The Celestial Sisters

One from the back catalogue today. This is a celebration of the sun and moon, unlike other cultures, both feminine to the Celts, in contrast to the Roman and Greek depictions of male sun and female moon. Written 8th June 2005.


The Celestial Sisters

The sisters dancing in the sky
Sun and moon, so graceful fly
The moon follows sister bright
The sun, so golden in her sight
And if they come to talk in day
Watch and wonder at their play
If earth should mask the moon
Glowing ember, good fortune
If moon should hide the sun
Darkness shadows everyone
Moon by night, sun by day
Sisters dance in harmony
Such is ancient Celtic lore
Celestial sisters so adore.

John Terry Limited - Gleanings from Unseen Jersey

I saw this, and asked for more information on Unseen Jersey, as it looked as if it might have an interesting history. I also came across this online from part of a letter on the States website by Mick Millar:

John Terry Limited, one of Jersey's oldest family companies (John Terry was my great-great grandfather) traded as Agricultural merchants in the island for 100 years until 1975 when the demise of the "bridge" system in the 1960s finally rendered its activities obsolete. Since then, the company has rented out its remaining property at 8, 9 Esplanade - 8, 10, 12 Commercial Street.

Here are some of the gleanings from Unseen Jersey.

John Terry Limited, one of Jersey's oldest family companies traded as Agricultural merchants in the island for 100 years until 1975...

They used to deliver supplies to farmers - well-known merchants on The Esplanade, and handled export crops.

The largest export merchants, Mick Millar is the grandson ran his office furniture upstairs, now Dandara, they John Terry had other stores.

This company was an agent/distributor buying produce from farmers, which was then shipped to places like Covent Garden market in London.

My uncle Dennis Blackmore worked there years ago.

My father worked there with Roy Horsefall, as the clerk, his office had a window facing the street. At one time his assistant was going out with Englebert Humperdinck.....as my father was fluent in Jersey French he was very important in the firm.

At that time dealing with Jersey farmers in Jersey French was no doubt an asset. Still in the nineties I remember speaking French to farmers and traffic wardens. The accent was very close to their Norman cousins 15 miles away to the East. On se comprenaient très bien. Il est grand temps de revenir au bilinguisme. C'est l'âme de Jersey. (We understood each other very well. It's high time to return to bilingualism. It's the soul of Jersey.)

It’s a listed building, so hopefully it will be refurbished when the rest of the site is developed

Midsummer War

We have recently passed the longest day of the year (June 20), but another day this year also commemorates a different kind of "the longest day", as the title of the film about D-Day, 80 years ago. By midsummer that year, the Normandy beaches were taken but there was fierce fighting to take and liberate Cherbourg by the Americans. This poem combines both stories, and also a myth that mid-summer, young women would gather rose petals as a means of seeking love. The saying goes as follows:

Rose leaves, rose leaves, rose leaves I strew;
He that will love me, come after me now.

Alas, in 1944, many flowers would end on gravestones.

Midsummer War

The longest day, and yet also the name
Given to war time memory’s early claim,
When in June the landing craft arrived,
And German soldiers were surprised;
Stormy weather made invasion poor:
But break in the weather opened door,
And the landings came, freedom began:
Liberty to captives said the newsman
By mid-June Cherbourg was the prize,
The battleground where the cries,
Of the wounded, the dying, heard;
Nature fell silent, no song of bird,
As fighting began upon the street,
As German and Americans meet;
And fierce fighting goes on all day:
This also the longest day, they say,
Midsummer and sun shines bright:
Good against evil: endless fight;
While the sun shines long above,
Myths tell of rose petals of love,
Reflecting saying I love you:
Midsummer legends sad and true;
Soldier’s sweethearts left behind,
Remember legends so enshrined:
Where have all the flowers gone,
Gone to soldiers who passed on:
All to graveyards, everyone one,
Under shining Midsummer sun.

Jersey Zoo 25 Years - Timeline

Historical highlights


1958 November 7, Les Augres lease signed.


1959 March 14, Jersey Zoological Park Ltd. formed.
March 26, Jersey Zoo opens (adult admission 10p).
Gorilla female N'Pongo arrives.
Tapir Claudius arrives.
Common marmosets arrive and breed.

1960 Second female gorilla, Nandi, arrives.
Second female tapir, Claudette, arrives.

1962 Female cheetah Paula arrives to join Peter.
Servals arrive.

1963 July 6, Inauguration of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust.
Bornean orangutans Oscar and Bali arrive.

1964 Construction of great ape cages complete.
Ring-tailed lemurs arrive.

1965 First South American tapir and chimpanzee bred.
Ursine colobus and two leopards arrive.
Baboon and monkey cages rebuilt

1956 Leopard cage complete.
Two pairs of white—eared pheasants arrive.
First serval kittens bred.

1967 Scientific Advisory Committee formed.
First two ursine colobus born.
First cereopsis geese bred.

1968 First pair of Parma wallabies arrives.
First colobus cage completed.

1969 Lemur range completed.
First 13 white-eared pheasants reared.
Second colobus cage completed.
Zoo garden committee formed.
White-eared pheasant aviaries completed.

1970 First Parma wallabies bred.
Tapir and cheetah complex completed.
Spectacled bear enclosure completed.

1971 Les Augres Manor purchased.
Owl aviaries complete.
Congo peacock house complete.
Eight Rothschild’s mynahs arrive.
First Bornean orang-utan bred.
Swinford aviaries complete. ~

1972 August 21, Princess Anne accepts patronage.
Brian Park gorilla complex opened by David Niven.
First Jamaican hutias arrive.
Jambo, male lowland gorilla arrives.
Gir lions arrive. ,
Petrona, female spectacled bear arrives to join Pedro.
Mayotte brown lemurs arrive. '
First Sumatran orang-utan bred.
First conference on breeding endangered species in Jersey.

1973 Howard aviaries completed.
First two gorillas, Assumbo and Mamfe bred.
SAFE International launched, later renamed
Wildlife Preservation Trust International.

1974 Marmoset House opened.
Third gorilla, Zaire bred.
First Mayotte brown lemur bred.
Nutritional research laboratory opened.
Nocturnal Hutia house opened by James Stewart.
Waldrapp ibis cage completed.
Fourth and fifth gorillas bred.
St Lucia and St Vincent parrots arrive.
Three pairs of Goeldi’s monkey arrive and breed.
First two spectacled bear cubs bred.
First seven Waldrapp ibis hatched.

1976 October 27, Gaherty Reptile Breeding Centre opened by HRH Princess Anne.
Cafe Dodo opened.
‘ Keller Aviaries complete.
Eric Young marmoset building opened.
Rodrigues fruit bats arrive and breed.
Jamaican boas arrive.
Radiated tortoises arrive.
Round Island reptiles arrive—first 11 skinks bred.

1977 Five pink pigeons arrive.
Two pairs of Meller’s ducks arrive.
First 58 Jamaican boas bred.
Appeal for new gorilla accommodation launched.
Education officer appointed.

1978 June 4, Veterinary centre opened by US Ambassador to London.
Pink pigeon aviaries completed.
Rodrigues fruit bat accommodation completed.
First training scholarship awarded to a Mauritian.
First four pink pigeons bred.
First 12 Meller’s ducks bred.
Four golden lion tamarins arrive.
Rodrigues fodies arrive.

