Day Five - Jersey - 16th July 2011 - Jersey War Tunnels - Part Two

Thankfully, the Occupational Forces did not finish building the tunnels. What were unfinished have been sealed and are available to view as a reminder for the conditions that were experiences by those who were forced to build them.

The second photograph shows how dark it was in the tunnels and the photograph above is an artist reflective account of those who worked in this enforced conditions.

There is as you walk around the exhibition a taped and video feed from those who were on the island and were either evacuated to Germany or of those who watched fellow Islanders be evacuated to Germany. Those that went to Germany were not told where they were going.

.....and eventually, parcels from the Red Cross started to arrive, but after years of hardship.

.....And eventually, the Islands were liberated.

There is a lovely, heart warming account by an islander, who was transcribing the news from an illegal (under German Occupation) Crystal set. The lady, who is moved to tears of joy recounts that the moment she heard Winston Churchill say that sentence she was overcome with emotion and didn't bother writing the rest of the message down!

Day Five - Jersey - 16th July 2011 - Jersey War Tunnels - Part One

We woke on the Saturday of our holiday to a very heavy downpour of rain. We had already seen the forecast and had planned one of the places we had definitely wanted to visit for a day that was either very wet or very hot! Upon arrival at the tunnels and paying the entrance fee we were presented with copies of two Jersey identity cards. - read on to part four to discover why!

The signs outside, with engraved captions of the time are very powerful. Especially the one that reads "British Subjects will be evacuated and transferred to Germany". 

The tunnels were built between 1941 and 1945 by forced and slave labour. The tunnels are complex and were initially built as bomb and gas proof storage and repair facility and then later converted to a hospital with capacity for 500 beds, which was never used.

There is a rather foreboding atmosphere, almost an historical sense of doom. As you enter through into the first exhibition it tells the story of Jersey, seen initially as the spot that you could visit safely whilst Europe was at War. The Islanders, I do not believed for one minute thought that they would be invaded. After all, the fortifications that had kept the island safe from the French for hundreds and hundreds of years would keep them safe....No! Then there is the sound, yes, just the sounds of planes above and the obviously sounds of war. The effects are very good and it heightens the reflections that this is the noise that the islands would have heard.

Having arrived on the island, there were a whole series of things that had to be complied with. Radios were to be handed it, those of Jewish descent were to make themselves known. There was rationing, with the islanders living on very little food.

Jar of Sugar Beet made during the German Occupation. Dated 1942.

Day Four - Jersey - 15th July 2011 - Trip to Guernsey

When the weather is nice, clear and bright, it is possible to see the coastline of Guernsey. Suitably inspired with decided rather late the night before to do a trip across to Guernsey if the weather was OK. The last thing we wanted was a rough sailing!

After a hearty breakfast, and ensuring we had packed our day bag, not just with sunscreen as the sun was out and it was blowy, but with waterproof jackets we headed off to Elizabeth Pier to catch the ferry which left at 11.15. The ferry service operated by Condor is a swish affair, ping-ponging  its way across from Weymouth to Jersey via Guernsey several times a day. We left late, due to some cargo, and cars being awkward to load and set off for the hour crossing to Guernsey.

We docked and eventually foot passengers could disembark. We had arrived to a sunny & slightly blowy Guernsey. We picked up the Welcome to Guernsey pack as we arrived into the port and then walked the short distance into town. We found a nice spot to have an early lunch and plan the days events. The one thing with deciding to go at last minute was that we had nothing particularly planned and therefore could get a rough feel for the bit of the island that we had arrived in. In fairness, we will go back and spend a few days there. During lunch we decided to wander around the streets, look in the shops and simply enjoy what was a leisurely day.

After lunch, the war sun had gone in and been replaced with a rather grey looking sky. The rain did hold off until about 4.30pm when we donned our jackets, it was not heavy rain, but the drizzle type which always seems to get you soaked! We had booked for the last ferry from Guernsey which left for Jersey at 19.10 and would arrive back at Jersey an hour later, which left time for a quick walk back to the hotel, a shower and change before a late dinner.

But, things were not meant to be. The ferry was going to be an hour late arriving and then obviously would not arrive back to Jersey until after 9pm. By this time the rain was certainly coming down. We managed to find a seat and a cup of tea at the ferry terminal and wait for the late arriving ferry.

