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Forgotten Nazi History
2007-04-05 13:36:00
Most local residents are well aware that the during World War 2 the Channel Islands were occupied by Nazi forces - they were infact the only part of British soil to be conquered by the Third Reich. All over Jersey there are German bunkers, gun emplacements and tunnels bearing silent testament to those dark days. However, I thought it'd be interesting to knock up a post exposing some of the
More About: History , Story , Stor , Hist

Jobs Nonsense
2007-04-05 10:43:00
Last night's Jersey Evening Post featured a huge front-page headline, "RECORD-BREAKING FINANCE JOBS BOOM". The accompanying article went on to proudly proclaim how the number of jobs in the island increased last year by over 1500 - because of the Finance industry. Now that all sounds fine and funky - until you consider the huge percentage of staff that finance companies routinely bring over to
More About: Sense , Jobs , Nonsense , Onsen , Ense

People Power!
2007-04-04 09:58:00
Just a quick update concerning the mobile phone mast array being constructed on the roof of the Washington Hotel in Clarendon Road, St. Helier. Following the recent public protest regarding the masts, the company concerned, Airtel, have been ordered to cease construction and resubmit their planning application. The Minister For Planning And Enviroment has also ordered the company to display the
More About: Power , People , People Power

Sex Pistols in Jersey
2007-03-31 14:34:00
30 years ago this week, believe it or not, legendary Punk Rockers the Sex Pistols were kicked out of Jersey . At that time the band were at the height of their unpopularity, they were banned from playing in most of the UK, their antics had caused a national outcry in the press, and questions had even been asked in Parliament concerning a clampdown upon the Punk Rock "menace".

More Heroin...
2007-03-30 21:04:00
Portugal has officially been named as the major heroin source for Jersey. According to Jersey's Customs Service over 50 percent of heroin entering the island in the last year came from Portugal. This is a huge turn of events, because up until just one year ago the UK had always been the primary source of the drug. On top of this, drug importation from Poland is on the increase - a problem which
More About: More , Hero , Heroin

School Band @ Number 1
2007-03-30 16:42:00
A local band have apparently made number 1 in the Coca Cola online chart. I've just googled for the chart and can find nothing in the results except charts of stocks and shares for the company, so I can't be bothered to look any further. However, the band are called The Smokin' Vincents, from Bealieu School , and on the strength of the song ('What Am I Gonna Do?') they've been signed to a UK
More About: Band , Numb , Number

JCG Sell-Off Delayed
2007-03-30 15:20:00
Following the recent concern about the Government's sale of public property without the best price being sought (click here and here for earlier posts on the story), the sale of the Jersey College For Girls site has been postponed and placed under review - despite Frank Walker's earlier protestations to the contrary. Treasury Minister Terry Le Seur will now be expected to give a full
More About: Sell

Shoplifting
2007-03-27 14:48:00
There was a report in last night's Jersey Evening Post about a Police operation which took place on Friday, targeting shoplifters. At least 20 shops in the town centre were involved...and FIVE shoplifters caught. Now, despite all concerned patting themselves smugly on the back, that's a laughably pathetic result. Shop lifting in St.Helier is quite literally a problem of epidemic proportions. One
More About: Shoplifting , Lift , Lifting

Black Hole, Son
2007-03-26 16:26:00
"Rumours of a black hole in our economy are unfounded". So said Chief Minister Frank Walker on Friday, at a dinner for the Institute of Financial Services. Hmmmmm. That's the "black hole" he and his Finance Minister have been harping on about for the past couple of years? "It's time to tighten our belts" is one quote I recall from the latter, before radical actions were put in motion to extract
More About: Black , Hole , Lack

Biased Career Supplements
2007-03-25 15:39:00
So, last week one of those job supplement thingies appeared in the local newspaper, The Jersey Evening Post. These flop out of the centre pages periodically, and take the form of a seperate magazine promoting various careers available to islanders - yet they are always completely biased toward the Finance and Office sectors. "What's the problem with that?" I hear you ask. Well, just a couple of
More About: Men , Care , Supplements , Career , Supple

The Obligatory Weather Post
2007-03-25 11:33:00
Residing on "the sunshine isle" I suppose it was assumed I'd mention the weather at some point - so let's get it out of the way today.... No doubt many people believe the hype of Jersey's climate being akin to that of a sub-tropical paradise. Sure, it has more hours of sunshine per annum than the UK, but it also has a nasty wind-chill factor during the winter months. The weatherman will happily
More About: Weather , Post , Liga , Tory , Gator

More Hotel Closures
2007-03-24 09:04:00
Just a couple of months away from the start of the tourist season, and yet another of the island's Hotel s has closed down and sold-up. L'emeraude Hotel in St. Saviours has been sold to the Jersey Royal Potato Marketing Board for an undisclosed sum. An application has been made by the Board to convert the Hotel into dwellings for agricultural workers.This week it was also announced that a planning application has been lodged by the Highfield Country Hotel in Trinity to allow conversion into apartments.In August of last year the Chateu Valeuse Hotel, in a prime position on St Brelades Bay, closed down due to lack of vistors. The hotel was demolished and it was yesterday announced that luxury apartments will be constructed on the site.
More About: More , Closure , Sure

