Castle Cornet

We chose a more civilized activity for our outing this week. Our castle-visiting days are drawing to a close, so we figured we'd better visit this one that is so close to St. Peter Port.

"Castle Cornet is Guernsey's ancient harbour fortress, which was isolated upon a rocky islet, until the construction of a breakwater and bridge in the 19th century."

The castle has a medieval inner core surrounded by more "modern" construction.

British Troops garrisoned in the castle

We often hear the noonday cannon when in St. Peter Port.

“From at least the early years of the 19th century a gun was fired from Castle Cornet at noon and another at 21.30 to recall soldiers of the garrison to their barracks – the Curfew gun. The Noonday Gun ceremony in Castle Cornet was re-introduced as a visitor attraction in 1974. The gun is “fired” using a saluting charge of approximately 25 grammes. The charge is placed twelve to eighteen inches down the barrel of the gun and detonated electrically.”

There are several lovely gardens within the castle walls.

This pigeon was sounding off about his secure home in the wall.

The Prisoner's Walk--not much chance of escape while exercising.

See that ferry? That's the one we'll be taking as we leave Guernsey on October 31st.

Lihou Island Adventure

This adventure with a hint of danger appealed to us. Lihou Island can be reached only during very low tides via a causeway built long ago. After consulting a chart with the safe times to cross, we headed out.

We arrived at the starting point a little early but there were already people crossing to Lihou.

We didn't hesitate to join in with the others making the trek. It takes about 20 minutes.

The house on the island is not a residence; it can be rented for events, even overnight.

The piles of slippery seaweed were a challenge to walk on.

We had plenty of time to explore before we needed to head back.

The coastline on the far side of Lihou is just gorgeous!

Time to head back to Guernsey across the bleak moonscape.

As we explored the headlands across from Lihou we discovered a pool. The Germans had cemented rocks together to make a low tide pool complete with steps leading into it. We thought it would be great for a baptismal font. 

Senior Missionary Outing May 24, 2012

(I'm only about 4 months late in posting this)

 President Shamo periodically would gather the senior missionaries for some training and a fun outing. This one involved seeing a sneak peek at the refurbished Hyde Park Chapel then attending a performance of "Chariots of Fire."

The senior sisters at the train station headed to London.

Then a quick trip on the tube to the Kensington South station.

The spire on the Hyde Park Chapel was still getting spiffed up in advance of the Olympics.

Part of the Hyde Park Chapel has become a visitors' centre complete with state of the art media displays.

The Hamblins with Elder Parrett

This display moved so quickly that I didn't really get to hear about Charles Dickens visiting one of the ships with saints headed to America, just like my GG grandmother's journal said.

The senior missionaries of the England London South Mission.

When we arrived there were only 5 or 6 couples in the mission. We have been the "senior" senior couple for some time now. We have been able to mentor two of the couples as they arrived in the mission. 

We passed by this sobering reminder that World War II was very real.

Along one side of the Albert and Victoria Museum the damage from the blitz has purposely been left unrestored.

President and Sister Shamo spoke so highly of this Creperie but when we arrived the promised room to ourself was decked out in Happy Birthday décor. Schedule mix-up.

The food was good even though we were squished among the regular customers.

Another trip on the tube and we were at the Hampstead Theatre for the performance. One of the leading roles was played by Savannah Stevenson, an LDS actress who played Mary in the Bible videos.

Not only was it theatre in the round, but they constructed a stage with a round track that rotated as needed. A very clever way to have the actors actually run. The cast had to undergo some military-type training to be able to handle it.

We'd met Bishop Cooke and his wife before but I decided I needed a photo with him. After all he's a media star since his Book of Mormon video was published on YouTube.

Moves Day

Every six weeks is moves day in the mission. That is when elders and sisters arrive and leave the mission, as well as transfers within the mission.

We were sad to say goodbye to Elder S. but he's only going to Poole, just a ferry ride away. I understand he'll still be part of our district meetings by phone.

He was wearing his goofy hat. Also he was wearing athletic shoes because he left his pitiful worn-out dress shoes behind. Good move.

The elders in Guernsey volunteer once a week at a charity shop called Oxfam. Their supervisor is a kind woman, Jackie, who said she would give the elders a ride to the airport. Suitcases and bicycles don't mix well. After the tearful hugs and goodbyes we needed to stay with Elder E. until his new companion arrived in 2 or 3 hours. Jackie took us to a place called Le Gouffre, pronounced Le Goof, and got some drinks and sat in the lovely sun. We were trying to help Elder E. not feel so bad. A walk was in order and a beautiful one it was.

Hmmm. Do the constables hide behind the trees?

After a short walk we came to an overlook. The water was Caribbean blue and breathtaking. I thought we'd already seen the most beautiful places on Guernsey, but this takes the cake.

I could have stayed all day taking in the beauty of it, but duty called.

Back to the airport to greet our new elder. The first thing Bill asked was if he was related to Peter G. that we knew in the Orpington ward. Yep, that's his grandfather. Small world.

Elder E. (no longer lonely) and Elder G.

Mid-September

As a Relief Society we visited the Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery in Candie Gardens. It didn't matter that there were only 3 of us.

The view toward the seafront is beautiful

There was a display of advertising posters from the past. We would call this Jell-O or gelatin dessert, rather than jelly.

This painting is of one of the nearby islands. Looks like a great place to hike.

District Meeting

At district meeting with the elders we got the sad news that our Portuguese lady doesn’t want to see us anymore. It wasn’t the doctrine, but an incident involving a candle that offended her. We are hoping that she reconsiders and softens her heart. 

P-day 

For a P-day activity we went to the west side of the island to see Fort Grey, also known as the Cup and Saucer by the locals. It was low tide so we were able to scramble around on the rocks and explore.

"Fort Grey is located at Rocquaine, on Guernsey's rocky west coast, near the infamous Hanois reefs - site of many historic shipwrecks. The small martello tower is situated on a rocky islet just offshore but connected by a stone causeway. It contains a museum about Guernsey shipwrecks, with many salvaged artifacts and related illustrations."

Guernsey Pearl

We ate lunch on benches outside of the Guernsey Pearl which is directly across the road from Fort Grey. It’s an odd combination of nice jewelry store and café.

We had brought our own lunch but when Bill asked if I wanted a tangerine from our lunch bag or ice cream from the café, I gave in to temptation. It was a beautiful sunny day and sitting in the warm sunshine with a sea view I thought to myself--this is a great way to spend our p-day.

Visiting Teaching

I had visiting teachers call on me for the first time since I left home. It was a great visit with two sisters from the branch. We conspired to put together an international dinner. In our small branch we have members from Portugal, Thailand, the Philippines, USA, England and Guernsey. My mouth is watering already.

Elders to Dinner

It’s always fun to have the elders to dinner and this time was the best yet. Sometimes the conversation gets bogged down with politics and government, but not this time. Elder S. said that when he goes home he’ll have some corrective surgery on his sinuses because of constant nasal congestion. I said he’d probably have a better sense of taste afterwards. Somehow the other elder was talking about something else and added that Elder S.’s vision would improve too. I laughed at the absurdity that sinus surgery would improve vision. In fact it struck me so funny I had to leave the room to get my composure back.

It was a bit sad for us since that would be our last dinner with Elder S. because he is being transferred this week. He still doesn’t know that for sure. We had to play dumb and not let on. He’s a great missionary and will be missed by everyone in the Guernsey Branch, especially the children.