Jersey – St. Helier

Liberation Square

 

George II – this statue, erected in 1751, has recently had a refurb, as you can probably tell.

In all I spent quite a bit of time looking around St. Helier, with an afternoon after my flight arrived, a morning before my return flight left, a guided tour with Arthur and a couple of evenings carousing with Alan. So – what’s to know? Like most British town centres it has most of the identikit shops you might expect. In addition it has some very large hotels, investment banks and swish apartment blocks by the marina. I would recommend the Lamplighter’s pub which can boast several real ales, an encyclopaedic collection of malts, very friendly customers and a fiercely impatient barmaid. Arthur’s enthusiasm for all things Jersey extended to the new bus station, which he included in our tour – so I’ll tell you that it looked very efficient and the local bus services seem to be extremely comprehensive.

Not all of them…

 

…take to the water…

 

…but this service goes out to…

 

..Elizabeth Castle.

 

Which is on my to-do list for my next visit to Jersey. The castle is on a tidal island. On another island, joined to the castle by a causeway, is the hermitage where St. Helier himself lived for many years.

You can see its roof here.