Members have received the Autumn 2022 issue of The Bulletin with contributions from Geraint Jennings, Patrick McCathy, Sue Hardy, Georgia Le Maistre, Rob McLoughlin – and new editor Anna Baghiani. Congratulations Anna!
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Edouard Le Maistre, secretary, vice-chairman, chairman and vice-president of the Society, on 22 October following a short illness. We plan to pay tribute to Edouard’s remarkable service to the Society in a future Bulletin and on this website.
Regretfully, we and the Guernsey Society have agreed that it is not feasible to go ahead with the Boules Match on 25 June in view of the railway strike and likely disruption to transport. We are considering a new date of 13 August. Watch this space!
Last year we were victorious in our annual Boules match against Guernsey and are the proud holders of the Muratti Shield. But it is under threat. We meet our Guernsey cousins again in Cleaver Square, Kennington on 25 June. We need YOU to help us keep it. No particular level of expertise is required. Play will commence around 2 pm after lunch in the Prince of Wales pub. If you would like to join in or find out more, drop an email to jerseysocietyinlondon@googlemail.com.
For the second year running, we held our AGM virtually on 6th April, after which we were delighted to welcome Dr Matt Pope who updated us on the archaeological investigations at La Cote de St Brelade.
Boules Muratti 2021
YOUR SOCIETY NEEDS YOU.
We mustn’t let Guernsey win again!
Our annual boules match with the Guernsey Society will be going ahead, Covid-securely, on Saturday 26 June in our usual location in Cleaver Square London SE11, opposite the Prince of Wales pub.
Play will commence at 2pm. Equipment will be provided.
The pub is open and serving food, but it is necessary to book in advance by telephone or email.
The contact details are:
The Prince of Wales
Cleaver Square
Kennington, London, SE11 4EA
T: 0207 735 9916
E: hello@princeofwaleskennington.co.uk
On Thursday 11th March the society gathered for the Annual General Meeting. However, this one looked a little different to normal as it was hosted on Zoom!
Following the usual updates from key members of the council, and council elections, Chairman Nicholas Paines led the attendants of the meeting in an island-based general knowledge quiz.
For those not able to make it, please see below the quiz and (separately) the correct answers so you can play along.
Download the quiz and answers here
The Puzzle Solutions!
The Society’s Council wish all members a happy start to the Society’s 125th anniversary year. We hope that the Society’s Christmas cracker enlivened your Christmas. No doubt you found all the solutions, but here they are in case you want to check.
How many of the photos did you recognise? The seagull’s eye view was of Bonne Nuit Bay. On the back page, just visible in the mist, is La Rocco Tower. Next to it – and congratulations if you got this one – La Rosière Bay, situated next to La Corbière. Below them, with Jersey in the background, is a view from Les Ecréhou. The other seagull’s eye view is of Egypt and the frozen water mill is Tesson Mill.
On the centre page, the famous person in a Jersey bonnet is Constable Sadie Rennard singing Beautiful Jersey. Here are links to a couple of her Liberation Day performances, one in Jèrriais and one in English.
And here are the answers to the quiz questions:
Parish crests
Crossword answers
To celebrate the start of the new decade we are going to be posting both the upcoming Jersey and Guernsey Society events.
The Jersey Society’s first meeting of the new decade is taking place on the 12th March, this will be both the Annual General Meeting (AGM), and a lecture given by former BBC journalist and climate change expert Jonathan Renouf.
Jonathan Renouf
Renouf will be talking about Jersey’s climate emergency: opportunity or irrelevance?
The States of Jersey has declared a climate emergency, and plans are in place to make Jersey carbon neutral by 2030 – twenty years earlier than the UK. It will mean huge changes, involve a lot of money, and touch on almost every aspect of island life. But are we just wasting our time? What difference can Jersey make to a global problem? Is tackling the climate emergency a once in a generation opportunity, or a complete irrelevance? Jonathan Renouf is a Jerseyman who spent almost 30 years working for the BBC, initially on Newsnight, and then in a variety of roles in the BBC Science Unit. He’s been nominated for three BAFTAs (one of which was for a climate change documentary) and won numerous other awards. He was Executive Producer of the Brian Cox series “Wonders of the Universe”, was deputy editor of “Horizon”, and Executive Producer of the Sky at Night.
Over the last 20 years he’s been involved in almost all the major BBC TV documentaries about climate change, including the most recent David Attenborough film “Climate Change: The Facts”. He’s filmed in the hottest and coldest places on earth, climbed a mountain in the Andes to find the wreckage of a plane that vanished 60 years ago, stood on the edge of two active lava lakes, and thrown up over the side of a boat filming at Easter Island. In August, after 7 months of travelling around the world with his wife and two young children, Jonathan and his family moved back to Jersey. He was a member of the Jersey Electoral Commission, and writes a column in the JEP.
As usual, there will be a three course meal preceding the talk, and bar facilities open throughout.
More details are available on the booking form here.
Following this (two days later!) the Guernsey Society are holding their event on Saturday 14th March entitled ‘We will teach!’ led by Anne Johns and Jenny Head. We will teach! tells the story of some of the many Channel Island women who trained to teach in Salisbury – the first being Eliza Smith from Guernsey who trained in 1843. Anne and Jenny will cover the changing system of education and the impact of this on these strong women.
Meet at Fountains Abbey, 109 Praed Street, London W1 1RL (nearest station Paddington) at 12.15 for a pub lunch.
Members of the society will be sad to learn that Chris died on the morning of 15th October after a long battle with a progressive illness which he initially made light of and which he fought until the end when it could no longer be ignored.
He was an indefatigable, meticulous and long-serving Events Secretary whose devotion to Jersey was reflected in his determination to continue in his role with the help of his family.
We have individually and collectively lost a loyal friend.
A funeral service for Chris will be held at Trinity Parish Church at 12 noon on the 28th October.
Chris’ family welcome friends to join them at the church service, however this will be followed by a private family burial.
In lieu of flowers donations to Parkinson’s UK, c/o Sarah Earles, would be welcomed.