1979 Student training scheme launched.
SAFE (Save Animals From Extinction) relaunched as a fund-raising campaign.
Les Noyers purchased as training centre.
Volcano rabbits arrive.
Research assistant appointed.

1980 First two golden lion tamarins bred.
Gorilla complex completed.
Rodrigues fody range opened.
First summer school run.

1981 First annual vote for field studies.
Opening of gorilla centre.
Launch of the Dodo Club.

1982 First captive breeding of St Lucia parrot.
Volunteer guides introduced.
Corporate membership launched.

1983 Zoo visitors top 250,000.

Cyclists and Motor Cars - the Good and the Bad.

A recent Bailiwick Express article highlighted the issue of social media critics of bicycles, and they have a point, but it is not the complete picture. Look online and there are plenty of examples of bicycle riders who appear to be so ignorant of the Highway Code that they probably think it is a book by Dan Brown. I myself have seen:

• Cyclists going down towards St Aubin in the 20 mph zone at around 30 mph
• Cyclists swerving from road to zebra crossing
• Cyclists going the wrong way down a one way street
• Cyclists going through red lights at First Tower (sometimes on road / pavement / road)
• Cyclists swerving across road to turn without hand signals
• Cyclists with one hand on handlebars and one on smart phone (looking at while cycling)
• Cyclists with headphones on while cycling (and can't hear any vehicles)

So there is a case - a rational case - for some negativity.

But there are also some cyclists who have seen cars behind and pulled in briefly to let me and other drivers through, cyclists who are polite when asking pedestrians on the railway walk to let them through (I'm very deaf so can't easily hear bells behind me), cyclists who signal in plenty of time before turning. And the vast majority of cyclists belong here.

So what is happening here. Stanford linguistics professor Arnold Zwicky has studied what he called “the frequency illusion:

"The Frequency Illusion is a result of two well-known psychological processes, selective attention (noticing things that are salient to us, disregarding the rest) and confirmation bias (looking for things that support our hypotheses, disregarding potential counterevidence), which also contribute to the two group illusions, through the mediation of various social divisions between Us and Them (which make certain features salient to us)."

When it comes to bad behaviour on the road (cyclists / car drivers) or in shared spaces (pedestrians / cyclists), we are primed to remember the worst cases, and not the many cases which do not draw themselves to our attention.

So cyclists are pouncing on the cases of bad car driving close to them, ignoring the many good drivers out there. Pedestrians - as a recent forum on the Railway walk showed - remember cyclists coming at speed, perhaps ringing bells, but not slowing down and whizzing close by them.

It's the worst behaviour which gets highlighted, much as the Jersey Evening Post puts a headline on the drunk driver without a licence, or the driver going at 50 mph in a 30 mph zone. It doesn't run stories on all the good drivers on the road, and given the number of cars on the road, it is extraordinary how statistically few accidents happen. 

Sometimes the bad behaviour of car drivers when overtaking cyclists seems to be highlighted so much that it seems there is almost a vendetta against car users. And the language there can be quite forceful and discriminatory social media too. There's a pro-cycling lobby which sometimes forgets that not everyone is close to a bus stop, some people because of health and/or age can't walk long distances to catch a bus - and some people (like myself and several friends) have balance issues and can't cycle. 

Of course if a car collides with a cyclist, the cyclist will often come off worst (as has happened), and if a cyclist collides with a pedestrian (as has happened), the pedestrian will often come off worse. While the recent statistics show cyclist / car accidents have risen over the years, it is salutory to note that More pedestrians were injured by cyclists in the UK last year than ever before, according to new figures. It happens here too, but luckily not as badly - but unlike car drivers, cyclists are not insured. 

As a States of Jersey police missive noticed, some of these risks are due to poor behaviour:

"Cycling in the pedestrian areas of town (and other parishes) is a persistent issue that potentially puts pedestrians in danger. Over the coming days officers will be focusing on this problem. Please respect the rules and WALK YOUR WHEELS."

We shouldn't stop calling out bad driving of cars close to cyclists, but bad cycling also is not good as an example to others, especially younger people. To use a cliché, we need a "grown up" dialogue, where the aim is to educate and improve. Perhaps car drivers learning to drive need more instruction about passing cyclists, and perhaps cyclists need some kind of simplified Highway code test to ensure they do know it. It is to the benefit of everyone to improve standards on roads and shared spaces.

Deputy Lyndon Farnham's Chamber of Commerce Speech

Good afternoon.

It is a pleasure to be here, and to give my first Chamber Lunch speech as Chief Minister.

At Christmas, I had no idea that I would be speaking to you today.

That is the random nature of politics – my aim is to make it slightly less random because we need stability.

Can I start by saying that it is both an honour and a privilege to do this job.

I know it’s only been five months but I am thoroughly enjoying it!

I work with a group of very able and engaged Ministers and am supported by dedicated, hard-working public servants.

We now have a government that is more representative of the States Assembly and provides a much-improved political balance which I believe will help to deliver in areas that benefit the whole community.

We came into office amidst a period of local economic upheaval and political unsteadiness.

And it quickly became clear that we needed a period of calm and stability and perhaps even some political unity.

We needed to get back to basics.

To re-focus on the essential services and tackle the most immediate challenges facing Islanders.

That means addressing the cost-of-living crisis, providing more affordable new homes, re focusing on the health service and getting on with delivering the new hospital.

We also needed to get things moving again in relation to States business and have addressed a number of outstanding items.

In the first five months this Council of Ministers have resolved the long-running pay dispute with teachers and agreed a three year pay deal with the rest of the public sector ensuring continuity and stability in the provision of public services.

We have purchased Grève De Lecq and passed it on to the National Trust, who will ensure it is utilised in the best interests of the area and of the Island.

Provided a million pounds to charities from the dormant bank accounts fund – with more to follow, and we have leased part of St Ewold’s from the Parish of St Helier as a rehabilitation centre – replacing Samares Ward with an even better facility.

We have had a robust, and respectful, debate on Assisted Dying, allowing us to bring formal legislation to the States Assembly.

We have reduced GP fees by a further £10.

We have provided 13 weeks of financial support for domestic abuse violence victims, introduced electronic prescriptions across Health Care Services, and had the Nursery Education Fund approved for the next four years.

We also launched the £10m “First Step” assisted home ownership scheme, where we are giving Islanders a lending hand to get their first step on the property ladder.

In May our Common Strategic Policy – our plan for the next two years – was approved by the States Assembly.

We are suffering from overreach. It has become clear that sometimes we try to do too much and end up achieving very little. The new government will be looking closely at where we are spending money and reprioritising to make sure we are delivering the best outcomes for Islanders.

We will curb the growth in the public sector and will redirect monies saved to those areas to where it is needed most.

To that end we have identified 13 key priorities where we can deliver measurable progress over the next two years. 

1. Extend free nursery and childcare provision
2. Provide a nutritious school meal for every child in all States primary schools
3. Increase the provision of lifelong learning and skills development
4. Start building a new hospital at Overdale
5. Reduce GP fees
6. Implement the recommendations from the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce report
7. Carefully manage the transition to a living wage or new minimum wage
8. Provide more affordable homes for Islanders to buy and rent
9. Keep Government fees, duties, and charges as low as possible to help Islanders with the cost of living in 2025 and beyond
10. Reform the planning service
11. Reduce red tape, unnecessary regulation, enhance opportunities for business and strengthen Jersey’s international reputation
12. Deliver a plan to revitalise Town
13. And playing our part to reduce the impacts of climate change

But today I wanted to focus on the measures that will impact you specifically as business and community leaders; initiatives to reduce red tape, increase productivity, provide more skilled workers, and to transition to a living wage.

