Day 12 Herm
After breakfast we drove down to St Peter Port and parked in the harbour car park. Parking is free everywhere on Sundays in Guernsey. On other days it is disc parking but it must be a Guernsey recognised disc which we didn’t get. All other places around the island parking is free.
It was quite cool and cloudy when we left the hotel. We caught the 10.30 ferry to Herm Island which is only 20 minutes away and as if by magic, out came the sun as we arrived and we had another very warm, sunny day. The ferry docked at Rosiere Steps rather than the harbour as it does at low tide. We passed the nearby island of Jethou which has a few houses on it but is privately owned so not accessible by the public. Jethou also incorporates the neighbouring islands of Crevichon and Grande Fauconniere which are all joined up at low tide.
Herm only has 60 permanent residents. It was leased to the Wood family (Major Peter and his wife Jenny) in 1949 and they made it what it is today, a very peaceful, beautiful island for tourists to enjoy. They also did a lot for conservation on the island and their work is continued today as the island is run by their daughter and son in law. Peter and Jenny Wood are buried at St Tugual’s Churchyard.
There are no TVs allowed on the island and it is illegal to play a radio or play music outside or within earshot of anyone else. No cars or bicycles are allowed and only a couple of quad bikes and tractors exist for the residents. Herm has its own fire station, power station and water treatment works.
We decided to walk around the coast path in an anti clockwise direction past the White House Hotel and the 2 pubs and gift shop. We also got to see where the Harbour was as this was where the returning ferry would depart from as it would be high tide then.
There are some fabulous sandy beaches on Herm including Fishermans Beach, Bear’s Beach, Mouisonnier Beach and Shell Beach. There are also some remote sandy coves that can be reached by boat for anyone wanting a quite day at the beach with safe swimming. The south and east coasts have high cliffs and rocky outcrops. There is a large common at the northern end which used to be a golf course but this was removed by the Wood’s. There are 2 cafes on the East coast but both are closed for the season. We did sit at the picnic tables at one of them and ate our lunch there. It was very peaceful.
After circumnavigating the island we stopped at the Mermaid pub for a drink and a rest before heading to the centre of the island to visit a Zen Garden, St Tuguals Church and The Manor. Most of the Manor is marked as private and only those renting a holiday home can enter. There appeared to be a large number of holiday rentals and in the summer months there are a couple of camping fields as well. Paul misbehaved and was put in jail for a while but he was let out on good behaviour.
We had a second drink in the Ship Inn while waiting for the ferry back to St. Peter Port which left on time and passed very close to Brehon Tower built on Brehon Rock in 1847 to replace an obelisk which wasnt effective in stopping ships from going aground on the rocks.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is not good with rain all day so we may take the opportunity of a rest day and do some packing ready for our return to Poole on Wednesday. However the forecast has been wrong many times on this holiday, always in our favour, so we will wait and see what it is like in the morning.
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