one was that there was once a schooner called Broad Axe that first appeared in Jersey waters about 1799. As a former Commodore of the St. Helier Yacht Club, the burgee of which has the crossed-axe motif of the Coat of Arms of the Fish of St. Helier, the Parish in which he was born, he felt it to be an appropriate name.

The salt in his veins goes back to his ancestors. His grandfather was a ship's carpenter who eventually settled in Peru and his own father was born out there. The family returned to Jersey because of the outbreak of the Peruvian-Chile war.

"Grandfather only managed to stick this out for a short time before getting the urge to wander again. One day he left home - and was never heard of again. My grandmother was left with a large family to bring up and she did this remarkably well".

His father, William Smythe le Masurier, later became one of the most respected lawyers in Jersey as well as a Deputy in the States for nearly 30 years.

The Bailiff has inherited, along with his love of the sea, a pair of carpenter's hands. In the tool shed at the bottom of his well-tended garden, stacked with neat rows of chisels and saws, he relaxes from the cares of being Bailiff by making things. Typically, nearly everything he makes is for the boat.

"Every time I see the two drawers from a kitchen dresser that I promised to mend two years ago I feel guilty" he says.

He has a reputation in Jersey for a sharp, and at times, cutting wit. And you can see this in his eyes. Even when he is being serious - which is much of the time - you somehow feel that any minute he is going to break into his jolly, hearty laugh.

For in truth he is a jolly man. He is like this when he recalls the part he played in the last war, when he won a D.S.C. This he utterly refuses to be serious about. He sums up his war career in these words: "I started as a sub-lieutenant on a paddle boat called the Gracie Fields, which was an Isle of Wight ferry boat and which was being used as a mine sweeper in the Straits of Dover. I was given command of a converted fishing trawler and, until February 1944, operated mostly in the North Sea.. During all that time I swept about 13 mines."

He added: That was the unpleasant part. But I also met my wife - and for this I am grateful."

His meeting with his charming wife Helen was a remarkable coincidence. He had known her before because she had been nanny to his sister's children in 1934. He lost touch with her until 1940, when both happened to find themselves in Lowestoft, he on the way from Scapa Flo to Dunkirk, which he never reached, and she in the Signals Division of the W.R.N.S. "I signed the receipt for a signal which provoked from the Wren on signal duty the question Are you Bob from Jersey?' " A year later they were married.

They have three children-Susan (23), an assistant Almoner at a Bristol hospital, Martin (20) reading law at Southampton University and Marianne (18) a pupil at the Jersey College for Girls who is waiting to go to England to study to be a physical training instructor.

He has a seafaring man's taste for a drink now and then and in true Royal Navy tradition prefers gin to anything. It was this liking for the odd drink that saved his life. On returning home from leave, on one occasion, he met a friend at the dockyard gate who suggested a drink on his own ship. As they were boarding it a bomb fell at the head of the gangway of the Bailiff's ship which was lying on the opposite side of the dock.

"Had I been a teetotaller I would not be here today" he says.

Being Bailiff has changed his attitude to life very little. He has always hated pomposity and humbug. A friend of his told me: "Because he is Bailiff does not stop him diving overboard from a boat in his underpants to free a fouled propellor". I once overtook him riding his daughter's bicycle up Mount Bingham with one trouser stuffed into his sock. He had picked the bicycle up from a repair shop and it seemed quite the normal thing to ride it home.

However, being Bailiff has changed his home life and he regrets that, because of the heavy social functions, he now sees so little of his friends. When he does have time to relax, he loves being at home where he enjoys television - Z Cars is his favourite programme - and he reads a great deal.

"Mostly historical biographies" he says. He is fascinated by the life of Peter the Great and by Russia in particular. He visited the country in 1938 and would like to go back-"to see how it's changed".

I believe Jersey is privileged to have this man as Bailiff in that his greatest attributes are honesty and integrity. He also has an immense amount of charm to carry off his candour without offending people. These make an ideal combination to take on what is perhaps the most difficult job in Jersey.