Portal:Channel Islands
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Hello, and welcome to the Channel Islands portal, with information relating to the 8 inhabited, and 11 uninhabited islands. The Channel Islands (in Norman they are the Îles d'la Manche, and in French the Îles Anglo-Normandes or Îles de la Manche) are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. They are considered the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy, and are not part of the United Kingdom. They have a total population of about 168,000 and their respective capitals, Saint Peter Port and Saint Helier, have populations of 16,488 and 33,500 respectively. The total area of the islands is 194 km2. |
Herm (Guernésiais: Haerme) is the smallest of the Channel Islands that is open to the public and is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It is one and a half miles long, and under half a mile wide; orientated North-South. Cars are banned from the island, as are bicycles; but, quad bikes and tractors used for staff and luggage transport respectively are allowed.
Herm was first discovered in the Mesolithic period, and the first settlers arrived in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Many tombs from that period remain today, the majority in the north of the island. The island was annexed to the Duchy of Normandy in 933, but returned to the Crown with the division of Normandy in 1204. It was occupied by Germany in the Second World War, but was largely bypassed. Herm is currently managed by Herm Island Ltd, formed by Starboard Settlement, who acquired Herm in 2008, following fears that the island's identity was at threat.
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George Métivier (1790–1881) was a Guernsey poet dubbed the "Guernsey Burns", and sometimes considered the island's national poet. He wrote in Guernésiais, which is the indigenous language of the island. Métivier blended together local place-names, bird and animal names, traditional sayings and orally transmitted fragments of medieval poetry to create these.
He was born in Rue de la Fontaine, St Peter Port, Guernsey, in the night of 28–29 January 1790. He used the pen-name Un Câtelain, as his grandfather, a Huguenot by origin, had settled in Castel. As a young man, Métivier had studied in England and Scotland for a career in medicine, but had abandoned the idea of becoming a doctor to devote himself to linguistics and literature. His poems were published in Guernsey newspapers from 1813 until his death and since. (Full article...)
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La Coupée, which connects Little Sark to Great Sark.
Photo credit: File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske)
La Coupée connects Little Sark to Great Sark.
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- ... that during World War II, the Germans built a bomb- and gas-proof bunker on Jerbourg Point (pictured), the southeastern point of Guernsey in the English Channel?
- ... that Michael Le Bourgeois was the first Jerseyman to sign a professional rugby contract with Jersey?
- ... that the artifacts on display at the Alderney Society Museum are as diverse as 1940 census papers, cinerary urns, dulcie cups, and curry powder bottles?
- ... that the Samedi division of the Royal Court, one of the Courts of Jersey, sits on a Friday, rather than a Saturday as the name suggests?
- ... that Guernsey RFC's ladies team was rejected from joining the RFU leagues on logistical grounds, despite the men's team playing in the RFU's National League?
- ... that the Jersey theatre scene includes Jersey French?
- ... that Marie Collings, a wealthy pirate's daughter, purchased an island and became its hereditary ruler but never visited it?
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Islands: Alderney • Brecqhou • Burhou • Casquets • Écréhous • Grande-Île • Guernsey • Herm • Jersey • Jethou • Les Dirouilles • Les Pierres de Lecq • Lihou • Minquiers • Sark • History of the islands History of Guernsey • History of Jersey |
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Good Article status: 
Alderney, 
Brecqhou, Burhou, Casquets, Écréhous, 
Grande-Île, 
Guernsey, Herm, Jersey, Jethou, Les Dirouilles, Les Pierres de Lecq, Lihou, Minquiers, and SarkTemplate:/box-footer
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