Shifty Treasury Dealings? Pt 2
2007-03-24 07:48:00
Soooooo...just time for a quick update on the shifty looking property sell-off mentioned a couple of days back - the story gets curiouser.Here's a quick recap on the situation: The States (the Jersey Government) are selling off publically owned property because they desperately need money to fill a financial "black hole". One of these properties is the old Jersey College For Girls.It has been proposed to sell the site to Grange Developments, who have offered £1.8 million - and a share of future profits from the redevelopment of the building into flats.HOWEVER, a second unnamed developer has offered to DOUBLE the price put forward by Grange Developments, also share future profits in the development, AND retain a section of the site for community use. But strangely this offer seems to be of no interest to certain senior Government Ministers. Infact, Chief Minister Frank Walker is so unkeen on accepting the better deal that he is fighting efforts to have the lower deal delayed a...
More About: Deal , Ealing , Shift , Treasury

Anti-vandal 'Spy Car' Exposed
2007-03-21 20:34:00
A 'spy car' equipped to secretly film vandalism in Pier Road car park was removed today.The car, a red Ford Fiesta, was exposed on local car enthusiast website www.cicarscene.com. A member of the site had their attention drawn to the vehicle after spotting a camera in the side window, and another between the seat headrests. The ultimate giveaway was the insurance disc, registered to the States Of Jersey.The car had no wing-mirrors, which renders it legally unroadworthy. When asked to comment upon this, Fay Calvert, Manager of Parking Control, said the mirrors must have been removed by vandals....This is the second time such an initiative has been rumbled online. A couple of years ago the States Of Jersey Police invested a substantial amount of money in an undercover vehicle, equipped with all the latest spying and recording gadgetry to capture lawbreaking motorists. Within 2 days of being on the road a full description and the vehicle's number plate had been placed online.I actua...
More About: Expo , Anda , Expose , Anti , Pose

Gene Vincent....Banned!
2007-03-21 09:30:00
Another quick bit of Jersey music history for you, this time concerning Rock and Roll pioneer Gene Vincent .For those of you who don't know him, Vincent was the the man who penned the classic 'Be Bop A Lula', virtually single-handedly invented the bad-ass black-leather Rocker look, was in the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran......and during summer of 1963, was in Jersey to perform at Springfield Hall (now demolished).Now, Vincent was a bit of a drinker. In 1955 he'd suffered a motorbike crash which almost lost him a leg, and would leave him in chronic pain for the rest of his life. Alcohol helped dull that pain, so naturally whilst in Jersey he sought out a pub. To be precise, The Exeter, in St. Helier's Queen Street.Now anyone who has been to The Exeter will know just how small the place is, and will probably find it hard to believe that in the early 60's there was a pool table in the centre of the downstairs bar. That pool table ended up ruining Gene Vincent's night on th...
More About: Cent , Anne , Banned

Shifty Treasury Dealings?
2007-03-21 08:13:00
Senator Ben Shenton has called for an inquiry into the decision by the States to sell off a number of public assets, as there appears to be a rather strange logic in play behind the sales.Mont Mado quarry was offered for sale to just three buyers, rather than being put on the open market and sold for the best possible price. Even stranger, it's been proposed that the former Jersey College For Girls site be sold to a developer for HALF the amount offered by a rival firm. Senator Shenton has asked Treasury Minister Terry Le Seur for some detailed explanation, because "at the moment I cannot think what his explanation is going to be".From the point of view of a common member of the public such as myself, a Politician selling public property at half the price offered by other bidders immediately looks very shifty.At the most basic level such a course of action is unbelievably bad business sense - especially coming from the man holding the island's purse strings! So are we to believe ...
More About: Deal , Ealing , Shift

The Chief Minister And Heroin
2007-03-18 09:12:00
Libel lawyers, take a deep breath and calm thyselves! The title of this post refers to a pair of completely unrelated subjects that I've been pondering on this grey, wet and windy Sunday afternoon.So, let's get down to business. Firstly, the Chief Mini ster. The office of Chief Minister is the nearest thing our unique political system has to a Prime Minister. It's a position currently held by one Frank Harrison Walker.A few days back Walker took up the entire front page of the local newspaper, The Jersey Evening Post, to deny rumoured allegations of wifebeating. Now, I have never heard such rumours. Not one of the people I know has heard such rumours. Not one person that any of those people know, has heard such rumours. See the common trait here?However, because of Walker's decision to take the story to the local press, almost every household in Jersey has become fully aware of the rumour. A man was arrested in connection with this issue, but freed without charge (and not given...
More About: Hero