The Minister for Social Security lodged a Proposition last week that sets out the process and timeline for that final piece of work.

This will allow us to set specific rates over the coming two years, raising the minimum wage to about two-thirds of average median earnings – as agreed by the States Assembly – by the end of our term in office in 2026.

I know this will not be an easy transition for everyone, but it is a change which will give help to those in our community who are struggling the most.

And where it is needed, support will be provided to employers and employees during the transition period.

Up to £20 million in support will be made available across 2025 and 2026 and beyond if necessary.

Rather than a direct subsidy this will be in the form of support schemes to promote productivity and skills development, with targeted support across sectors, including for retail, agriculture, and the visitor economy.

We have also committed to keep government fees, duties, and charges as low as possible and we’ll provide full details on that in the Government Plan later this summer.

I’m certain that local businesses will also welcome the removal of unnecessary bureaucracy and improvements in the ways they are required to deal with Government.

Last month the Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, Deputy Morel, published his response to Barriers to Business Report.

That work answers the 38 recommendations made by Jersey Business to streamline processes and break down the obstacles that have been created.

I’m encouraged that over 80% of the recommendations are either completed, underway, or part of ongoing collaboration between Government and industry but there is still a lot to do if we are going win back your confidence.

The CSP will also see us prioritise the delivery of skills development in Jersey.

This will include promoting apprenticeships, a series of targeted skills development schemes, and implementing sustainable Higher Education Student Finance – helping to provide the future workforce for businesses.

Outside of the CSP, we will continue to prioritise support for our Island economy in the day-to-day work of government.

Only by improving productivity and developing a strong, diverse economy can we ensure the tax revenues necessary to support the quality public services that Islanders need.

Our financial services industry remains critical to our economic wellbeing.

In May, after years of significant effort, the work to assess Jersey’s ability to combat financial crime came to its conclusion.

A delegation from Jersey travelled to Strasbourg for the MONEYVAL Plenary for the adoption of the Mutual Evaluation Report of Jersey.

The publication of that Report is still to come in July, with an event soon to be announced to fully outline the findings and next steps.

I would like to extend thanks to the brilliant efforts to the government and industry teams who have worked together on this.

Our hospitality industry has already benefitted from a relaxation in spatial standards in the Tourism Law, allowing new types of accommodation to be introduced for the first time.

We will be publishing our Retail Strategy later this year, which will support enhancing the sector with a focus on the future of the Town Centre and how we can manage our shopping areas to better engage Islanders.

Last week we announced that the Government CEO, Andrew McLaughlin will continue in his role from 1 July.

Since starting with the Government last September, Andrew has provided clear leadership, ensuring good governance, sound financial control and a collaborative approach to management.

Retaining Andrew as our Chief Executive Officer will provide much-needed stability and continuity across the Government.

Both Andrew and I are attuned to the need to have a right sized public sector, that focuses on service delivery without the need for continued growth in staff numbers and costs.

Shaping the future of the central functions of government has already begun, and we are on schedule to deliver savings in 2024 through vacancy management, reducing the use of consultants and decreasing non-staff spending.

An employee consultation on resizing has already begun, and that work will continue throughout the coming weeks.

Equally, in line with our CSP commitment, expenditure on consultancy is being curbed across Government departments.

Measures have been taken to ensure that the Council of Ministers have full transparency of spending under consultancy headings and where and how monies are currently being spent.

Don’t get me wrong, specialist consultancy can be essential as it is impossible to carry all of the skills and expertise we need on the payroll but we have become a little too reliant on it!

Where additional expertise is needed, I would like us to focus on developing our own, local, talent across the civil service and public sector.

We are also turning our focus to issues that have been without resolution for far too long.

We are absolutely committed to starting construction of the Hospital at Overdale as soon as possible, delivering the health facilities we need most urgently by 2028.

The New Healthcare Facilities team have just completed a full public consultation on concept designs of the Hospital, to an overwhelmingly positive response from residents, campaign groups and Islanders.

The clearing of the Overdale site continues at pace, and demolition will reach its final stages in September.

The next step is the development of the detailed design of the hospital, in consultation with clinicians, ahead of submitting a planning application later this summer.

The most frequent message has been ‘Just get on with it’. That is exactly what we are doing.

Another significant piece of work underway is to improve how we manage our important social and cultural infrastructure.

I know Islanders have long been frustrated by continued decline of our sporting and leisure facilities, and in some of our public spaces.

Fort Regent cannot be allowed to continue in its managed decline, and work is advanced on a plan to fund and rejuvenate the Fort alongside many other public amenities – more details on this project will follow soon.

As a government, and as an Island, we also have some significant challenges to face, not only over the coming two years but into the next political cycle and beyond.

The biggest long-term challenge relates to the forecasted reduction in working age population. And potential changes to our workforce through the acceleration of advanced technology and AI.

These are important issues that require the serious attention of politicians, policy officers and Jersey’s business and community leaders.

We need to begin working on this now to provide practical solutions and not allow ourselves to be overtaken by events.

We are not going to allow population changes to be unmanaged or unplanned.

We will need more workers.

For example – potentially as many as 4,000 additional care workers by the 2040s.

This will need careful planning to ensure we provide a balanced workforce for the whole economy.

The forthcoming annual Population Report will include a roadmap for how the Government will coordinate activity to prepare for these challenges.

In closing I want to talk briefly about the importance of confidence.

Confidence in ourselves, in each other and in our Island.

I am very aware that if we are to succeed in our endeavours as a government we will need to rebuild public confidence in our political processes.

We also realise that building, and maintaining, confidence will be an ongoing effort that will require the participation of just about everyone.

For our part we will be open and transparent, work harder to engage, discuss and consult. Be more responsive and consistent in our endeavours to address the evolving needs and aspirations of Islanders.

The new government, and States Assembly, is beginning to work more collegiately with more courtesy, respect and professionalism.

We are alive to the fact that it is OK to disagree with unnecessary disruption because without disagreement there is no debate and without debate we do not drive out the best solutions.

I would ask you all not to look back but to look forward.

The challenges we face are great but if we can work together, help each other, and have confidence in the future of our island then our potential is even greater!

Thank you.​

Comments:

Gerard Voisin quizzed him over improving economy and increases in minimum wage. The idea is to increase the minimum wage but have targeted support to businesses (e.g. hospitality based) who are most effected by it.

This makes sense to me, as at present, a large number of people on minimum wage rely on income support (across all businesses) to help them, which means, in effect, the government is helping businesses with a subsidy. 

Increases in minimum wage towards living wage would take more of those out of that net, reducing funding from government via income support to make up the shortfall, and then appropriate targeting of businesses most affected (on a case by case basis) with extra funding will help balance the books on those businesses, while those who can easily take up the shortfall will help reduce public income support funding.

Reform Act

One from the back catalogue today, written on 04 April 2005, this looks at the idea of politics and reform, of political xenophobia, and Disraeli's ideal of  a "One Nation Tory". 

