The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - June 1953 Part 1

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - June 1953 Part 1

1.—Coronation Cavalcade opens at The Forum, Evelyn Laye and Leslie Sarony topping the bill.

2.—Coronation Day a memorable one in Jersey : The morning celebrations began with: a. parade through the town by the band of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps ; in the afternoon an Elizabethan fete was staged in the Howard Davis Park, Whilst in the evening a fine cavalcade paraded the town, the theme being mainly historical ; the day concluded with a grand display of fireworks from the Albert Pier at 10.30; most of the principal streets had been decorated and presented a magnificent appearance; the parochial authorities had arranged teas and games for the youngsters at various locales and these were much enjoyed; the weather was fine, though a cold wind prevailed. ’

4. An unusual “seller” on the ’Bridge- this morning was the Rector of Trinity, who having received some 40 barrels of potatoes in aid of the church restoration fund, sold these- at 4/’— above- the ruling figure. Inquest opened and adjourned on the body of 74-year-old Mr. T. R. Gibbs, who died- following a motor cycling accident at First Tower. J.MC. and L.C.C. second scramble of season held at Blanches Banques.

5.—The Coronation arch near the Town. Hall, erected by the parish, suddenly catches fire- and is largely destroyed.

6.—Central A.B.C. beat St. Servan in tournament held at Springfield. .

7.—Annual Corpus Christi procession through the streets of St. Helier.

8:—Before the Police Court today David Jack Proper (20) was charged with the manslaughter of Thomas Richard Gibbs, who died from injuries received after being knocked down by a motor cycle ridden by the accused, who was remanded on bail. Two robberies reported over the week-end, one at First Tower involving nearly £60 in cash and the other at the Gunsite Café, Beaumont, where only a few shillings and chocolate were taken;

9.—Special sitting of States unanimously votes £150,000 as Jersey’s contribution to Britain’s defence effort ; the sum of £30,000 was granted the Housing Committee for the construction of States houses at the Troglodyte Caves, Five Oaks; £1,000 was also granted the Beautés Naturelles Committee for the provision of a suitable dumping site: new rates at the institutions were agreed upon ; the free import of eggs was permitted. A stoppage of work occurred at the Ann Street Brewery at midday, but at 2.30 the men returned, the company having agreed to their demands. At the Jersey College for Girls, Miss E. G. Barton, former headmistress, unveils teak bench in commemoration of the Coronation.

11.—Verdict of accidental death recorded an; inquest held on the body of Mr. Richard Sagar, who died from injuries received through a fall into a soakaway on which he was working at his property, Isla Villa, Five Oaks. Government House levé in honour of the birthday of Her Majesty, the weather being ideal for the occasion. R.J.A. and HS. flower show held in Howard Davis Park.

12.Serious accident occurs at the Gas Works, an oil drum which was being cut exploding and causing multiple injuries to Mr. Harold Marie, an employee. The Rev. T. E. Fowler instituted as Incumbent .of St. Paul's Church.

13.—Serious motor cycling accident at St. Ouen’s, 29-year-old Mr. Frank Carré (who was to have emigrated to new Zealand shortly) sustaining a fractured spine when his machine overturns.

14. Underwater Fishing Club commences activities, thirty members “diving ” at Beauport.

15. Large audience at Springfield Theatre when the Elizabethan Singers, with Denis Matthews (pianist) give enjoyable concert. Victoria College defeats Forest School by 36 runs in match played at College Field. .

We are working on that: Kirsten Morel at the Chamber Lunch

"We are working on that..."

Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Dep. Kirsten Morel – keynote speech on the future direction of the economy gave a talk, mainly of platitudes.

There is a demographic challenge, and one way to solve the dependency ratio would be a population of 150,000. Of course that would mean - as the Minister said - the same problem as immigrants aged would be passed onto the next generation as they got older, and the strain on the Island infrastructure would be at breaking point - it's not viable.

At last a politician who understood that increasing population to deal with dependency ratios is effectively a population Ponzi type scheme.

However, from that point on, matters got fuzzy. A nice visual chart showed current productivity (of course as he later admitted, there is no way to measure this!), and on another line population. As he pulled up the productivity line, the 150,000 line moved down. What fun he must have had with that chart!

So the solution (according to the Minister) is each worker must increase productivity by at least  7.5. A nice figure plucked out of nowhere. Quite how a taxi driver or a brick layer or a waiter is to be more productive is another matter, especially as the Minister made it clear it would not involve increasing working hours.

And then the Minister said the hospitality industry has shown massive increases in productivity in recent years! What planet is he living on? Shops and restaurants are closing or operating at reduced hours or days because of a lack of staff. The area near the Radisson had been described as a "ghost town" as so many businesses have closed. Increased cost of supplies mean that some fish and chip shops are on the brink of closing - what on earth does "increased productivity" mean in that context? 

How can hospitality staff be "more productive"? Employing "Billy Whizz" would seem to be the only way, but unfortunately for the Minister, Billy is a fictional character from the Beano.

When I spoke to an acquaintance, he said that statement by the Minister was probably due to the way they were measuring productivity. But it turned out there was as the Minister, when questioned said there was a "a lack of data" in knowing how things are doing.

The model for productivity is clearly an office environment, where tasks can be done in more efficient ways, or better alternatives found (AI anyone?) and yet it is being applied to every worker. 

The issue of childcare came up, as it is needed to get more women back (and productive!!!) in the workplace - but the childcare providers can't because of the way their business is coded for immigration, bring in skilled workers - and there are not enough here to go around. What was the Minister going to do about it. Look into it....

The only concrete proposal was to turn grants into loans if students don't return for five years to work in Jersey. I think that's far too long. Someone specialising in medicine will probably need extra training in the UK, especially if having qualified as a doctor, they want to be a surgeon or a vet. A one year stay in Jersey would make more sense. Many students take a year out - a "sabbatical" before starting a degree course. Making this a mandatory year afterwards would not be such a great inconvenience and they may even stay.

In conclusion, a speech by Kirsten Morel which would have made Jim Hacker (of Yes Minister) proud. A lot was said, but there was very little in the way of concrete substance or examples.

No wonder Murray Norton rather brutally said "To be honest, Minister, your talk lacked focus". Brutal, but what most of us were thinking.

The Incinerator

One from the back catalogue today, first written in 2014. A soliloquy that is a pastiche of William Shakespeare's "All the World's A Stage".This is about our wasteful society.

The Incinerator

All the world's a tip
And all the men and women merely dumpers;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time fills many bins,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Using many thousand disposable nappies
And then the whining school-boy, with his crisps
And coke cans dumped, dropping his chewing gum
On the roads to school. And then the lover,
Leaving pizza boxes and discarded beer cans
Drunk with his girl. Then a driver,
With gas guzzling cars, cigarette smoked at speed
Thoughtlessly thrown onto pavements as he goes
Even in the road sweeper's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
And dustbins full of empty vintage wine bottles
Full from Vin d'Honneurs and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the obese and slipper'd pantaloon,
Leaving dog mess on green paths as it has always done
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too short
For his vast shank; and his big manly voice,
Lost in grunts as he sits on the sofa, eats
And channel hops the day away. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is house clearance to incinerator of lifetime junk
False teeth, contact lenses, moth balls, and everything
Excepting the deceased, burnt himself elsewhere.

