Walking on Jersey. Paddy Dillon
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their change. Your last few Jersey coins can be dropped in a charity box on departure, or saved as mementos of your visit.
Jersey specialises in financial services and banks from all over the world are represented on the streets of St Helier. ATMs are common and a wide variety of credit and debit cards are accepted by businesses. There is no VAT on purchases and the island enjoys a low rate of tax. There is an advantage in purchasing some high-value items on the island, but the cost of transporting goods to Jersey can make some of the benefits marginal.
Communications
If taking a mobile phone to Jersey, check in advance about roaming charges, or you might find yourself paying a high price for calls. The local providers are JT (formerly Jersey Telecom), www.jtglobal.com, and Sure, www.sure.com. There is generally good mobile coverage around the island. Telephone kiosks are located in many urban and rural locations, where emergency calls (999 or 112) are free. There is free Wi-Fi at Jersey Airport, Liberation Station and Jersey Library, while many accommodation providers also offer free Wi-Fi to their guests.
Royal Mail postage stamps from Britain are not valid in Jersey. Any attempt to use them will result in delayed delivery and an excess charge for the recipient. Jersey Post stamps must be used, and if you are posting to Britain, Europe, or any other destination, make this clear when you buy stamps as there are different rates. There are half-a-dozen post offices around St Helier and most villages on the island have a post office, as well as the airport. Walkers with an interest in philately can make arrangements to collect Jersey stamps and first-day covers on a regular basis. Enquire at the Philatelic Bureau for details, www.jerseypost.com.
Jersey’s north coast features a fine footpath, seen here above Bouley Bay (Walk 13)
WALKING ON JERSEY
Walking on Jersey is incredibly varied, but most people concentrate on the island’s coastline
The walks in this guidebook are mostly short and straightforward, chosen to reflect the diversity of the landscapes and seascapes, along with the history, heritage and natural history of Jersey. Almost all the walks link directly with one or two other walks, allowing all kinds of extensions to the routes. All the walks are easily accessible by bus services, so a car is not necessary.
Jersey has an area of only 116km2 (45 square miles) and walkers are never more than 3.5km (2 miles) from the sea. Within this limited area this guidebook offers around 225km (140 miles) of incredibly varied walking, with a coastal walk alone measuring almost 80km (50 miles). If explorations are extended to Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm, then the interest and enjoyment is doubled. Complete coastal walks around the five main Channel Islands are now being promoted as the ‘Channel Island Way’, measuring 178km (110 miles).
In the past the Channel Islands were not really viewed as a walking destination; rather, they were a holiday destination where people simply couldn’t help walking. These days, one third of visitors state that their main reason for visiting the islands is to walk. The sight of golden beaches, rugged cliffs, flowery headlands and lush woodlands proves irresistible for exploring on foot. There are so many things to see along the paths, tracks and roads – interesting places to visit and always the offer of food and drink.
The walks are mostly circular and almost every stretch along the coast features a contrasting exploration inland. It has to be said that there are few paths and tracks inland, and while some roads can be quite busy, there are plenty of quiet country roads too, specially designated as ‘green lanes’, where priority is given to walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. A few of the walks are entirely inland, because it is important to appreciate the inland countryside and its farming traditions just as much as the popular coastline. Almost every route passes some sort of attraction, ranging from castles to historic houses, churches to craft centres. Many attractions seem to exist purely because they have a captive audience of visitors, and those that are on or near the walks are noted, with brief details given. Many of them have an entry charge and may be well worth an hour’s exploration.
A designated ‘green lane’ gives priority to walkers and cyclists, with a 15mph speed limit for vehicles
Paths on Jersey are mostly on firm, dry surfaces, but some stretches may be muddy after rain. Some paths on steep slopes are equipped with plenty of wooden steps, and most of these have been made slip-proof. Most of the time, a pair of comfortable walking shoes are fine for walking, and hefty boots are not required. If boots are worn, lightweight ones will suffice. There are some signposts, but most paths are obvious even without markers, and it is usually made clear if a path is private. Roads on Jersey usually bear their names at one end or both, which saves confusion when they form a dense network.
What to take
Generally speaking, Jersey’s weather is a little milder than the weather you would expect in the south of England. There are no hills and walkers rarely find themselves much above 100m (330ft) above sea level. The most basic walking gear will suffice, with comfortable footwear and clothing to suit hot and cool conditions, including sun protection for sunny days and waterproofs in case of rain. It is increasingly common to see heavily-booted walkers with poles and packs trudging round the island, but Jersey is a gentle landscape, and even if foul weather were to interfere with a walk, it is very easy to cut walks short, bail out by bus and retreat to your lodgings.
Waymarking and access
Jersey is intensively cultivated, with large areas of tillage given over to potatoes and other crops, while pastures are grazed by Jersey cows. Almost 90,000 people live on the island, the road network is remarkably dense and car ownership is very high. Add to this the huge number of visitors, and it is a wonder there is room to breathe, let alone walk. However, there are plenty of paths, tracks and quiet roads available for walkers, and while signposts and waymarks are few, routes that are freely available to the public are usually quite obvious. The best maps of Jersey show many of these routes, but by no means all of them. In practical terms, with this guidebook to hand, Jersey can be explored thoroughly using the available access.
A newly-planted wooden signpost, keeping visitors on course to enjoy their walks
Special mention needs to be made of the inter-tidal zone. Jersey has one of the biggest tidal ranges in the world, up to 12m (40ft) at spring tides. The sight of sandy beaches and jagged rocks emerging from the sea as the tide recedes encourages many people to explore to the water’s edge, especially in the south-east. To a certain extent this is to be encouraged, but it must be done with caution. Obtain a copy of the tide tables and study them carefully. Walking out as the tide recedes is unlikely to be a problem, but when the tide is advancing it is possible to be cut off before realising it. Trying to get from beach to beach around the foot of cliffs can be dangerous and can lead to an inconvenient stranding, or death by drowning. In short, don’t wander around the inter-tidal zone without having a clearly visible route back to dry land.
Maps
The maps in this guide are extracted from the States of Jersey 1:25,000 Official Leisure Map of Jersey which, in terms of style and content, is similar to the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer maps of Britain. In fact, the map was originally compiled by the Ordnance Survey, but has since been digitised and updated by Digimap, www.digimap.je, for the States of Jersey. It is the most detailed map of the island, showing everything down to field boundaries and even the back gardens of houses in towns and villages. The walking routes in this guidebook are shown as a highlighted overlay on this map.