We have travelled far from this time - but labelling the "other" (and antisemitism) is still rife today, along with xenophobic attitudes to outsiders, and the UK political system seems broken, with party leaders elected by a diminishing number of members, many of which with the Conservative party, are over 65s and occupy rural Nimby enclaves. 

Meanwhile Nigel Farage's "Reform party" aims not at reform, but societal division, just as it did horrendously when it was the Brexit party. 

I think this poem is still very relevant today, just over 9 years after it was written.

Reform Act

In 1832, the first greatest of reforms
Took place to avert the greater storms
Of revolution, and all was quite at last
For a while, Palmerstone sounded blast
At all foreigners, so nothing new there
And then Gladstone came, all sincere
While subtly rousing kinds of prejudice
His opposer, making some horrendous
Comments, underlying these he knew
That Disraeli, was after all, just a Jew
And not properly British, in the club
Like the moneylenders who did grub
But Disraeli won through, all despite
The slurs, and reached the very height
Of Prime Minister, seeing One Nation
A clear vision of unity, not division
Is there a moral there today, I wonder
Perhaps the reader may well ponder.

1974 - 50 Years Ago - June Part 2

1974 - 50 Years Ago - June Part 2

16.——Violence, hooliganism and vandalism again erupted in Jersey over the weekend Between Friday night and last night, 42 people were detained in the cells at Police Headquarters, mainly for drunkenness, brawling and fighting in St. Helier.

17.—A woman in her seventies, Mrs. Edith Rachel Le Liévre, died in a fire in her bedroom at 5 Newgate Street opposite the prison, at about 11.45 am. The facts have been reported at the Bailiff’s Chambers and an inquest will be held. The Elfin Hotel, Gorey Pier. one of the most popular bars in Jersey, had its liquor Licence taken away until the end of the year, The hotel’s licence—a First Category (Taverners) was revoked- after the Bench had considered complaints about noise from the bar and disorderly behaviour outside by customers.

18.—Farmers in St. Clement are getting annoyed at the damage being done to their crops and their property by young vandals from they say the nearby housing estates.

19.-—.Jersey’s new Medical Ofiioer of Health, who will be taking up his duties from September 30 is Dr. Anthony John Essex-Cater. LRCEP, MROS, DPH, at present MOH with the Monmouthshire County Council.

20. An oil slick 80 ft. wide by 100 ft. long was reported to Jersey Harbour Radio at 8.30 this morning by the departing mailboat, Sarnia. It was sighted some 200 yards west of the end of Elizabeth Castle breakwater. The States fast launch, Duchess of Normandy, investigated the report and found the slick to be made of a very thin medium oil almost like petrol, and already dispersing by itself.

21.——Two policemen were injured in brawls which occurred in the town this evening, and one of them, PC Terrence Underwood, was detained in the General Hospital. A 19-year-old youth will appear at the Police Court on Monday charged with assaulting the police officer and causing him grievous bodily harm. Another man was charged with causing a breach of the peace by fighting.

22.——The police are investigating the death of a young man which occurred in the early hours of this morning at the Quennevais camp site, St. Brelade. It is understood that the man, in his early 20s, had been out with some friends staying at the camp. Returning there he was apparently violently ill. When seen by a doctor, he was dead. It is likely that a post mortem will be ordered and that this will be followed by an inquest.

24.——X-Ray staff at Jersey’s General Hospital are almost certain to take some sort of disruptive action in support of a wage claim unless an acceptable offer is made to them before July 4. After the Thursday week deadline, radiographers will refuse to handle anything but emergency cases. More petty thieving is reported from St. Brelade, and the police again request house-holders and shopkeepers to ensure that their homes and establishments are secure with all the Windows closed and doors locked, particularly at night.

26.-—Four men are in prison to appear in Court tomorrow charged with assaults on taxi-drivers—two in connection with the Rozel incident reported yesterday and the other two following a disturbance at the Broad Street cab rank shortly after closing time last night.

27.—-Holidaymakers Mr. and Mrs. John Scholze. from Hilversum, Holland, won the £6,000 top prize in the States of Jersey Lottery.

28.—A 15 per cent surcharge on all telephone charges is to be imposed by the Telecommunications Board from Monday, July 1, to the end of the year. It will apply to everything—rentals, call charges, including trunk calls, connection fees and all other installation costs.

29.—Hughie Green, star of the top TV programme “ Opportunity Knocks”, will be the visiting personality at the Battle of Flowers on Thursday, August 1.

Landings

Obviously, this week, the poem takes up the theme of D-Day, 80 years after the momentous landings.

Landings

The weather: wind, waves, raging sea
Then calmer, a lull, weather broke
A decision made, an order to agree
A momentous day as dawn awoke

The beaches: blood, terror and fire
And golden sands are running red
Victory for some, but some expire
Now to fight, not mourn the dead

The graves: stretching out in lines
Time to mourn, to weep salt tears
Quiet reflections, freedom’s signs
An end to the Nazi terror years

Landings and endings: their day
The Last Post on the trumpet play

1974 - 50 Years Ago - June Part 1

1974 - 50 Years Ago - June Part 1

1. An associated company of Slater, Walker (Jersey) Ltd., Saiga Holdings Ltd., who last year acquired the former Frederick Baker and G. D. Laurens properties in Queen Street, have now purchased an Smam adjoining property in Hilgrove Street, formerly known as Librairie Francais, which has been vacant since January of this year. The property has been acquired to facilitate the work to be carried out on the adjoining properties.

2.—-A pedestrian, thought. to be M. Norbert Souliman, a 41-year-old farm worker from France, was knocked down. by a car on the Faldouet Main Road shortly after 11.15 pm. and died soon afterwards. .

3.——Publicans in the west of the Island. facing a, resurgence of violence and vandalism by weekend- gangs of young people, have met the Island’s Constables and called for harsher Police Court penalties for offenders including the deportation of non-residents.

4.-—A small syndicate from a St. Helier pub won the top prize of £4,000 in the Guernsey Lottery. They did not wish their names, or that of the pub, to be disclosed.

5.-—The Island’s already critical water shortage is being aggravated by wastage by irresponsible consumers. This is the view of Mr. Rodney Clarke, engineer/manager of the New Waterworks Company, who called on the people of Jersey to cut down on their demands on the Island’s dwindling resources.

6.—The organizers or the Battle of Flowers are loo-king for volunteers to work for nothing on the afternoon of the Battle on August 1. They are allso still looking for suitable places to build floats. Some Jersey housewives this morning received their milk in a. new type of Tetrapak.

7.—St. Heller’s new Centenier is Mr. John Philip de Carteret formerly a Constables Officer. He was elected unopposed to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Centenier Bob Eaton.

8.—Withn 48 hours of a small classified advertisement appearing in the “ Jersey Evening Post ” Property Guide, 143 people wrote to the advertiser through a box number. A further batch of letters 
arrived in this morning’s mail. The advertised item?—A bungalow on the outskirt or St. Helier—The price—£12,000, States loan available.

10.--An Islandwide search has been going on since early yesterday for Michael Patrick Murphy, a 24-4year old prisoner on remand who escaped from HM Prison in Newgate Street by digging a. hole in the outside wall of his cell. He then got away from the jail by dropping about 18 ft. from a wall; He was being held awaiting trial at the Assizes on a charge of attempted rape.