New Boy at College House

From The Victorian 1974, an account of what it was like to be a boarder at Victoria College. I remember boarders from this period, although by my time, most boys were day students. College House was also used for school dinners, and I had a year of those. You would assemble outside the entrance door at lunchtime, file in, and sit at tables. Food would be some kind of meat (I could never really identify it), vegetables and potatoes, followed by a desert - the only one I recall was prunes (which you did Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Richman, Poorman... with the stones, and usually covered in custard, a thick, glutinous mass ladled onto the plate. 

As soon as I could persuade my parents, I moved to packed lunches where you could sit outside in the College grounds. 

At the school lunches, however, a master would usually be on one table, and I invariably ended up on that table. I remember Colonel Finch (mentioned below), who had a great bald dome of a head which would go red when he was angry, usually when boys misbehaved, but I always found him interesting to talk to - he was keen to know about how well I was doing in mathematics, and when I came 2nd in the whole year's exams, just missing a prize, he gave me an old fashioned, beatifully crafted, geometry set in a case. A kind man.

NEW BOY AT COLLEGE HOUSE by M.S.C.S.

During the Christmas term my parents left the island for some weeks and I became a new boy at College House at the age of eighteen. The oaken main-doors swung open to reveal hallowed flag- stones . . . or does that sound too much like Frank Richards ?

In fact any preconceived misconceptions I may have nurtured of a Greyfriars-like community isolated from the nineteen seventies by a haze of fagging and midnight feasting were indeed pre-conceived misconceptions. The true picture which emerged was one of a moderately progressive and very sound home from home for about forty boys.

The day at College House starts at 7.30 with a morning call by some sadistic first-former armed with a hand bell. This leaves one ample time to wash, dress and tidy up the dormitory before breakfast at eight o’clock. In practice I, together with the rest of my dormitory, perfected the ability to rise at 7.56 and still arrive in the dining room in a punctual if dishevelled manner.

Breakfast, like other meal-times at the House strikes a curious balance between formality and the feeding of a shoal of piranha fish. My awesome prefectorial status was never more tested than when it came to acrimonious disputes about the distribution of cornflakes. In fairness I must say that politeness usually overcame young appetites. Lunch was also an amusing interlude, as the various religious taboos of the Commonwealth boarders strained the most efficient meal plans.

I should add, just in case anybody is taking this article seriously, that the cooking and other service facilities at College House are of the highest possible standard. Furthermore, the guidances of the Finch and Buckland families and of Mrs. Causton, the Matron, were always most efficient and sympathetic. This is a very important factor when one considers that many of the junior boys are children away from their parents for the first time.

In the evening after tea the juniors attend a supervised prep. period whilst the College House prefects—in effect the sixth formers—disappear to their clandestine holes to study. The homework of these senior boys is not rigidly supervised but by this stage in one’s school career one allegedly has a certain self-discipline anyway. Thus despite sharing a study with an insane Welshman cum hi-fi unit I found myself working far better than I do at home. This, together perhaps with the feudal seating arrangements of the T.V. room, highlights the greatest gift that College House gives to its inmates. The system of respect and mutual dependence generate a spirit of independence and strength in the boys.

M.S.C.S.

The Chimes at Midnight

A poem reflecting on key moments in the Orson Welles masterpiece, which has recently been shown again on "Talking Pictures". I saw it years ago, and watched it again, and as amazed and in awe of it now as I was then. Shakespeare's words, but from five plays, and so visually cinematic. The Battle of Shrewsbury is still once of the most amazing sequences I have ever seen, and without all the modern CGI effects, just wonderful editing and camera work.

As one reviewer said: "Orson Welles’ adaptation of both parts of Henry IV (incorporating bits of Richard II, Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor, some Welles and Ralph Richardson’s narration of Holinshed’s Chronicles) was made under near-impossible conditions yet remains arguably the best screen adaptation of Shakespeare."

The Chimes at Midnight

We have heard the Chimes at Midnight
Say Falstaff now to Master Shallow
The Battle of Shrewsbury, such a fight
Arrows rain down, lances death blow

Mistress Quickly fusses in great hall
Prepares the flagon, fulsome sack
Falstaff holds court, mirthful sprawl
Laughs with Hal, falls on his back

The new King Hal arises on his throne
Banishes Falstaff, old man, go home
In stature as a monarch, he has grown
No more the wastrel set to roam

Falstaff is dead, Justice Shallow’s reedy cry
Losing Merrie England, breath left with a sigh

Everything You Wanted To Know About The Victorian But Were Afraid To Ask

From "The Victorian", 1974, comes this piece by "J.W.W.C", whom I can remember as the initials were quite unusual, as was his name - John White Winter Cousins. We were in the same class for a number of subjects, and I remember his younger brother, Bruce Cousins. Although neither had a Scottish accent, I recall (although I don't know how accurately) that his mother did have. A search of Companies House shows that he had moved to the UK, living in Bedforshire, and was for a time a director of a company there. Being my age, he's probably retired now!

Also mentioned here is Derek Cottrill, who wrote a history of Victoria College, and who was my history teacher, and gave me the nickname "Fred", which I had during my time at school. He read as chapters of Macauley about the "Black Hole of Calcutta", and also I remember gave as a remarkably good rendering of "Hearts of Oak". He later became a clergyman in the UK.

Also Spencer Prior, who I think was a year or two above me at school, William Sutton, and Alan Dart, about whom I recall nothing.

BTW: I'm looking to borrow old copies of "The Victorian" from the 1960s to the 1980s if anyone has them.

"Everything You Wanted To Know About The Victorian But Were Afraid To Ask

Seven of us now serve on “ The Victorian ” staff, excluding our most highly esteemed General Editor, Mr. Cottrill, a man in far too lofty a position to be considered a mere member, So it is under his eagle eye and persuasive guidance that we gather every Friday afternoon in Room Two to work industriously at our respective duties. Our aim, of course, is to produce a magazine covering school events, highlighting its achievements and forgetting its disasters.

The most exasperating and sometimes almost impossible problem to overcome in producing the magazine is the collection of material from the staff and other members ’of the school. House reports and other articles requiring inside knowledge cannot be written by outsiders like ourselves.

However, we are taking steps to remedy this and A. O. Dart, our activities correspondent, at high risks to himself (even threatening to jump on to backs of departing coaches if need be) is bravely taking part in many activities to gain a better insight into topics such as Marine Biology and Island Field Studies. Once all this information has been gathered, deciphered, and in many cases neatly rewritten, it is sent to the school office to be typed out. At all stages grammar, punctuation and spelling are supposed to be checked and corrected if necessary, and the articles are constantly re-read to try to ensure a flowing piece of prose, even if it is positively boring.

The business side of the magazine depends upon the prowess of W. Sutton and S. Pryor, who realise that the very existence of “ The Victorian ” relies upon their financial expertise. Prepared to walk the length of the town come rain or shine, they maintain good relations with businesses whose advertisements probably provide the only glamour throughout forty-odd pages. But this is not all ! It is they who have set up a means of communication with the printers, and during the actual printing make certain that the material is printed in the correct order, and that no intended articles are excluded or indeed any alien material from “ Playboy ” erroneously inserted.

