Channel Island – 1st Meeting

Kilbarchan group met last week to discuss aspects of the 19 islands that make up the Channel Islands Archipeligo. Members discussed aspects of Jersey including the town of St Aubin & St Helier ( the seat of Legislature of Jersey), the ‘Glass Church’ (St Matthew’s) in St Helier that features Glass objects designed by Rene Lalique – these had been commissioned by Jessie Boot in memory of her husband John Boot – the chemist who founded ‘Boots The Chemist’ , a short overview with many interesting facts about the islands of Aldnerney (it has the only railway on the Channel Islands), Sark (most knew that no cars are allowed but residents also have no NHS or Social Security) & Herm (the smallest island being only 3 miles from Guernsey but can have 1,000s of tourists in the summer). We also learnt about the history of the ‘Guernsey’ – the weatherproof knitted jumper crafted from worsted wool that is reversible and Mary Perkins, a very unassuming person from Guernsey a member had met on a group visit to the Holy Island. She turned out to be Mary Perkins OBE who co-founded Specsavers. All agreed that we should revisit this year’s topic of The Channel Islands later in the year.

Modelling a Guernsey
Aerial view of Jersey
Stone Tower on Sark