11.——The 24 year old prisoner who dug his way out of his cell in HM Prison in Newgate Street and escaped from there in the early hours of Sunday morning, is still at large, and the assistance of the general public is urgently needed for his recapture, police say. Shortly after 9 p.m. Murphy made an emergency “999” call to Police HQ from a telephone kiosk in the Parade. A police car was sent from HQ and Murphy was sitting on a bench near the phone box.

12.-—Members of the Committee of Agriculture and senior officials of the Department of Agriculture are at present making a three-day visit to United Kingdom potato markerts. The six-man delegation is accompanied by Mr. Roy Mourant, chairman of the Jersey Agricultural Marketing Federation.

13—Jersey's Hospital Administrator Mr. Oscar Mourant, retires on November 30 and is to be succeeded by Mr. Peter Lambert, a senior administrative assistant with the States Education Department since 1970.

14.—The Public Works announced that New Street between Union Street and King Street will become one-way from Monday. This follows the establishment of the King Street precinct on a 24 hour basis, and the consequent virtual absence of any north-bound traffic along this section of New Street

15.--Several people from Jersey are included in the List of the Queen’s Birthday Honours published this morning. Mr. Charles M. Le Quesne, CMG, British High Commissioner in Nigeria, whose home is at Beau Desert, St. Saviour, is promoted to Knight; of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KJGMG); Mr. J. H, (Jack) Herbert, Bronson Villa. Rue des Landes, St. Peter, is made an MBE; Miss Joyce E. Luce a Superintending Sister in Queen Alexandria’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, is made an Associate (2nd Class) of the Royal Red Gross; Mr. F. D. Hughes, of La Villaize, St. Ouen. becomes CBE and Capt. John Tessler-Yandell, son of Mr. F. C. Yandll, OBE.

The Burden

Jersey has just passed approval to draw up assisted dying legislation for the terminally ill at end of life, rejecting the second part of the proposal for unbearable suffering as a cause. Yet there were a fair number of States members in favour of that option. 19 for it, 27 against.

I was much struck by Matthew Parris recent article in the Times, where he argues that assisted dying being legalised is a good thing, that it is something that society needs, and many people are crying out for. He also argues that this will normalise the idea of assisted death, which again he thinks is a good thing. It will be beneficial, in the long run to society, and as he says: “Life itself has its price. As costs rise, there will be a point at which our culture (and any culture) will begin to call for a restraining hand. I believe that when it comes to the cost of keeping very enfeebled people alive when life has become wretched for them, we’re close to that point.”

Isaac Asimov’s “Pebble in the Sky” looks at a future society, where the means to deal with overpopulation, and the burden of the old or infirm, is a scheme of legalised euthanasia. In this story Earth in the future is a backwater, where citizens must die on their sixtieth birthday. This is referred to euphemistically only as "The Sixty". Anyone who is unable to work is also euthanized. People who try to cheat the system are almost universally reviled. To be a good citizen is to take "The Sixty", and Asimov shows people enjoying a sunset holiday, the trip of a lifetime, before taking that step, going out on a high!

Asimov was writing in the 1950s and set old age as sixty years old – “The Sixty”. Given the change in demographics, and that people are fitter longer, I have assumed in this poem “the Eighty” rather than sixty years old.

This poem, then, is a reflection on the idea of Matthew Parris that assisted dying will become a normalised form of society, and also a look back as Asimov’s picture of such a future society. This is a society in which assisted dying is welcomed, not feared. Avoidance is the exception, not the rule.

I offer no moral judgement in the poem, just a glimpse of what a future might look like - and also feel like to those who live and die there. It is for the reader to decide if they like that vision.

The Burden

It’s time, the eighty, as they call it:
Time to lay aside life, to commit;
Not or be a burden to self or others:
To follow your fathers and mothers,
In choosing the path enshrined in law;
A fastidious peoples came to draw
A line in the sand, but we saw the light:
Growing infirmity of age is a blight,
And the old suffer so, once such pain,
Had to be endured, a prison chain;
And where was compassion there:
Old age became a time of fear?
Grow old along with me, it was said,
But such a burden on society ahead:
Not to be selfish, to think of the rest,
The younger generation, full of zest;
Unencumbered by cost and expense
Of such taboos, we now dispense
Of shallow values with better rules,
And even teach it in our schools;
Old age is fading into the limelight:
Better to go into that good night;
So where there is despair, hope,
When one can no longer cope;
Where there is sadness, joy:
And unbearable suffering alloy;
This is now the kindest way to go
From this life, this we surely know,
Full of compassion, love and care,
Bringing hope where was despair;
Make me an instrument of peace:
That my choice is now to cease;
So to crown a noble end of life,
And not end in misery and strife;
We have moved passed lament:
Death is now a great moment,
Time of solemn commitment,
With all passion finally spent:
Time for good wishes, a feast,
To celebrate a joy released;
A weary thanks, I nod my head,
As the doctor comes to my bed;
I will do my duty, burden to none,
And soon will all ending be done;
Time now to make a good death,
Into darkness, take a final breath:
We make heaven here on earth:
Make a life now so much worth;
Deliver us from evil pain, again
This is our kingdom now. Amen.

The Story of the Golden Chair

The Story of the Golden Chair
By Philip Ahier
(1955)


The reign of Queen Elizabeth I saw the beginning of the publication of numerous tracts, pamphlets and broadsides, many of these containing a moral to be drawn from them. The story below appeared in a "broadside" published by William Creed, of London on March 22nd, 1595. In1786 the little booklet was in the possession of one William Herbert, who edited "Ames' Typographical Antiquities", and in 1936 it was purchased from a native of Guernsey by the Societe Jersiaise. (Vol. xiii. p. 33).

"The story of the Golden Chair" which was written in Elizabethan English, has been turned into modern prose for the reader of this curiosity.

The names of Doughton and Dansie referred therein were probably anglicised when the original publication was made.

A fishing boat jointly owned by a Jerseyman named Doughton and a Norman named Dansie, with two Jersey-born sailors, was fishing in Grouville Bay when all saw "at about midnight", what was known as St. Anthony's Fire. (An error for "St. Elmo's Fire," an electrical disturbance in the heavens). The sailors, noticing the phenomenon proceeding landwards, and resting, as they thought, upon a cliff near Mont Orgueil, imagined that it foretold foul and tempestuous weather and ill-luck.

The Norman Dansie had great doubts concerning the success of their fishing operations and suggested to his companions that they should draw in their nets, which had been thrown overboard near the scene of a wreck.

The fishermen then proceeded to haul them in, but one got stuck fast. Not wishing to leave it behind they hauled it up with such a force that they "found it torn above a yard in length."

The party wondered why their net had become torn and flung two anchors into the sea, hoping, by so doing, that something would get hauled up when they were eventually lifted.

Their hopes were realised, for, on hauling up one of them, up came a massive chair made of "clean beaten gold-the form of which was small about the middle, wearing bigger upwards towards the middle, and both ends, the back full of holes in the inner sides and the outmost side full of bosses; the seat very low and round at the bottom, and wrought with embossed works very curious, with divers sorts of branches."

Imagine the surprise of the four men on seeing the extraordinary nature of their catch; they found it to be gold and very fine gold at that. Never before had such booty fallen into their hands, not even to their forbears. How to share it was then the problem?