There comes a time when all, the articles and advertisements are in order for publication. By now everything has been at least triple-checked and we know the contents so well that we are able to recite them in our sleep. All is in readiness for the sifting of suitable from unsuitable material and as the staff are a democratic society we have little, or nothing if we wish to remain in favour with the General Editor, to say in what goes into the magazine and what goes into the rubbish basket (and there’s precious little of that).

So the coveted task is left to Mr. Cottrill, overjoyed at seeing so much written work at one time. Once the order for printing has been decided upon, the material is transferred to the printers with much hesitation and left in their hands. Proof reading in pencil the occasional printers’ inadvertent howlers which would look in some cases better left as they are. The abbreviation J .R.A. was printed as I.R.A. in the COP. section, a slip that could have caused many surprised and angry eyebrows to be lifted. Then with our fingers crossed, and the General Editor desperately trying to retain his composure, the proofs are returned to the printers.

All that remains is the laborius distribution to the Old Victorians and the School. Fortunately for us the envelopes for magazines requinng postage to the Antarctic and Inner' Mongolia are pre- addressed, which means we have only to package them. This process is carried out one Friday after- noon with the aid of a few conscripted extras in a spacious room with such alarming haste that I shudder to think in how many parts the final dog-cared copies arrive. The remaining issues are distributed around the school within the next few months. Naturally many duller but important details have been omitted from this account, such as how to make an inconspicuous profit on each issue, and the electric tension between M. Camus-Smith and the General Editor. Under the present management no fatal calamities have occurred, such as a libel suit or embezzlement of the funds.

J.W.W.C.

Tom’s Midnight Garden

Having watched the superb and faithful 1989 BBC Children's serial "Tom's Midnight Garden", and also re-reading the book, I thought this would be a good subject for a poem.

Tom’s Midnight Garden

Chimes at midnight, the clock strikes wrong
Striking thirteen, hour that never could be
The door opens, in the sunshine, birdsong
And the lovely garden there to see

Midnight again, and Tom opens the door
Hattie, the lonely girl who could see him
Friendship across time’s distant shore
An orphan girl, her life once made grim

Winter snow and the frozen river is nearby
Tom and Hattie skating so very far today
Ely Cathedral, in the Fens, rises in the sky
And the way home, fading, all gone away

Time no longer: the clock angel speaks the truth
Present: old Hattie now greets Tom, the youth

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - May 1953 Part 2

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - May 1953 Part 2

16.—Before the Full Court to-day, Peter Trevor Shipley Fowler, charged with theft and conversion, is sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Crowd of 3,000 spectators see Lincoln City defeat the Saturday Football League- 1-0 at Springfield.

17.—Open-air service held at Springfield in connection with Empire Youth Sunday, His Excellency taking the salute.

19.—Special sitting of States discusses the electricity report, there being strong criticism of the company’s administration; eventually an amendment by Deputy C. Le Marquand charging the Finance Committee to review the present composition of the board of directors was carried by 39 votes to 9; it was announced that the Coronation Gardens at Millbrook would be handed over to the Island together with a sum of £7,500 for its maintenance; the Finance Committee replied to the recent petition of the Electrical Traders’ Association ; a number of questions on the drainage scheme were put and answered and a number of minor matters dealt with or lodged. Inquest opened and adjourned for further inquiries on the skeleton found on the Cotil a Geon, St. Peter’s, believed to be that of a French farm labourer missing since September 14th, 1946.

21—Island spring cattle show held at Springfield. Mr. J. C. Du Feu's aged cow Victor’s Desdemona winning the senior championship : in the evening the annual R.J.A. and HS. dinner was held at the Merton Hotel.

23.—Before the Full Court today Mr. P. A. H. Valpy was sworn in as advocate. Honfleur A.B.C. beat St. Helier boxers in tournament at Springfield which was marred by many delays.

24.—The first visiting band of the season, the famous Black Dyke Mills, gives opening performances over the week-end at Government House, Howard Davis Park and The Parade.

25.—Ideal weather attends the holiday, beaches and parks being crowded ; 3,309 passengers arrived by air over the three days Saturday to Monday while 1,500 came by sea; the J.M.C. and L.C.C. staged a hill climb at Bouley Bay ; a number of motoring accidents were recorded, one of a serious nature; a busy week-end was experienced on the potato market, supply and demand both being good.

26.—Victoria College Cadet Force ceremonial parade held at College Field, His Excellency inspecting the contingent. Serious motor cycling accident near Rozel Manor, a mother and three young children being run into by the motor cyclist, the mother and one child was injured, the others suffering from shock.

27.—Les Creux Cottage, a bungalow overlooking St. Brelade’s Bay, gutted by fire in the absence of its occupants.

30.—Jersey Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting, it being announced that expenditure exceeded income in a heavy year.

31.—Annual race to the Minquiers for cruising yachts, Girl Joyce winning the event.

Dartmoor

Dartmoor

Passing the ponies, grazing on the land
As along the winding road we go
Our journey sure, our journey planned
To Widecombe from Plymouth Hoe

Mist on the tor, comes creeping low
Icy fingers are reaching out
And we cannot see, we travel slow
Our journey now is cast in doubt

Moonlight over the hills, roars a sound
Chills the blood, and gives a fright
For it is the baying of a ghostly hound
Across Grimpen Mire, in dead of night

I love this moor, and its tales so old
Where only the bravest venture bold

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - May 1953 Part 1

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - May 1953 Part 1

1.—Big entry for the Three—parish spring show of cattle held at St-

Ouen, weather conditions somewhat marring the event. Annual meeting of J.S.P.C.A., an overdraft of nearly £3,000 being shown.

2.—Verdict of suicide recorded at inquest held on the body of 63 year-old Mr. E. E. Millow, found with his throat cut at his residence in New Street.

3.—Outbreak of fire at Messrs. Le Riché’s Stores, Colomberie, a quantity of stock being destroyed.

4.—Two spring cattle shows, that of St. Helier Agricultural Society at Springfield and St. Clement's at Samares Manor.

5.—Jersey Gleemen hold annual spring concert at The Plaza Ballroom, the guest artiste being Ada Alsop. First annual meeting of the Sub-Aqua Club of Jersey. St John and St. Lawrence combined cattle show held at Midlands, St. Lawrence. ,

6.—Trinity and St. Martin cattle show, this taking place near Bouley Bay.

7.—A case of anthrax reported at Mr. C. Le Gallais‘s farm, Roselands, St. Saviour. Biggest number of entries for 24 years at St. Brelade’s cattle show, held near the Red Houses. '

8.—H.E. the Lieut-Governor attends final rendezvous of season of the British Legion.

9.—Island Thanksgiving service held in the Howard Davis Park on the occasion of Liberation Day anniversary; in the afternoon the Island team played the British Army XI at Springfield, the score being 3-2 in favour of the Island; at Blanches Banques the J.M.C. and L.C.C. staged a motor cycle scramble.