Led Zeppelin In Jersey
2007-03-17 23:55:00
Here's an interesting fact that most local people seem completely unaware of. Unlikely as it may sound, in 1975 the Rock band Led Zeppelin lived on the island.Back in the mid-70's Jersey was still a premier holiday destination, and was of course attractive to big spenders and money-makers due to its tax haven status. Many of the stars of the era holidayed on the island, but Led Zeppelin arrived due to rather unfortunate circumstances.In early August of 1975 singer Robert Plant had been severely injured in a car crash whilst holidaying in Greece. As a result the band were forced into hiatus, cancelling a planned world tour. Possibly for taxation reasons, and possibly because Plant had friends on the island, he headed to Jersey to recuperate, with drummer John Bonham and guitarist Jimmy Page in tow. When their flight landed at Jersey Airport a heavily plaster-castered Plant had to be removed from the aircraft by a fork-lift truck!Whilst Plant stayed with friends, Page and Bonham ren...

Strange: Jersey Third In UK Poll
2007-03-17 15:51:00
The United Co-Op Travel Group, one of the largest Travel Agencies in Northern Britain, has placed Jersey third in a table of the most popular UK destinations for British holidaymakers. The top 5 destinations are Eastbourne, Skegness, Jersey, Torquay and Scarborough.Trevor Davies, General Manager of the company predicts that Britain will become the next "big" destination as the "green" boom grows and travellers opt to stay closer to home in an effort to reduce carbon footprints and pollution.Now, no doubt members of the local Tourism Commitee will be slapping themselves on the back with the announcement of this 3rd place result. But when I look around, I don't see cause for celebration. I see this list as revealing what a bad state the domestic British tourism industry must be in.15 or 20 summers ago a stroll down to St.Helier's West Park beach would reveal a scene reminiscent of those Brighton Beach photos they show in the newspapers during every heatwave. Bodies crammed so tightl...
More About: Poll , Strange , Stra , Range

Tourist Bus Service Launched
2007-03-17 04:02:00
A new bus service is to be launched at Easter, with the routes focusing on vistor attractions and places of interest. There will be 4 routes, with a daily service, and there will only be two fares, £1.00 and £1.50. A weekend pass for unlimited travel will be £10.00. The service will run until the start of November.This is a damn good idea, and something I have often suggested should be done - though on the standard routes. Either way, it's nice to see someone finally got round to sorting out some kind of reasonably priced bus service on this island - and I'm sure many locals will be taking advantage.Now if they could only start using buses designed to seat normal sized Western adults, I may be tempted to start using public transport again. I'm just over 6 feet tall, which is nothing exceptional, yet I cannot sit on a local bus with my feet on the floor. The distance between the seats is such that if I attempt a normal seated posture, my knees are forced up against the seat in...
More About: Service , Tour , Launch , Launched , Vice

The Washington Hotel - A Serious Health Hazard?
2007-03-15 19:02:00
If you're intending to book a room at the Washington Hotel in Clarendon Road, St.Helier, you may want to reconsider. Why? Well read on....As a society we're pretty much at a stage in history where people are well aware of the possible dangers to their health from mobile phone mast emissions. Put very simply, there's a huge amount of concern in the scientific community that close exposure to the kind of microwave pulses and electromagnetic fields generated by such masts isn't exactly beneficial to human health. Soon a stay at the Washington Hotel will place guests directly beneath a source of such emissions - infact, roughly just ten feet below them if you're in a room on the third floor.You see, the owners of the Washington Hotel have agreed to allow Jersey Airtel to erect a mobile phone array on their roof - an array which includes THREE masts, SIX attena and one dish. That's a selection of TEN transmitters and receivers. Remember, the Washington Hotel is not a 40 storey to...
More About: Health , Haz , Serious

A Little About Jersey
2007-03-15 16:12:00
For those of you who don't know much about Jersey , here's a brief overview: Jersey is one of the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark & Herm), and sits approximately 14 miles off the West coast of France. It measures 9 miles long by 5 miles wide. Though many of the place names are French, and some of the older architectural styles are destinctly continental, the island is a Crown
More About: About , Little , Litt

Welcome!
2007-03-15 07:25:00
Hello there, and welcome to 'A Holiday In The Sun'.I may aswell start with a quick paragraph about myself. I'm not a writer, nor would I ever claim to be. I'm just an averagely educated person tapping away at a keyboard... emptying my head into the computer. So don't go expecting any pontifications of a Shakespearian or Kafkaesque level. I'm simply trying to write in a basic style that's understandable to all....so if you think it's crap, that'll be why! Quite frankly all this stuff is a one-shot deal with me. I just sit down, pick a subject, hit the keys, out it flows, and that's that. There's no pre-planning, no contemplation, no complexity, and hopefully the end product does exactly what it says on the packet. Now, about the blog! Being a Jersey resident, I had originally intended the blog to be a guide for potential visitors and tourists, its purpose to explore and explain exactly how much the island differs to the completely one-sided picture commonly painted by glos...
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