Dansie and Doughton, joint owners of the fishing boat, thought the best plan would be to cut up the chair "into small pieces," and sell the bits for ready money. To which Dansie, the Norman, added "seeing that our two men are acquainted with the treasure, in order to keep their mouths shut, let them have £100 apiece. They should consider themselves well recompensed, even though they are our hired servants."

Doughton, hearing that his partner was so rash as to give away £200 in this way, replied "No, no! It’s a good deal of money, a less amount should be sufficient for them."

But the Jersey sailors, overhearing the conversation which had taken place between their employers, who were prepared to take the whole chair and let them have but a small share of the booty, were most indignant. One of them, a tall lusty fellow, said that as God had sent it, they should have equal shares, adding that "such greedy churls should not so deprive them of their share of the treasure."

This latter even went so far as to say that he was the first man who had found the net fast, further, that they, the two sailors, had, by their united strength, hauled up the chair, "without whom, they never had enjoyed it." He then swore a great oath that if his companion would be advised by him, "they would have it to themselves, and their masters should have none"!

The other Jerseyman, being "as wilful as his fellow was stubborn," without saying a word, took a boathook and gave Dansie such a blow that he felled him, and then did the same to Doughton, after which they heaved the two old men overboard.

The two Jersey sailors, imagining that they were now fully possessed of the booty, embraced each other, being considerably overjoyed at what they thought their great fortune.

What was to be done next? They could not go back to Jersey, for the question would be asked, "Where are your masters?" Moreover, they realised that "they could not get money for a thing of such worth, in so poor a place as Jersey."

They next thought of sailing with the booty to England, but they felt sure that their small boat could not stand such a perilous and long journey, "and the weather subject to storms". So they decided to sail to Normandy seeing "that the way was short".

They hoisted sail and bent their course thither. Had the wind been more favourable they might have got there the following-day, but the seas had become tempestuous, "they were in great peril, neither would their boat work, but lay tossing on the waves in pitiful manner, the men expecting nothing but death".

While in this unfortunate plight, a pinnace with a crew of sixteen men hovered in the offing. Seeing this boat in danger, "whether of courtesy to save the men, or for covetousness to have what they had," the crew of the pinnace came within hailing distance of each other. But the two Jerseymen "were loath to speak with them". The crew of the pinnace boarded the small craft of the Jerseymen with four men. A fight ensued; two of the sailors from the pinnace were killed, and one of the Jerseymen was slain.

When the remaining Jerseyman saw what was happening, he ran to the golden chair which had been covered with a sail, flung it overboard, and, "leaping after it himself", swam with all possible speed to the shores of Normandy.

In doing so he swallowed a great deal of sea water, while his body got dreadfully scarred from the rocks he encountered on the way.

" He by good fortune, reached the shore by his painful swimming, yet so faint with the bleeding of his wounds, as he had much to do to continue life in him for that time, but through the water in his belly, the soaking of his wounds, and tossing in the waves, grievous sickness assailed him."

The folks on the Normandy shore "did their best to save his life, which was all in vain." Finding that there was no hope of recovering, he confessed to the murder of his two masters and earnestly craved forgiveness of God.

Three days later he died, and during those three days before his death, he told all and sundry what had happened, and hoped that they might find the chair.

The author of this broadside finished his narrative thus:"Let this, and many others, admonish all Christians how a covetous desire of wealth (may) cause them to seek their neighbour's harm. Instead, let them relieve the needy, that God may reward them for it."

How did this remarkable story find its way to London in the first Elizabethan days?

One can only surmise that, the narrative as given by the survivor in either Norman French, or in colloquial French, eventually got to the ears of some Englishman living in Normandy in the days of Queen Elizabeth I.

It will be seen that the covetousness recorded in the above account, together with the subsequent murders provided material for the tract compiler to expatiate upon the folly of greed.

Farewell Socrates

Farewell Socrates

"The time has come to take the cup"
And so saying, Socrates did sup
Of the hemlock, once Plato’s friend,
But now farewells at appointed end;
A sense of ending, of a life cut short:
What can we do, and what we ought;
A debate of a life, questions, dialogue,
As Socrates tried to peer through fog,
And make plain the follies of mankind,
Opening the eyes of those so blind;
They did not think, but merely act:
Would he cease, desist or retract?
Not him, and so time came for death:
The hemlock brings a chill breath
Of mortality; easier by far this way
Than judicial alternatives hold sway:
Sword, dagger, hangman’s noose,
A vote for death, no parlay, truce,
So the cup, slipped slowly down;
Was that a last smile, or a frown
“Crito, I owe to Asclepius, my praise”
As breath grew shallow, eyes glaze;
No more the debates to so delight,
As he goes forth into that dark night.

Jersey Zoo 25 Years: Profile: Jeremy Mallinson

Profile: Jeremy Mallinson

Running a zoo and fighting animal smugglers and politicians

The man in day to day charge I of Jersey Zoo has responsibilities which stretch much further, thanks to the growing influence of a small island on conservation efforts throughout the world.

Jeremy Mallinson has been on the staff of the zoo since two months after it opened and has been its director for the past 14 years. But not only does he have overall responsibility for one of the most admired animal collections in the world, but he is also very much involved in co-ordinating captive breeding programmes at a large number of widely separated establishments.

In between time he has to find time to write books, scientific papers, fulfil television and radio engagements and fight a continuing battle against animal smugglers, such as the Dutch dealer who illegally holds a tenth of the entire world population of golden-headed lion tamarins.

After spending some two and a half years in the regular army of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Jeremy Mallinson returned to his Jersey home just before the opening of Gerald Durrell’s new zoo in 1959.

It was his intention to return to Africa but he had been given a copy of Gerald Durre|l’s book ‘My family and other animals’ as a Christmas present and been told that he was just the sort of person he should work for.

From his most formative years Jeremy has been enthusiastic about the animal kingdom and the only reason for going to Africa in the first place was to see as much of its wildlife as possible.

Although he had not previously expressed much interest in the work of zoos, he had not at that time appreciated the tremendous work they could do for animal conservation.

However, after reading a number of articles about the reason for Gerald Durrell establishing his zoological collection in Jersey, he decided to write to the Zoo superintendent, Kenneth Smith, to see whether there was any possibility of having a summer job during the zoo’s first season in 1959. On May 1, 1959 he joined the bird staff and by October 1961 he had gained as much practical experience as possible working with both birds and mammals.

He then took unpaid leave to undertake an animal collection trip in Southern Rhodesia and the Bechuanaland protectorate. In May the following year he returned to Jersey with a sizeable collection of animals, some of which went to various zoological collections in the British Isles, as well as some remaining in Jersey.

In the summer of 1962 he was put in charge of the mammal section and during the following winter, anxious to study as many animals as possible in their natural habitat, he planned an 18-month trip which would have taken him back to Africa, where he planned to undertake a further animal collection, and then on to South America.

Although plans for this project were well advanced, Gerald Durrell offered him the appointment of deputy director from May 1963 and the trip was cancelled.

During the winter of 1965 he took four months leave of absence to investigate the legendary Mitla in the northern part of Bolivia and during this expedition he spent several weeks travelling on some of the lesser known tributaries of the upper Amazon basin.

He returned to Jersey from Guyana bringing back with him a number of animals from that country. Since that time he has had the opportunity to travel quite widely, carrying out study and animal collecting expeditions in Madagascar, Assam and Zaire.