11.—The States Fire Service experience a busy weekend, being called upon to deal with a blazing yacht in St. Helier Harbour and to a serious outbreak in a garage at St. Clement’s in which was stored some 300 to 400 tons of waste paper; in. addition there were three furze fires, including a fairly severe outbreak on Ouaisné Common. Inquest opened and adjourned sine die on the body found on the beach at La Rocque and thought to be that of a Frenchman. Jersey Green Room Club present “1066—And All That” at Springfield Theatre. Sitting of Ecclesiastical Court grants facilities to Trinity Church and St. Luke’s; church officers were also sworn in.

12,—Verdict of suicide returned at inquest on the body of Mrs. I. G. Kent, a. patient at St. Saviour’s Hospital, who was found hanged in her room. St. Saviour and Grouville cattle show takes place in glorious weather, the beater being seen on this occasion.

13.—St. Helier parish assembly discusses derelict sites in the town; it was decided to negotiate on the one at Devonshire Place, while the Colomberie question was referred to the States; a subcommittee was set up to go into the question of translating and adding to the inscription on the Le Sueur Monument.

14.—The Lord Bishop of Southampton consecrates new cemetery at St. Martin’s and Macpela at St. John’s.

15.—At the Hospital Chapel,.the Bishop of Southampton dedicated a lectern, altar and ornaments, H.E. the Lieut.-Governor and the Bailiff being present.

St Helier - Discrepancies in a Healing Narrative

A few historical markers.

Saint Helier's dates are vague to say the least, but if he didn't die around 555 AD, we can at least take it as likely that he dates from around the 6th century (501-601 AD).

Dating the Normans is easier as the historical record is on firmer ground. We know they were Vikings who settled in Northwest France in the 10th and 11th centuries, and gave their name to the duchy of Normandy, a territory ruled by a duke that grew out of a 911 treaty between King Charles III of West Francia and Rollo, the leader of the Vikings. The rate of Scandinavian colonization can be seen in the Norman toponymy and in the changes in popular family names.

According to the legend, Helier is recorded as performing one healing miracle in Jersey, curing a lame man named Anquetil.

Now we have an issue with chronology. Anquetil is a Norman surname, from Old Norse Ásketill, combination of as "god" and ketill "cauldron"

The earliest mention of the name in Jersey is in the Assize Roll of 1309. Jordan Anquetil (born about 1433) is, however, the earliest member of the family from whom a continuous descent has been traced. One Anquetil is listed in the Jersey Chantry Certificate of 1550. Not all Anquetils in Jersey can trace their ancestry back this far, however, because there were further immigrants from France in the 18th century. The surname is very common in Normandy.

We do have another time in our timeline. The Life of Saint Helier was written in, or after the 10th century, when Normandy existed. As Balleine noted, prior to 911 part of that domain under the Franks was called Neustria, not Normandy. The Life only knows of Normandy, not of Neustria (the kingdom when Helier would have supposedly been alive.

It is easy to see why the Life should include the name Anquetil in a healing story, but that name was not extant in Normandy and Jersey until after the settlement of Normandy. Even allowing for a hundred years before the treaty of 911, that is still two hundred years adrift.

In conclusion, this is yet another example of the fictional nature of the Life of St Helier.


References
https://www.viking.no/e/france/family-names.html

Proposal for a two-site hospital building to replace a one-site building:

This is an outline of what the Government will need to do.

Executive Summary:

The purpose of this proposal is to outline the plan for establishing a two-site hospital building to replace the existing one-site facility. The proposed two-site model aims to enhance patient care, improve accessibility, and optimize operational efficiency. This expansion will allow the hospital to serve a larger population while providing specialized services at each site. The following sections detail the key aspects of the proposal:

Rationale:

The existing one-site hospital is facing capacity constraints, increased patient demand, and limited physical space for future growth. By transitioning to a two-site model, the hospital can decentralize services, provide localized care, and better cater to the needs of different patient populations across multiple regions.

Facility Design:

a. Comprehensive Planning: Develop a master plan for each site, considering factors like hospital size, specialty services, outpatient facilities, emergency departments, surgical suites, diagnostic imaging, laboratories, administrative offices, and support services. Ensure the design aligns with modern healthcare standards, safety regulations, and future scalability.

b. Specialized Services: Allocate specific departments and specialized services to each site based on community needs and existing medical expertise. This approach allows for streamlined operations, better resource allocation, and the creation of centers of excellence in different areas of healthcare.

c. Information Technology Integration: Implement an integrated electronic health record system across both sites to enable seamless patient information sharing, coordination of care, and efficient communication between healthcare professionals. This will facilitate continuity of care and improve patient outcomes.

Infrastructure and Resources:

a. Construction: Develop a detailed construction plan for each site, including architectural design, engineering specifications, construction timeline, and budget estimation. Ensure adherence to local regulations and environmental sustainability practices.

b. Medical Equipment and Supplies: Procure state-of-the-art medical equipment, diagnostic tools, and supplies necessary for each site's specialty services. Collaborate with vendors, suppliers, and medical professionals to ensure the availability of essential resources for high-quality patient care.

c. Staffing and Workforce: Evaluate staffing needs based on the expanded services and ensure adequate recruitment, training, and allocation of healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, technicians, and administrative staff. Promote interdisciplinary collaboration and communication between the two sites.

Transition Plan:

Develop a comprehensive transition strategy to minimize disruption to patient care during the relocation process. Consider phased relocation of departments, efficient transfer of medical records, clear communication with patients, and coordination with local healthcare providers to ensure a smooth transition.

Financial Considerations:

Conduct a thorough financial analysis, including cost estimation for construction, equipment acquisition, operational expenses, and potential revenue streams. Explore funding options, such as government grants, loans, philanthropic donations, or public-private partnerships. Perform a cost-benefit analysis to demonstrate the long-term financial viability and return on investment of the two-site model.

Stakeholder Engagement:

Engage with various stakeholders, including hospital staff, patients, local communities, government entities, and healthcare organizations, to gather input, address concerns, and build support for the project. Create an open communication channel to ensure transparency and collaboration throughout the implementation process.

Timeline:

Develop a detailed timeline that encompasses the various stages of the project, including site selection, planning, design, construction, recruitment, equipment procurement, transition, and inauguration. Ensure realistic milestones and account for potential contingencies.

Evaluation and Monitoring:

Establish a framework for ongoing evaluation and monitoring of the two-site hospital model to ensure its effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. Key considerations include:

a. Performance Metrics: Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of the two-site model. This may include metrics such as patient satisfaction, wait times, clinical outcomes, financial performance, staff productivity, and community feedback. Regularly analyze and report on these metrics to track progress.

b. Quality Assurance: Implement quality assurance programs and regular audits to maintain high standards of care across both sites. Conduct periodic reviews of clinical protocols, safety procedures, and operational workflows to identify areas for optimization.

c. Feedback Mechanisms: Establish feedback channels to gather input from patients, staff, and stakeholders regarding their experiences and suggestions for improvement. Use this feedback to drive continuous quality improvement initiatives and address any concerns in a timely manner.

d. Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing: Foster collaboration and knowledge sharing between the two sites to leverage best practices, share research findings, and enhance clinical expertise. Encourage multidisciplinary meetings, teleconferences, and professional development opportunities to facilitate collaboration and continuous learning.