Back on Jersey, where the rain had not arrived yet, dinner that evening was a rather dubious affair from a fast food outlet, and was adequate! Despite, the lateness of the ferry and the rain we had a lovely day and wish to spend a few days in Guernsey to really appreciate what the island has to offer.

The island has a very different feel to it then Jersey. It almost feels that while Jersey has played up and truly promoted it proud history and culture, Guernsey has not; it is as proud of its historical journey as Jersey, but has rather played it down, in almost a humble way and that adds to the appeal of the Islands.

Weekend Cooking - Food with a difference

There is a fascinating and slightly unusual archive here in the UK called the Mass Observation Study, which was started in 1937.Then last week I received an on-line article, published in the Financial Times titled History in the Speaking which looks at the tape recordings and therefore archive from the rich, famous and regular person in the street.

The recordings make up an incredible oral archive housed at the British Library. The archive has focused on various projects and is very varied from the Living Memory of the Jewish Community which was collated between 1988 and 1993 to An Oral History of Tesco, the Supermarket chain based here in the UK, which ran between 2003 - 2007. Some of the Oral archives are available to be listened too and others closed until the author's death.

A food project ran between 2000-2001 and now hosts more than 200 references and some of the oral archive can be listened to on-line. (I hope those outside of the UK can access the wonderful & thought provoking resource).

Simple Pleasures - Coffee!

Quite simply a welcomed coffee, at the Gardens of Samares Manor on Jersey where were on holiday. It was a glorious sunny day and we sat outside to recharge our legs and enjoy the beautiful spot we were in. Stuart took this photo and said this is for your regular blog post. I had no idea that he even knew that I wrote a usually regular post for Weekend Cooking. So this was two simple pleasures in one! 

Simple Pleasures is hosted by A Collection of This & That

NaBloPoMo - August - Fiction

The NaBloPoMo word for August if Fiction and whilst, I don't always take part my thoughts turned to the fiction of my family history.

We have all inherited stories of our ancestry and very often by the time we research the facts of the story, the storyteller has passed away and all we are left with is a story which may or may not be true, or perhaps there is a grain of truth and much fiction. The details and stories we are told can be used as springboards for the truth of our ancestry and I don't believe we can ask for more.

Frequent readers of this blog will have seen that I have posted about our recent holiday to Jersey of which I am currently about half way through. Jersey is rich in history, and much focus is given to the "recent" history of the German Occupation during the Second World War. There are monuments and the Occupational Tapestry, the Underground Hospital and a whole host of other things that makes the Island history rich in terms of this part of its history.

As we wondered and explored the island my thoughts turned to my Grandparents during the Second World War, were they fearful, how did the emotions of it all affect their lives? Why did my Grandfather join up?, he could easily have found work on the farm that my family worked on. What of my Grandfather's time in Africa? Did he see, like many others the dreadfulness of Europe? Some of these questions will never be answered, as there is no one left to ask, and his service record does not give instant answers.

What I do know is that my Grandmother had evacuees during the War and worked at the Laundry in Guildford, which washed and dealt with the clothes of the military. There is very little documentation of the formed laundry at Guildford, although the derelict building wasn't demolished until the late 1980s I think, and now the Crown Court sit on the same site. If only the walls of that old building could have talked, what stories would they have shared?

This photo is one of the ones that I have inherited, given to me by a cousin after my Grandmother passed away.  The cousin that had this photo was the daughter of my Grandmother's sister, so why did she have it? What did my Aunt do in the War? The photo shows my Grandmother in the middle, and two work colleagues from the laundry or two evacuees? There is no one left to ask, but I do know, because the photograph tells me on the back that one is called Eadie Greenaway, but which one?

For me, this is a combination of fact and fiction, and I believe that most of our ancestries can be like that. The stories we inherit are fiction, until we can prove them with evidence and then they become fact. Of course if we can't locate any evidence then we are always left wondering.......

Wordless Wednesday & Silent Sunday

From the gardens of Samares Manor July 13th 2011

Tea Cup Tuesday - Flying Pheasant

Welcome to my first Tea Cup Tuesday post.