As zoo director, his working day always starts with an hour walking round the entire collection, visiting all sections and talking to the staff. He is a great believer in leading by example and believes that fortnightly senior staff meetings, which help to keep everybody in touch with policy and overcome problems, have built up an excellent team spirit and a remarkably good atmosphere.

“I attach a great deal of importance to my first hour. lt is the only way I can keep my finger on the pulse of things.”

Not only that, it is his only contact with the animals with which he was so closely involved in the early days of the zoo, many of them close friends.

“N'Pongo still makes a lovely rumbling noise and I make a rumbling noise back to her. I can also go into the kitchen where the gorilla food is prepared and put my arms through the bars to touch the gorillas which were hand-reared.”

Jeremy believes that it was very important to have had a background of working in just about every part of the zoo and knowing what it was like to start at 7 o'clock with cleaning out the cages.

“I have had the practical side which I believe is very important and gives me a much greater understanding as to some of the problems which can arise.”

There are now 18 staff looking after the animals out of a total staff of 43, compared with six or seven, a maintenance man and one person in the paybox when he started.

In those early years he worked a 6 1/2 day week, taking one afternoon off to play hockey. Although by 1962 the staff were actually getting two afternoons off, it was not until the mid-60s that they were getting a full day off, aside from annual leave. Jeremy still works a 5‘/2 day week, using Saturday mornings to produce the trust's important publication the Dodo Journal with Kate Taynton.

He describes his job as ”diverse in every possible way” because there is not only the zoo work and the constant contact with people from all over the world on the telephone, but the responsibility of representing the trust on so many outside bodies.

“I do a lot of work to help them progress in the way we consider is important for the animal kingdom. Then there are the rescue missions, not directly connected with the work of the trust but just as important to the overall conservation effort.”

For several months this year he has been fighting to release the tamarins held illegally in Holland by a dealer who clearly does not share the Jersey Trust's views on conservation. It is battles like this which draw attention to the fight Jeremy and his colleagues have to wage not only with unscrupulous dealers but with disinterested governments and authorities.

“A few commando raids would help, but we cannot do that. We have to co-ordinate a whole lot of people who you would hope would think in the same way that we do, but all have a different way of reaching the same goal. We have to get people to get their act together. It is frustrating that some people are so swamped by bureaucracy that they cannot make decisions and if they do they come too late.”

“When an animal dealer has 20 per cent of the world population of a species illegally and they are steadily dying because nobody can do anything about it, to my mind that is catastrophic in every way.”

When in Assam in 1976 trying to save the pigmy hog from extinction he found that 95 per cent of his time was spent coping with politics.

“One has to get people to believe that one is there to help. There are a lot of awfully suspicious people because of the way they have been treated in the past by others. But people throughout the world are more and more coming to recognise the integrity of the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust.”

“We are small but we command a tremendous amount of international respect. We have got the best collection of animals in the world for our size and not only are we carrying out breeding programmes here, but we are doing so much field work in certain areas.”

“Our people in charge of sections have published papers about breeding programmes and done work with the same species in the wild state. We are increasingly keeping our finger on the pulse of things so that we can provide a well- balanced opinion of what should happen for long-term conservation strategies to conservation bodies and to the governments concerned.”

“It is far better for us to see a few jobs really well done than to do a little bit here and a little bit there. We concentrate our efforts in certain areas where we can visit, do field work and make our recommendations and become an integral part of the long-term effort. Jersey Zoo comes out of it as a model of what can be achieved.”

“We can lead by example and exert a lot of moral pressure on a lot of zoos and conservation organisations to follow our example. A lot of other zoo directors have got blinkers on but l think we are exerting a lot of influence on people.”

This is all port of what Jeremy Mallinson sees as a threefold purpose for Jersey Zoo.

The first is to collect and breed animals, and the second is to influence other people to do the same, but it is the third influence on the public at large which he considers to be vitally important.

“Gerald Durrell has given more people an awareness of the importance of the animal kingdom than any other person through his publications. It is so important to get over to people the significance of conservation. No matter how good films and articles are there is no substitute for seeing the living animal. When I see Jambo out I can only feel humble and it is very good for humans to feel humble.”

“I consider that zoos play a very important part in giving people an awareness of the importance of animals.”

“I recognise that the majority of people initially come for an experience and to enjoy themselves and quite rightly so, but we hope they take away a greater understanding of the importance of conservation.”

“In the final analysis, unless we can do that we are wasting our time.”

Talking Pictures

Talking Pictures

The old flickering movies, black and white
Long forgotten shows come back to life
Distant past coming once more into sight
The laughter and tears, love and strife

Dixon of Dock Green says “Good Evening All”
Those were the days, bobbies on the beat
The days when the Met stood proud and tall
And got the villains - never say defeat

It’s Worzel Gummidge at Scatterbrook Farm
Aunt Sally, the Crowman, farmer and his wife
He swaps his heads over. Such rural charm
Although with Aunt Sally, always strife

Maigret lights a match, puffs of pipe smoke
Pondering the crime, murders in France
Was it poison, a gun? How did they croak
The detective is there with knowing glance

Talking Pictures on Television: great to see
Glimpses of a golden age for you and me

Jersey Zoo: The Key to the Future

Jersey Zoo: The Key to the Future

It has always been obvious to the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust that one small breeding centre in the English Channel could only have minimal effect on the declining populations of our wild creatures, and in Gerald Durrell’s best selling and provocative book ‘The Stationary Ark’ he expressed his longstanding dream to create a mini university.

His aim was to teach zoo keepers and wildlife conservation workers how captive breeding could be used to help to preserve endangered animal species.

In 1979, while final plans were being considered for the construction of a fairly basic utility block within the Zoo grounds to provide a residence for trainees, the farm property next door to the Zoo, called Les Noyers (the Walnuts), which had belonged to the some family for about 500 years, came on to the market for the first time in its history.

Les Noyers not only provides a traditional country home with accommodation for up to 15, including a housekeepers flat, but also the most superb granite barn complex which immediately fulfilled a desperate need for workshops, bedding and food storage (including a fully operational cold store), garaging, technical stores and garden equipment. There was also room for development.

A technical research unit, incorporating rooms for graphic design, audio visual equipment, specimen store and museum was completed last year and a behavioural research unit now provides a sophisticated building for the close observation of animals living together above and below ground, blissfully unaware that their every move is being closely watched and recorded for science.

As the trust increases its role as an international venue for politicians and conservationists to discuss environmental issues, the superbly fitted out lecture theatre will provide more than just a training centre lecture room.

A new wing with bathrooms, cloakrooms and adjoining lobby completes the world's first international training centre for breeding endangered species in captivity.

Trainees come from every corner of the globe, from as far afield as Nagaland and St Vincent, Brazil and Manipur, New Zealand and Canada. It could often be said that they only have two things in common — they are of the same species and they put another species first. A third common, and sometimes perilous interest soon develops on the croquet lawn, where cultural differences sometimes lead to exotic rules.

Their off duty needs are catered for by Pat Gilson, the housekeeper, whose varied family grows every month. Her Christmas card address list must be one of the most interesting in Jersey. Some of her guests have never been out of their home locality before, let alone travelled to another hemisphere. Pat gently helps them to settle, and as an ex-nurse and an imaginative and skilled cook she is ably fitted to do so.