Conclusion:

The establishment of a two-site hospital building offers numerous benefits, including enhanced patient care, improved accessibility, and optimized operational efficiency. By carefully planning the site selection, facility design, infrastructure, staffing, transition process, and ongoing evaluation, the hospital can successfully implement this expansion and provide high-quality healthcare services to a larger population.

Hunchback

This poem is one from the back-catalogue, from 25th April 2005. I was suffering from severe back pain around that time.

Hunchback

Broken, twisted form in pain

Every effort for him a strain

Bent with a crippling illness

Such is not a sight to impress

People turn, avert their gaze

But he keeps faith, does amaze

As he eats the broken bread

This is my body, here is said

Broken for you, and for many

Our eyes are open, and we see

Our Lord in our midst now here

As we too come, and draw near

Where are you Lord? Here today

A broken brother kneels to pray.







25/04/2005

St Clement and St Nicholas, The Pilot, 1973

St Clement and St Nicholas
The Pilot, 1973

My dear People,

It is with sadness that I have to say good-bye to two persons who have helped our church and me, personally. It is sometimes only when one is parting company with people that one appreciates how fortunate one has been. By the time you read this letter, Sylvia will have left Jersey to take up residence in England, Somerset to be more precise, where her husband has already gone on in advance to set up a business.

I have known Sylvia since the first week I came here. nearly twelve years ago. when she was a schoolgirl of 16. Years before that, she had been a member of our Sunday School and was then also a member of the junior choir. A few months later, when she had learnt to type, she started to do some parish secretarial work for me. Later, when I became Editor of The Pilot, she began to be of immense help in the typing and preparation of the editions. Later still, she had her own column, and inaugurated The Pilot Birthday Club. During all these years she has also been a faithful Sunday School Teacher and a Choir Member. Except for holidays, I do not recall her ever missing a Sunday in either capacity. 

Over the years she has become a personal friend of my wife and myself, and we have had many happy times together. My only fear as she grew up was that she might meet and marry the wrong man. These fears were dissolved, however, when in the Summer of last year I had the pleasure and privilege of marrying her to a pleasant honest Englishman of the highest integrity. I know that you will join with me in praying for God’s Blessing upon the new life which they are starting in England.

REV W. N. HALL. I congratulate William Hall on his appointment to the Benefice of St Mark’s. On his induction there on October 4, his duties in this parish will naturally cease. He will then have been my official assistant here for two and three-quarter years. He, too, has been a most loyal, efficient and reliable colleague and I shall miss him very much. Apart from assisting at Services at St Clement and St Nicholas, he has also been a great help with the Sunday School, and with taking the occasional sick communions for me when I have been hard pressed. He is a man of great ability and possesses high academic qualifications. I am sure that the parish of St Mark will be enriched in every way under his incumbency.

Since good people are difficult to replace, it is therefore with pleasure that I am able to say that the Rev C. K. Thacker, sometime Rector of St Peter’s, and lately Chaplain of Victoria College has agreed to take Mr Hall’s place, and assist me here. I have just received the official approval of the Bishop of Winchester and the Dean of Jersey in this appointment. Mr Thacker will be no stranger to the congregations of St Clement and St Nicholas for, when I was very ill some years ago, he took all the services for me at both churches for several weeks. I am very much looking forward to his assistance from October onwards.

Paul Harrison

Coronation

May 6th 2023. I suppose it was pretty obvious what my theme might be today. And with the protests, and against them, I offer this quote from C.S. Lewis

Monarchy can easily be "debunked", but watch the faces, mark well the accents of the debunkers. These are the men whose taproot in Eden has been cut -- whom no rumor of the polyphony, the dance, can reach – men to whom pebbles laid in a row are more beautiful than an arch. Yet even if they desire mere equality they cannot reach it. Where men are forbidden to honor a king they honor millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead -- even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served -- deny it food and it will gobble poison.

Coronation

Processional: along the winding road
The carriage, together King and Queen
Responsibility becomes a heavy load
Crowd cheering loud as they are seen

Enthroned: Zadok anoints Solomon King
And the Archbishop takes up the Crown
Rejoice! Rejoice! Let the people sing
Places it on the King, lowers in down

Ascension: On the balcony, looking out
The King smiles, remembers all he vowed
The people cheer, they call, they shout
His joy in duty, waving to the crowd

Now church bells sound out, and ring
God Save the King! God Save the King!

The Pilot, 1973: St Brelade with St Aubin

St Brelade with St Aubin
The Pilot, 1973

July seems to have been a month of meetings - the Deanery and Diocesan Synods ending their current 3 - year terms, the quarterly meeting of the Counsellors on Foreign Relations in London, and the parish meetings of our Church and Area Church Councils. At times one wonders whether the Church is doing so much talking that it has no time left to get on with the job. Undoubtedly there is a real temptation to let endless nervous debate take the place of prayerful thought and action, but a glance at the account of the first Council of the Church in Jerusalem shows that there was a good deal of vigorous debate followed by a decision which was so based on prayer that it was possible for the authors of the decision to preface it with the words; “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.”

He would be a brave council chairman who felt able to preface a contemporary resolution with these words! And yet, if the Church is the entire body of Christ, (and not just the Bishop and his clergy as one clerical speaker at Diocesan Synod tried to tell us), then the whole Church must have a hand in decision making. Perhaps the truth is that we face a dual temptation – on the one hand to shy away from discussion in committee and council so as to avoid necessary conflict, on the other to talk endlessly so as to avoid real action. Only if decision making is based on genuine prayer for guidance and a willingness to follow that guidance, can we be reasonably certain that what we decide is also the will of the Holy Spirit.

These priorities were admirably chosen, in my view, in the clergy course to which some of us from Jersey were recently summoned by the Bishop, at Old Alresford Place - with its memories of the Sumner family and their Jersey Le Couteur, connections. The first day was a Quiet Day, with addresses on some background thoughts concerning Ministry - which was the topic of the meeting. Under the guidance of Fr Wheeldon of the Anglican Community of the Resurrection we were able to stand back for a while and look at some of our presuppositions, and, at least as far as I was concerned - have them changed. 

The following two days were spent in lectures and discussions on the Ministry of the Church in today’s world, and our thoughts were inevitablv focussed on the acute shortage of clergy which threatens the Church in the very near future. 

Whilst 600 ordinations were at one time essential to keep pace with death and retirement, we are now ordaining some 300 men annually. In this discussion one was very much conscious of the small number of men who are being ordained from the Church in Jersey these days; it is far cry from the days when every Rectory in the Island was filled with a native Jerseyman. 

The answer to this is not only to be found in the clergy doing their best to encourage vocations in young men in their parishes, but in Christian parents regarding the priesthood as a desirable vocation for their sons. So often men these days are ordained despite their parents’ opposition, and not because of their parents’ encouragement.

For all these reasons one is all the more happy to welcome to the parish next month Terry Hampton, a young man who grew' up in the Island and who found his vocation under the inspiration of Canon Edward Richardson and the Christian community at St. Ouen’s. Terry’s institution will now take place a week later, on Tuesday September 11 at 8 pm., and the Area Church Harvest celebrations will be on the following Sunday, September 16.