In my kitchen breakfast room we have a triple display unit. The photograph shown here shows the centre section of it. This display unit is the home to an assortment of things. Things we have gathered together as a result of wanders around antique centres, or from a well known auction site. It also houses lots of china and things that I inherited from my Grandmother. The water set on the top shelf, the beautiful tea set that sits on the second and third shelf which were wedding presents given to my Grandparents in 1939 and on the bottom shelf sits a few plates and serving dishes inherited from my Grandmother.

My favourite bits are the tea set. It seems ironic that we have all this china, which lived in a cupboard, out of sight when my Grandmother was alive, yet we don't have a single photograph of the wedding. Sad, but true.

About 10 years ago we were in Honiton having a wander around one of the then many antique shops when I saw some bits that complimented and matched this set. I pondered; should I get them and add to the set or leave the set as it stands as a true reflection of my Grandparents wedding? I asked Stuart who said, unhelpfully, its up to you. I wandered back and forth, picking up bits and then replacing them. In the end I decided not to buy of any of it. Do I regret it? just a little. It is a lovely set. I have never used it and I suspect that neither did my Grandmother. As to who bought if for them I have no idea.

The bottom of all the items it reads:

X L Ware

Flying Pheasant

British Made

There are no other details and apart from that one day in the antique shop I have never seen any other pieces.

That tea set is really as much a part of my family history as any written word or picture of an individual. Most of us inherit bits from family members and we of course treasure them, as gifts from a known individual. Do we though look beyond that? To explore the how did they get the item and why? All those thoughts and questions build further information into the life of the person from whom we inherited it from.

Submitted as part of Tea Cups Tuesday hosted by Artful Affirmations

Day Three - Jersey - 14th July 2011 - Tour of the Island - West

At 4pm we resumed the rest of our island tour; this time entitled the Lighthouse Way. We drove around the coastline, looking at the fabulous bays and beach. Past St. Aubins, which is delightful. I spotted what has to be a super sandcastle; preserved before it is destroyed as the sea reclaims the sand, I just wish that I had managed to secure a descent picture of it.

We then drove past the Shell House, which was closed on this particular day.

Tremendous skill  - The Shell House

We then headed out to the Corbiere Lighthouse. We also saw this memorial.

Like the East of the Island, much of the coastline is littered with defences. Firstly in avoidance of occupation by the French and latterly used by the Germans during their occupation of the Island, against the British.

The tour then concluded and we found ourselves back on the main road into St. Helier where we saw this statue to Queen Victoria

Dinner in the evening was at a fine & very popular restaurant called Little Italy. Here we a lovely meal, mine was the finest and most delicious Ravioli that I have ever had. Definitely added to the list of places to return too!

Wordless Wednesday & Silent Sunday

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Wk 31 Grandparents House

Week 31: Grandparents’ House. Describe your grandparents’ house. Was it big or small? How long did they live there? If you do not know this information, feel free to describe the house of another family member you remember from your childhood.

This challenge runs from Saturday, July 30, 2011 through Friday, August 5, 2011.

Is my situation unique? 

My Grandparents rented a house in 1940, in the same road when my Grandmother was born in 1912. That involvement and rental lasted from 1940 until 1996. The tenancy agreement was in my Grandfather's name and remained so until he died in 1974 when it passed to my Grandmother. She remained living in the house until 1991 when she moved into a residential care home and the tenancy passed to my Mum, who remained in the property until 1996. 

A tenancy and an association with that particular house spanned 56 years. The association with this particular road, commenced in 1912 when my Grandmother was born and remained until my Mum moved in 1996, a total of 84 years.

Over the last 20 odd years I have kept an archive of data about this particular road, which is still very much a work in progress. On a personal note, I have all the rent books spanning 1940 until 1996 and all the tenancy information.

Here is a photograph of the house in Walnut Tree Close Guildford in 1968; which was also the focus of an earlier posting which is HERE

This photo was taken by Allen Edwards, whose mother in law lived across the road from my Grandparents. I have looked at this photograph lots of times as it shows the house,the first on the right where my Grandparents lived, but it was only recently, when I was adding it to an earlier post that I realised that the top window is open and has my Grandparents looking out and the bottom window has my Mum peeping outside.

Carnival Of Genealogy 108 - Foods & their links to the past

This posting is doubling up as my weekly contribution to Weekend Cooking and my monthly contribution to the Carnival of Genealogy.