This training centre, which is being completed in this anniversary year for an official opening by the trust's patron, Princess Anne, on October 5, has already accommodated 106 trainees from 24 countries, and so there is no doubt about the need for such a mini-university.

Naturally the cost of establishing such a facility is very considerable and although the Jersey trust purchased the property the development of the project could not have taken place without Wildlife Preservation Trust International, who believed in the role of captive breeding in conservation.

The trust is grateful to the Leverhulme Foundation for under-writing the salary of the centre's first training officer, together with 30 training scholarships over a period of six years, and to the Pew Foundation in Philadelphia for the development of the technical research unit, bathroom block and lobby and for part funding of the behavioural research unit.

They also provided the necessary funds to furnish the Sir William Collins Memorial Library, and Collins have donated every natural history book published by them in memory of their late founder.

Two private benefactors greatly assisted the conversion of the residence and the fitting out of the observational research unit but the trust is still seeking a benefactor for the lecture hall, which is to cost in the region of £30,000.

The training programme offered at the centre is intended for individuals who have shown a commitment to conservation and there are three training categories.

Special trainees are mainly government sponsored personnel who are directly involved with the management of endangered species, particularly from the country of origin of the species and especially of those represented at the trust. Previous practical experience with animals is usually, although not invariably, a requirement.

Staff trainees are zoological staff selected for further training in conservation work.

Career trainees are individuals who have a significant chance, of pursuing a career in captive breeding or closely related disciplines. University graduates in relevant subjects with good practical experience or non-graduates with outstanding practical experience are eligible.

There are three separate courses.

The first is a 16-week course in practical work experience with theory assuming a strong supporting role.

Trainees usually work for two weeks in each of the different animal sections alongside the permanent zoo staff, learning all aspects of husbandry and propagation of endangered species. There are regular lectures, seminars and other discussion sessions and the trainee may undertake a short research project.

The second course is a shortened version of the sixteen-week course, lasting only ten weeks and omitting two animal sections.

The third course is a six-week theory course in conservation and captive breeding aimed at those candidates for whom practical work is not appropriate. The major component of the course is an extended research project.

They are not formal training courses with examinations and assessment is related to the practical work experience. Trainees are expected to participate in all animal work, including the dirty as well as the prestige jobs and are assessed on how much effort they put into a day's work and their approach to the work.

The trust asks for a willingness to share in all aspects of work and to exercise commonsense, initiative and enthusiasm. The real value of trainees to the trust will be measured in their future inspiration of others with the ideas that the courses have generated, and for them to implement and adapt their experience to enhance captive breeding success elsewhere.

Since the summer of 1980 the Trust has also been running a highly successful three-week summer school, varying the major theme from year to year. Each course is co-ordinated and directed by internationally recognised scientists and many zoo staff participate in specialised instruction. The function of the summer school is primarily education, in contrast to the more closely defined aim of the normal training programmes.

There are also opportunities for carrying out valuable research at the zoo and independent research workers of proven capability may be accommodated by the trust for varying periods.

The establishment of the training centre, fulfilling the dreams of zoo founder Gerald Durrell, has already proved of inestimable value to the world of conservation, and as our natural world comes under even greater pressure and casualties from the animal kingdom increase, so its value will grow.

Visiting Hamptonne - Cider Days

Visiting Hamptonne yesterday reminded me of this poem from October 2004, which was runner up in the poetry competition (adult class) held that year for poems about cider and apples. It's a bit risqué but rather fun.

It is lovely that the young Jersey calves are there, pigs, sheep and goodness knows how many hens and cockerels. The more modern house has also been revamped to around war and just post-war which is a delight, and there is a new exhibition area which currently has stunning photos of wildlife.  A great place for a picnic, and sunny weather, but not as busy as the cider festival, which I still remember very fondly.

Cider Days

Sing we a song of the harvest home
Of maidens fair, and lads who roam
Sing of dalliance, should they meet.
Quaff of our cider, the finest, sweet.

This is the time of our cider making
Cabbage loaf, Wonders, all for baking
Sing in the farmyard, take the apple
While lad and maiden in lusty grapple.

The farm horse turns the cider crusher
Apples crunched, no fair smell sweeter
Sing now of the old farm days of clover
While lad and maiden, now rollover.

More apples to fetch from orchard now
Heave carts and barrows past the cow
Pick the apples, some to eat and savour
This year, the maiden is now in labour.

With some for bake, and some for crumble
This is our Jersey apple, so very humble
But best of all, drink upon cider days
While nearby mother with baby plays.

1974 - 50 Years Ago - May Part 2

1974 - 50 Years Ago - May Part 2

May 216—A three-year examination of the Val de La Mare dam has shown expansion and disturbance of the concrete caused by chemical action, but today the Jersey New Waterworks Company issued a. Statement to assure the public that the stability of the dam is entirely satisfactory.

17.-—The proprietor of the former Millionaires Club, Cypriot Mr. Christopher Georgiou, will stay -in the debtors’ prison for a least another six weeks while investigations as to whether he has any assets outside Jersey are made.

18..—Since May 2 when 2,600 letters were sent to states tenants by the Housing Department informing them of a new “ licensing " system for keeping pets, some 210 applications have been received asking for licences.

20.—Thieves who broke into the Colomberie premises of Peter Gould (Chemists) Ltd. last night cleared the dangerous drugs cupboard of its entire stock of more than 11,000 tablets and capsules. This is Jersey’s biggest drugs haul to date. ”

21 . Taxi driver Centenier Robert Eaton has resigned from the St. Helier Honorary Police because he can no longer afford the time off from his job since the new open-rank taxi system came into operation in town.

22.—Miss Jersey Battle of Filowers 1974, is Jersey-born 20 year-old Miss Susan de Gruchy. Her maids of honour are Miss Maria Brookes, and Mrs. Margaret Barnes, the “ Spring Festival Princess”

23.—States Greffier Mr. Edward Potter is to be the secretary of a delegation of the UK branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association which will visit Canada from Sunday at the invitation of the Canadian branch of the association.

24.—Although this year’s potato exports are so far almost 17 per cent up on last year’s, farmers are crying out for rain to swell the crop. Mr. Stan Morel, the chairman of the JFU potato committee, forecast that between one and two inches of rain was required fairly soon in order to give a heavier crop.

25. The top floor of the General Hospital’s private wing is to be opened up to take private patients due to pressure for beds not until 1976. The Public Health Committee hope to do this on January 1. 1976, but the move is dependent upon the completion of new staffing accommodation in Savile Street.

28—The Fort Regent Development Committee's plans for the Fort were given full approval by the States late today after the amendment put forward by the Finance and Economics Committee—to do no work on the rotunda for the time being—had been defeated by 32 votes to nine.

29.—Jersey’s two major tourist attractions—Mont Orgueil Castle and Elizabeth Castle—have once again reported record attendances for the first six weeks of the season.

30.—Hotel charges in Jersey could go up by at least 25 per cent next year. And there could be two increases, one to cover the period from January 1 to June 30 and the second: to come from July 1 onwards.

31. Baroness Seear of Paddington, who before being made a life peeress in 1971, was known as Miss Beatrice Nancy Seear, and who is an economist and expert in personal management is in the Island looking at the job evaluation scheme which has been an integral part of the Jersey Civil Service for the past six years.