As one whose home parish was St Mark’s it was with mixed feelings that one read of Geoffrey Baker’s impending departure, sad because he will be leaving a parish which has so obviously flourished under his dynamic and energetic leadership, but glad that he will be entering the vital field of education where his gifts are much needed and will be used to the full, as well as because of the knowledge that he will be remaining one of the island team of clergy. We offer a warm welcome to Geoffrey’s successor, The Rev W. N. Hall who will further enrich the fellowship of the island’s parochial clergy.

The St Aubin’s Guild Garden fete was a successful and happy occasion, and we are particularly indebted to the ladies who did so much to make it so. May I also express my deep gratitude to the anonymous donor of £500 to the St Aubin’s Church Benefice Fund - St Aubin’s is not a wealthy church and gifts of this kind are an immense help to us in raising the necessary stipend for the new vicar.

ST AUBIN’S GUILD. The Guild’s very successful Garden Party held recently to help augment the Stipend Fund realised £342 after expenses had been deducted.

The Ladies’ Committee at their Meeting to finalise the arrangements decided to make up the amount to £400 from their funds, and this amount accordingly has been handed over to the Churchwardens.

We should like to thank everyone who worked so hard and also those who so generously gave donations which were much appreciated. Lastly many thanks to Miss Le Riche for bringing some of her pupils to give a charming dancing display.

MICHAEL HALLIWELL

HOLY BAPTISM. June 10, Tracey Le Marquand.

HOLY MATRIMONY. June 2, Stephen Ian Romeril to Christine Mary Sharp; June 30, Keith George Hopkins to Ann Jouan; Pierre Joseph Burtscher to Virginia Margaret Colbeck-Welch.

BURIALS. June 5, Hubert Thomas Le Feuvre, 60; June 15, Sybil Harman Coudray, 86; Yves Marie Graviou, 49; June 19, Frances Graham Pearce, 82.

Deaf Awareness Week 2023

It is Deaf Awareness Week (1-7 May 2023) and RNID, the charity supporting people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus are calling on everyone to be deaf aware!

People who are deaf or have hearing loss have individual communication needs and you should ask how best you can communicate with them. RNID is encouraging people to use E.A.R. to help them remember simple tips they can use to make communication easier:

· Environment – reduce background noise or move to a quieter area. And make sure the room is well lit if the person relies on lipreading.

· Attention – use simple gestures such as pointing, waving or a light tap on the shoulder to get someone’s attention. Face the person you’re speaking to so they can lipread, and speak to them, not their interpreter or anyone else with them.

· Repeat and rephrase – if someone doesn’t understand you, try repeating what you said or rephrasing it in a different way. If this doesn’t work, you could write it down, or speak to a friend or relative if they ask you to.

Following E.A.R. can make the difference between your friend, family or colleague being part of the conversation or left struggling on the side-lines.

Useful Jersey Links

Jersey Deaf Society (adults)
www.jerseydeafsociety.org/

Earsay
earsay.je/
Support for Jersey’s hearing impaired children, young people and their families

UK - rnid.org.uk

And why not check your hearing out

https://rnid.org.uk/information-and-support/take-online-hearing-check/

Please note that this only is a rough measure and if you notice any hearing loss, you should book a free appointment with the States Audiology Department. If you need it, you will be given a free hearing aid.

Beltane Remembered

As we approach May 1st, the ancient festival of Beltane, a look back at the customs, and the role fire has played for good and ill in our history.

Beltane Remembered

Fire! On our small island, they came:
Sought out those they were to blame,
Burnt as witches, heretics, an evil day,
And so far strayed from the old way;
But I remember how it was, long before,
Opening in my memory a door;
And let me take you back, far back,
Along an old time’s ancient track:
The fire, burning bright, not in fear,
But to celebrate all so very dear;
The May festivity, the joy, the songs:
Come one, come all, such merry throngs;
With eggs, butter, oatmeal, milk, we make
The caudle ready for the fire to bake;
Some poured out for spirits of place,
That they may bless us with their grace;
And bless the lambs, and bless the seed,
And pass the cup, and drink the mead;
And gather round the fire to dance,
And stories tell, to so entrance;
Gather primrose, rowan, hawthorn,
Our doors and windows to adorn;
The Beltane Queen upon the horse,
Wears a crown adorned with gorse;
Ride from the town to the holy well,
Call for fey folk to make all well;
Until Beltane ends, the day now done,
As we watch the setting of the sun;
Night comes, the embers glowing red,
Beltane blessings, and time for bed.

The Coronation Year 70 Years Ago - April 1953 Part 2

By a curious coincidence of dates, the coronation year 2023 will be 70 years after the coronation date in 1953. I thought it would be of interest to look back during this year of some of the events taking place before, during and after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

April 1953 - Part 2

16.—Annual meeting of Royal Empire Society, Major-General G. K. Bourne giving a talk on “ Berlin and the Soviet Zone”. Beeches O.B. draw with Guernsey Rangers in Guernsey in Jeremie Cup Competition, the game running to extra time.

18.—Jersey Motor Traders annual dinner. Amateur boxing tournament held at Springfield, St. Helier A.B.A. winning return match against Southampton. HE the Lt.Governor and Lady Grasett guests at Royal Artillery Association dinner ; the Dorset Regiment Association also held their annual dinner.

21.—St. John’s parish decides in favour of refuse collection, this to be at the rate of so much per bin.

22.—The Rev. R. S. Dabbs instituted as Rector of Grouville by the Very Rev. the Dean.

23.—British Legion hold St. George’s Day supper, gold badges being presented to Capt. W. Picot and Major C. P. Rumfitt for services rendered. Beeches OB. defeat Guernsey Northerners in Upton Park Cup game at Springfield, a crowd of over 7,000 attending.

24 —Three-parish bull show, the first of the season, held at Les Puits de Léoville, St. Ouen.

25—Annual dinner of Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the chief executive of B.E.A., Mr. Peter Masefield, being the principal guest.

26—His Excellency the Lt. Governor inspects companies of the Boys’ Brigade in the grounds of Government Office, South Hill, afterwards attending the annual service organized by the Boy Scouts’ Association held in the Howard Davis Park. Final performance given by Gorey Cinema, it being announced that it was no longer economic to run.

28. -Special sitting of States, when a statement on the importation of French eggs was made by the president of the Essential Commodities Committee ; a proposal for the survey of the organization and methods of the Civil Service was rejected ; a petition from the electrical traders of the Island was presented and ordered to be cyclostyled: a long discussion ensued on the Beautés Naturelles Committee's recommendations in regard to four sites, eventually all being approved. Round Tablers’ annual dinner and installation of new president.“ Victoria Regina ” presented at Springfield by Daryl Querée and Donald Rennolds. ‘

29.—American speaker at Rotary luncheon gives details of the working of the Mutual Security Agency. 

