The Roebuck, beached in St Brelade's Bay, 1911
That Was Jersey |
Local history for everyone |
CHANNEL ISLANDS |
Throughout much of recorded history, this small island has depended on its harbours for all contact with the outside world. Mail, essential supplies, imports, exports – all involved travel by sea, and relied on safe and efficient harbours. The island is ringed by small havens, although most of these dry out at low water.
As time and technology moved on, the first plane services to the Island landed. The first planes were seaplanes, designed to land on water and then to motor or be towed into harbour. Other early air services landed on the sands of St Aubin’s Bay at low tide. Air travel had to prove its viability before a permanent airport could be built.
The seas around Jersey can be very dangerous for several reasons. The tides and currents around the Island can be treacherous for the unwary. The tidal range (the difference between high tide and low tide) is one of the largest in the world. It was in 1911 that the Roebuck crashed into rocks near St Brelade's Bay. During the salvage operation, she became a popular attraction and the subject of many photographs. Many other boats before and since have had problems negotiating the rocks, winds and tides around Jersey's coast.
There are also rocky outcrops all around the coast, and although the rocks can be seen at low water, at high tide the rocks are covered, and only those who know that area well will know the safe passages at various states of the tide. One of the most notorious areas for sailors in the 19th century was the south-west corner of the Island, known as La Corbière. A petition was submitted requesting a lighthouse in 1857.
In 1873 the lighthouse and causeway were built. The foundation of the lighthouse was cut out of solid rock. The tower itself was the first lighthouse to be built out of concrete in the British Isles. It has doubtless saved many lives, and has become a landmark for sailors and for residents and visitors to the Island. It has worked without fail, although it was switched off during the Occupation.
The harbour at St Aubin was completed in 1700, and with the protection of St Aubin’s Fort (built in the 1540s), it attracted most of the Island’s shipping. The merchants who used this haven got rich from their trading, and built some fine houses in the area. Their wealth came from trade across the Atlantic, especially the cod fishing and the links with Newfoundland. The present harbour was built early in the 19th century, but gradually merchants were found to prefer the new facilities being created at St Helier.
St Helier had no harbour until 1700, when the Havre Neuf was built. At first, vessels had to unload at low water, when carts could be driven across the sands to take the goods to town. This was little better than using the harbour at St Aubin, and driving goods across the Bay to town. In 1790, work started on the North Quay and in 1814 on the Merchants Quay (now Commercial Buildings). The demands of local shipping increased, the harbour area was growing, but access was still limited by the tides. Even today the harbour requires regular dredging to maintain access at lower tides. The harbour still plays an important commercial role, but there are increased demands for leisure and private use. The Merchants Quay, once beside the trading vessels, is now closest to what is still known as the Old Harbour, but it is now the province of leisure craft.
A new pier was built in 1816 for the benefit of the boats serving the growing oyster industry. The nearest harbour to the French coast, Gorey still has regular ferries crossing to Granville, Portbail and Carteret.
The English government was looking for harbours of refuge for its naval forces, particularly in the event of further hostilities with France. After much advice, some well-informed and some very ill-informed, it was decided to build a harbour in St Catherine’s Bay. The northerly arm was built, with some difficulty and huge cost, and a start was made on the southerly arm, at Archirondel. The project was eventually abandoned, and the breakwater at St Catherine’s continues to serve best as a base for fishing and other leisure pursuits.
There are smaller harbours, some little more than a slipway, which provide haven for the Island’s small fishing boats: La Rocque, Le Saie, Rozel, Bouley Bay, Bonne Nuit, Greve de Lecq, L’Etacq, Petit Port, St Brelade’s Bay, and other areas, just slipways, especially along the coast of St Clement. On this corner of the Island, the tide is perhaps particularly noticeable. At low water it seems impossible that any boats could be at work so close to the shore. At high water, one wonders how they missed all the rocks!
There have been various plans to build a harbour on the north coast throughout the last 200 years, but these have not come to fruition.
The St Helier marina was opened in 1981 with nearly 400 berths, and the Elizabeth marina opened in 1998 with nearly 600 berths, all provided for leisure and yachting.
The first plane to land in Jersey was in 1912 on the beach of St Aubin’s Bay. In 1928, Imperial Airways announced a regular service, but all early timetables were subject to tides! Seaplanes could land in the Bay and were towed into the harbour, where passengers could disembark. Jersey Airways started in 1933 and was using the beach for their planes, flying regularly between the Island and the UK.
By 1930 it was time to start considering an airport. Various locations were considered, and in 1937 the Jersey Airport was opened in St Peter. Roads nearby were originally kept open, but as the airport grew, such roads were closed completely for safety. The airport has been enlarged and improved in many ways, with additional offices for the associated services of Air Traffic Control and Jersey Meteorological Department.