General Pondering

There is something rather comforting about food and I wonder what it is? Is it that historically, generations before us our ancestor and relatives went to bed hungry, so that when we feel the need for something to perk us up we eat? Then, what foods do we eat? Women often find solace in chocolate, a fact that is hormone driven, but has that always been the case? As children many of us have happy memories of being off from school, cocooned on the settee with a special blanket and being given a food, such as soup for lunch. Even now, I like a particular brand of Vegetable or Tomato soup if I am poorly.

Links to the Past

Recipes and food often hold special places in our hearts and are reminders for past & happier times or of those special people in our lives.

There is nothing particular special about the recipe above. It was written by my Great Grandmother, Annie Prudence Butcher nee Harris (1879 - 1972) in about 1965 to my Grandfather, her son and my Grandmother and mother. It is a simple jotting of a recipe, which presumably, my Grandfather had asked for in a previous letter; a letter which sadly has not survived. This is the Great Grandmother, who to was a very elderly lady, that allowed me to sit on her bed and tickle her toes when I was about three and is probably one of my earliest memories.

Wine making did play a part in life of my Grandfather. My Mum remembers a bottle of wine, which was about 10 years old at the time being taken to the reception of his Nephew and being shared round. Mum commented that the wine was very strong, enough to knock your head off!

I inherited from my Grandmother a Victory in Europe cookery book from July 1945, which I wrote about HERE. There is just something very special about this little recipe book and I don't know if my Gran ever used it. Perhaps, the specialness, is because, after 15 years I still miss my beloved Grandmother dreadfully and since my holiday and whilst away on Jersey, seeing elements of the Second World War there, it made me wonder what my Grandmother had experienced. 

Casting my mind back to the summers of my childhood, there was the delicious home made lemonade, which sat in the larder in a large heavy 1930s china jug decorated with summer flowers. The jug has long since gone but the recipe lingers on and will be made today I think, a lovely summers day in England. 

The recipe is simple.

Add sugar to a jug, to taste

Cut 1 or 2 lemons 

Add boiling water to the jug and stir

Place in the fridge until cold

More casting my mind back was for Saturday evening tea, was a large potato baked in the oven, forked pricked and then served with strong grated cheese and a smell that I still love and every time I smell it, it evokes happy memories of my childhood, and the people who greatly influenced me to become the person that I am.

Quote for today!

“The journey is the destination.” 

The late Dan Eldon, photo journalist.

Sunday Salon -

Oh my, it has been three months since my last post to The Sunday Salon. Where does the time go? I am not sure what I have been doing in my three month absence. Well, I have just come back from a lovely break to Jersey and you can read about it on Anglers Rest; I am currently a third through day 3. Prior to the holiday I have been working and working and working.....

On the reading front, I have got behind my planned schedule for the various reviews I have been asked to do. For several reasons. The day job has become a little more hectic. I have also been asked to review using PDF or Kindle versions; and I am not keen on that method. Give me a proper book, with pages to turn. One book I was asked to review has been a disappointment and just where do I start?

I did bring back two books from Jersey. One was the guide book that accompanied the visit to the Occupation Tapestry and the other about Evacuees from Jersey during the German Occupation 1940-1945.

Day Three - Jersey - 14th July 2011 - Occupation Tapestry

One of the things I really wanted to see while in Jersey was the Occupation Tapestry. Made to commemorate 50 years of Liberation from the German Occupation.

So, having had a coffee and wander around the Liberation Market, where we bought a lovely collar for Alfie, we ventured into the Occupation Tapestry which is housed in the Maritime Museum in the Quay, opposite Liberation Square.

I was simply overwhelmed with the skill of those who took part. There was a 10 minute video which explained how the tapestry came to be and the ground work that went into the tapestry.

There are 12 panels; one representing each parish. The parishes drew lots, which decided what the focus of their particular panel was going to be about.

Towards the end of the exhibition and tapestry is a panel naming all those who took part in creating this wonderful creation. The panel also shows those who were involved in making the tapestry and were on Jersey at the time of the Occupation.

The tapestry is outstanding and well worth a visit. I purchased the guide book and a complete set of postcards, which shows each of the tapestry panels. The postcards and guidebook are available from the shop in the Maritime Museum.