30.——States Preliminary discussion on the affairs of the, Jersey Electricity Co. Ltd., the matter being deferred for a full-dress debate ; the president of the Defence Committee replied to questions about the recent police car crash at Beaumont ; Senator Richardson was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Housing Committee. Constable of St. Helier opens bowling green of St. Clement's Bowling Club—Jersey. Dog Club spring show held at Springfield. Jersey defeats Guernsey 2-0 in Muratti.

A Charm to Move The Wheel of Time

I've always loved the movie (and the book), The Amazing Mr Blunden (the book originally called "The Ghosts", in which children from the past, seeking help in the present, take a herbal brew and move to their future, and the children (related to them) of the present day (the movie's present day) take the same and go back 100 years to try and prevent the tragedy that cost the children of the past, and the gardener's boy, their loves.

In once scene, on one night, by the intervention of some supernatural agency that the children do not understand, they are led to the library of the house. There they find a book containing the recipe for a charm – 'A Charm To Move The Wheel of Time'. By brewing the infusion and drinking it, the children will be able to move through time to find the help they need.

I wrote the following poem in 16 August 2004, and it has an interesting history. It was on a much older website of mine (now long defunct) but someone emailed me because they had seen it, connected it with the film, and wondered if mine was based on some literary or folklore original on which the book drew, rather than the other way around!

A Charm to Move The Wheel of Time

There is a charm to bend the line of fate
This must be so, the need be truly great
Trust be given of one life for another
As if for kinship of sister or of brother
Subtle herbs can brew a drink to loose
Bonds of fate, make present time diffuse
So the charm can move the wheel of time
Roll back into decades past, another clime
Through the still point at the very centre
Of the wheel, the path by which we enter
One time from another, and thereby change
The path of history fixed as if arranged
As ghosts from the present in past lands
Take apart and weave such different strands.

Societe Jersiaise Lunchtime Talk: The Introduction of Social Security

A really stimulating talk on the controversy surrounding the introduction of Social Security legislation into Jersey was given by former Deputy Roy Le Hérissier at the Societe Jersaise meeting room this Wednesday.

It was well attended, and the acoustics of the room were good, a microphone provided excellent audio coverage for those of us who are hard of hearing, so it was all clearly heard. A PowerPoint presentation on a large screen supplemented the presentation.

It would be a compulsory contributory insurance scheme - hence the original name of Social Security being "Insular Insurance" which I have to admit being old enough to remember when doing accountancy preparation on client's accounts back in the 1970s. Because of that - as a contributory insurance scheme to cover outgoing costs, and ringfenced - and therefore not a tax on income as such - a cap was placed on the maximum contributions made, which still exists today.

It also was not a full "Welfare State" scheme. It provided old age pensions, sickness benefit, and an offset to doctor's bills (but not a complete offset of all the bill, just a reduction). Parish welfare staid in the hands of the Parishes until the introduction of Income Support, which also wrapped in a number of extra and additional parts of Social Security which had grown - disability support, attendance allowance for severely disabled, rent rebate scheme etc. That also meant that Social Security and Income support was not a "like for like" substitution as its critics said (it also had its own critics).

It also had a different age date for pensions - 65 for men, 60 for women, which has only just ended recently in favour of equal age (65 and over).

Philip Le Feuvre

The people involved in bringing the bill were Philip le Feuvre, a stalwart of the farming community and elected president of the JFU, and who had also been part of the Jersey Progressive Party and served under Deputy Edward Le Quesne in the Occupation years, Deputy Stephen John Venables, the sole member of the Jersey Democratic Movement to be elected to the States at that time, and also from a farming community (in St Ouen), Senator J.J. Le Marquand, a passionate libertarian who opposed the compulsory nature of the law.

Philip Le Feuvre presented the Bill to the States on 15 November 1949. The vote on the preamble was lost 24 to 23 and the Bill was automatically thrown out with it. However this itself was controversial as one Constable was absent and his vote taken by his Chef de Police (Senior Centenier) who attended the States - the law was later changed to prevent this occurrence as this was essentially a vote by someone  who had not faced a public election in the same way as a Constable for being present in the States. Ten of the Constables also voted against it.

The demographics also favoured the country vote over the urban vote - a situation which continued until the recent reforms - the Senatorial platform always was weighted as island wide voting to country, not town . Their removal and the introduction of larger districts has meant better representation for urban areas.

On 22 May 1950 Le Feuvre brought the Insular Insurance Bill back to the States. In spite of opposition from Senator J.J. le Marquand the preamble passed by 28 votes to 17. It passed its third and final reading on 14 July 1950, and came into force on 18 November of that year. 

In spite of a final attempt at a wrecking amendment by Senator le Marquand, the appointed day (the date when the insurance scheme would come into full force) was set to 10 September 1951.

On 31 July 1951, Deputy J J Le Marquand presented a Petition at St Ouen’s Parish Hall calling for the appointed day to be deferred. The organisers were efficient and it gathered momentum, aided by the attitude of the Honorary Police, some of whom broke the law by collecting signatures. Philip Le Feuvre went out to meetings where those presiding did not assist him in getting a fair hearing.

J.J. Le Marquand was a firebrand speaker and organised rallies around the island, especially being noted for mass crowds in the Royal Square, where the mood turned ugly, and some States members had to run to the Police HQ for their own safety after leaving the States. It was the nearest the Island has come in the 20th century to an insurrection. Potatoes, tomatoes and other missiles were thrown at supporters of the new law. 

At one of these rallies a coffin was carried in as a visual aid, calling for the death of the new law (or perhaps to fill with one of its architects), as well as an effigy (perhaps of Venables). JJ was not above any stunts! 

My father, who had recently started work, and who saw part of his pay would be reduced under the law, remembered attending the rallies.

Also in 1951 the Deputy Venables (the other architect of the new law) attended a meeting of 1,500 people protesting against the new Insular Insurance Law in the People’s Park. When a vote was taken he was the only person to raise his hand in favour and ended up having to escape to the Town Hall. Similarly, on the day when the legislation was finally passed there were ugly scenes in the Royal Square, where according to the Daily Graphic potatoes, tomatoes and other missiles were thrown at supporters of the new law.

The debate also raged in the JEP, where Le Feuvre and Venables - the architects of the scheme, and the scheme itself was denounced as being "the hand of Moscow", "socialism by the back door", "a UK style Welfare state which the Island didn't need" and worse. It was ironic as Philip Le Feuvre was a member of the Jersey Progressive party and very much a conservative politician, but who had seen the need for change.

The farmers were resolutely opposed, and after the scheme was passed held a special meeting of the JFU where they unceremoniously and vindictively demanded the elected President's resignation - as a farmer, that was Philip Le Feuvre himself.. He was ostracised by his own farming community. However, the office block in La Motte Street which houses the Social Security Department was named Philip Le Feuvre House.

J J Le Marquand died at the age of 60 in 1975. He never collected his pension.

For further reading, an interview with Topic magazine plus some notes at:

http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-political-outsider-jj-le-marquand.html

S.J. Venables

Stephen Venables died on 13 January 1988 in Jersey at the age of 78, and was buried in St. Saviour, Jersey. He did collect his pension.

Pictured below is Eric Falla, who as a young man, attended JJ's rallies in the Royal Square, and the speaker of this talk, Roy Le Hérissier.

