Spent the day cleaning up — here on the blog various small things have been fixed up. Unfortunately, that means that subscribers probably got every post again as I changed the permalinks. But now it’s set up more usefully, where you see the category rather than the date as a part of the URL. I promise I won’t do it again.
We have a useable 404 page now which I hope you will never see, and I have fixed the confusing navigation to now take you to “previous posts” and “later posts” rather than making you guess which direction “next” might be taking you.

I’ve cleaned up http://www.flickr.com/photos/landing/ so the images here now correctly link there (and I snuck some new ones in) although I have only finished the Alderney set so far. I should get Guernsey and Jersey done by the end of the week.

I feel so very organised. :)

I love it when a random search drops me onto a website which was not, in any way, what I was looking for but absolutely interesting in its own right.

Today I stumbled on this great collection of photographs of Alderney taken by CR LeCocq between 1900 and 1918:

http://www.cipostcard.co.nz/lecocq.htm

I especially love the shot of the lighthouse being built — I took dozens of photographs of the lighthouse. And take a closer look at the wrecks. I tend to think of them as little stories and lose sight of the fact that we’re looking at real ships and real people. These images bring that back into focus for me.

Speaking of wrecks, I read “Rebecca” for the first time which gave a very real and frightening view of the “wreckers” and the real shock and misery of a sinking ship, let alone the concept that someone might have done this to you on purpose. I’m glad I read it as I think I was in danger of romanticising the entire concept (not that I’ve seen any evidence of actual wrecking so far). It was also interesting seeing the news and the public reactions to the wreck of the Napoli and the mad rush for the loot in Devon.

Coastguard officials have accused scavengers of “sheer greed”.

Is there an implication there that on the small and very poor islands, it was a different scenario? There was a fairly recent wreck near St Mary’s that I made some notes to find out about, it would be interesting to see whether the media coverage is similar.

Useful websites for the Channel Islands:

• http://www.jerseymet.gov.je/ with webcams of the runway and St Helier!
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/guernsey/ and http://www.bbc.co.uk/jersey/ but not Alderney. :(
• http://www.visitguernsey.com
• http://www.aboutjersey.net and http://www.jersey.com/ and http://www.jersey.co.uk/ (Have you guys ever thought about consolidating?)
• http://www.nationaltrustjersey.org.je
• http://www.flyalderney.com/
• http://www.alderney.net - I especially liked the very brief history
• http://www.alderney.gov.gg

I thought I’d do one last search on “alderney milk” to check for any theories as to where the tradition of Milk-o-Punch came from. Top hit was this site. Ooops.

So for the next person who does that search and lands here, let me clarify that it is Milk-o-Punch, not with an “a” as I spelled it. Si’s list of pubs is very useful although I should mention that it’s the Marais not the Murray. And no, I never did find out why it’s appropriate to steal dairy products and add rum on the first Sunday of May.

I’ve failed utterly to find out anything about the history of the Madonna Stone. Ditto La Roc à l’Épine. If anyone can point me to any detail about either of these, it would be greatly appreciated.

Meanwhile, research is taking a lot longer than I expected but first drafts of Guernsey and Alderney are done. Working on Jersey still but feeling very overwhelmed with just how much interesting information I’m finding about every little island. I can’t quite see how anyone could cover 38 of them within a lifetime….

I’m slipping the dates for the Channel Islands by 2 days, which fits in better and also means I get to spend Liberation Day on Jersey.

The final plan is:

4 May: arrive Guernsey (evening)

5 May: Guernsey

6 May: Guernsey (Ale and Food festival, yum)

7 May: Alderney (Milk-a-Punch Sunday, thanks to SI for the list of pubs)

8 May: Alderney (hangover recovery)

9 May: Jersey (Liberation Day)

10 May: Jersey

11 May: Depart Jersey (aw!)

Now I just need to book beds and we’re good to go!

… lest you think I’m only going there for the alcohol.

A meal in St Anne in view of St Anne’s church.

Hike out to the neolithic burial site, followed by a visit to the Alderney Museum.

A trip on the only running railway in the Channel Islands.

Find out about the Elizabethan wreck which seems an awesome project.
See a gannet and maybe even a blonde hedgehog.

Visit The Nunnery, an old fort from Roman times used as a staging post between Brittany and Britain.

Leave the island to see Burhou if possible (served as a shelter for fishermen and shipwrecked mariners, now a bird sanctuary).

Alderney has an annual event called “Milk-a-Punch Sunday” and I’ve specifically worked my schedule around being able to be there, plus a day on the ground on Monday to recover.

http://www.alderney.gov.gg/index.php/pid/16/more_info/7

This long-observed tradition is a drink made of milk and egg and given a little kick by a healthy tot of rum, offered by every publican on the island and often imaginatively adapted to their own recipe. The origin of the tradition is suitably blurred, but folklore has it that – on that day of the year (always the first Sunday in May) anyone can milk anyone else’s cow and ‘borrow” an egg or two from anyone else’s hen. This legitimate booty is then mixed with a generous lashing of rum, a pinch of nutmeg, a spoonfull of sugar and each licencee’s closely-guarded secret ingredient. And, with fresh milk straight from local cows – Milk-a-Punch is guaranteed to be particularly delicious. But remember – you have been warned.

I haven’t been able to find out much more than this; I guess the plan is to visit the various publicans and ask to taste their special recipe? Does everyone take part or should I be trying to make up a list of places to go in advance? Any advice on making this a memorable Sunday would be appreciated. :)