A New Golden Age of Crime and Detection on Television

There are so many shows in the crime or detective genre at the moment, I find myself spoilt for choice.

Peter James "Grace" has been back recently in an excellent trilogy of stories starring John Simm. Meanwhile, fresh from Endeavour's final season, Roger Allam joins Nancy Carroll (Father Brown) in "Murder in Provence".

Rather like "The Singing Detective" but with two crimes to solve and get a resolution, "Magpie Murders" blends a fictional detective back in the 1950s with a modern mystery to solve. Excellent acting especially from Lesley Manville. Will the second book be adapted? I hope so.

Other recent glories include "Endeavour" bowing out in style, while over the past few years, some other excellent stories have made it to the small screen - "Vigil", "Sherwood" and "Macdonald and Dodds", not to mention the remade (and better in my opinion than Barry Foster's one) "Van de Valk" and daytime show "London Kills". I also enjoyed catching up with Martin Clunes  in both series of "Manhunt" which really has the feel of a real police investigation.

In spare time, I've been catching up with "Shetland", which had characters and a real sense of plance, also "Elementary" which is what "Sherlock" should have been - clever plots and characters and never so twisted and convoluted you lose the will to live. Australian drama "City Homicide" is also very good, strong production values and characters and includes Nadine Garner (from "The Doctor Blake Mysteries"

Of foreign language films - subtitles essential - I think Bruno Cremer's French language "Maigret " has to be definitive. I've seen 3 British versions - Rupert Davies, Michael Gambon and Rowan Atkinson, all good, and Rowan especially good, but this has the feel of France that, I'm sorry to say, none of the others quite has.

Never having seen all of it, I'm also enjoying the odd "George Gently" - Martin  Shaw showing what a good actor he could be, ably abated by Lee Ingleby. 

Coming soon - the "Mallorca Files Season 3" has started filming, "Sister Boniface Mysteries" should be showing soon, and "Father Brown" is greenlit for another season next year. And I think Midsomer may have some more murders to offer us this year.

Is Gandalf a Pagan Christ Figure

C.S. Lewis in the Narnia books has Aslan as a Christ like figure, a "supposal" of what it would be like if Christ was born in an another world of Talking Animals. This is a very clear in that Aslan dies on the stone table, it is broken, he vanishes and then returns to life.

But there is perhaps a more subtle Pagan figure of Christ in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. 

I am sure Tolkien must have been influenced by the strangeness of the resurrection stories.

Although not a Christ figure as such, Gandalf the Grey falls to his death stopping the Balrog from attacking the Fellowship of the Ring.

“Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time”

He returns, but now clothed in white, as Gandalf the White, and when the remnant of the company see him again, in Fangorn forest, they do not recognise him for certain. 

They wonder if they are seeing Saruman the White. It is only after the elve Legolas shoots an arrow in the air, and Gandalf uses his magic to set it on fire – something the old Gandalf could do – that they know for certain it is the same Gandalf, but reborn, like, yet not like, or as Gandalf says “Saruman, as he should have been”.

The Jesus / book of Revelation imagery is even more explicit

He sprang to his feet and leaped to the top of a large rock. There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them. His hood and his grey rags were flung away. His white garments shone (…) His hair was white as snow in the sunshine; and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand.

That strangeness in not quite recognising a familiar face is, I am sure, something Tolkien unconsciously or consciously imbibed from the Gospel resurrection stories where some act sparks certain recognition – a word (Mary), scars (in the locked upper room) , breaking bread (on the road to Emmaus) or in one case, a miraculous catch of fish again on the sea shore. This "unveiling" is something which is very clearly portrayed when Gandalf returns.

At last Aragorn stirred. ‘Gandalf!’ he said. ‘Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf!’ Gimli said nothing, but sank to his knees, shading his eyes.

‘Gandalf,’ the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. ‘Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf.’ He stepped down from the rock, and picking up his grey cloak wrapped it about him: it seemed as if the sun had been shining, but now was hid in cloud again. ‘Yes, you may still call me Gandalf,’ he said, and the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide.

Gandalf is not a Christ figure in the same way as Aslan, but this mysterious quality of difference in the "resurrected" Gandalf does, I am sure, reflect something of Tolkien's Catholic Faith.

Tudor History on a Budget

I've just been  watching the Six Wives of Henry VIII, starring Keith Michel, and Elizabeth R (on Elizabeth I) starring Glenda Jackson.

The dialogue is, for the most part, sparkling. 

Of the two, I think Henry VIII fares better. Apart from the rather steriotyped Thomas Cromwell as a conniving "baddie", very much along the lines of "A Man for All Seasons", the characters are fairly well drawn, and the limited location shooting really does not matter much when most is courtly intrigue in studio sets inside.

Elizabeth R suffers from this in its set pieces. Again the characterisation and dialogue is excellent, although I feel Peter Jeffrey is badly miscast as a pious Philip of Spain. Peter Jeffrey has many virtues as an actor, but playing a pious Catholic monarch is not one of them. He was much better cast as Oliver Cromwell in "By the Sword Divided". Glenda Jackson is however superb - and not even the recent films, excellent though they are, have taken the journey from her youth to her old age.

But the routing and destruction of the Armada takes place entirely off stage - we don't even see the interior of any ship. Instead it is relayed by an Admiral to Philip of Spain and by a sailor to Elizabeth in what appears to be a small tent with four other nobles present. 

Relaying information so that it captures the imagination is not a simple art - Foyle's War managed it superbly on occasion - the gas of the First World War, the bombing raids on London, the ships at Dunkirk - but Elizabeth R singly fails to do so - it is information given by just two individuals - Spanish and English - and is just dumped on the viewer with in the case of the English sailor, speech which has the unfortunately tendency to call to mind Blackadder II.  

The Tilbury speech suffers even more - we just have Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth making her rousing speech - a lower camera angle to suggest she is or may be on a horse - alas the horse of the invisible - some off screen cheering of a crowd, and two soldiers, young and old, by a patently fake tent awning, commenting on bits of it. 

And yet at other times, someone has thought about matters well. The imprisonment of Lady Jane Grey and the other nobles caught up in her plot is done via a series of montages, with each just seen through the grill of a jail (in the Tower) and the sound of a lock turning. Simple, but very effective.

These shows were, of course, of their time, and had to make do with a more limited cast and budget than today. Wolf Hall's tournament, or the death of Anne Boleyn, for example, actually has a crowd present. And in the case of Henry VIII, this works well. Elizabeth R is at times very good, but at other times fails to overcome its limitations and looks more like a stage play, where the suspension of disbelief is lost.

The Road

This is part of an Easter sequence of poems which began with "Homeless", continued with "The Garden", and now addresses an experience of awakening.

The Road

Weary, walking on the road,
Hill and valley, rocks and dust
We bear such a heavy load
Hard times indeed to trust

Meeting a stranger on the way
Share the pain, grief, sorrow
As dusk enfolds a waning day
Heavy burden to the morrow

The town is distant but in sight
Dragging footsteps as if lame
Walking in sunset’s fading light
Yet his speech relights our flame

Joy returns to our broken hearts
And breaking bread, he now departs