h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

(Continuing the journal on holidaying in Guernsey - this is the final part)

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Probably the most popular holiday activity on Guernsey is to hop on a boat and visit somewhere else. That's not as damning as it sounds. The somewhere else consists of either of two nearby islands, Sark and Herm, both less than an hour away and both a traffic-free paradise.

Herm is nearest - about 20 minutes. Choose a calm day and you can stand at the front rail of the Herm Trident ferry as it plies its way past rock stacks and the privately-leased islet of Jethou. Keep your eyes peeled for puffins and other seabirds.

The island itself is a mini-Guernsey, hardly a mile or two long, with a clifftop walk to the south and beaches to the north. You can walk around the entire island in a couple of hours, but you would want to explore the beaches too, especially Shell Beach, with its remarkable sands made of washed-up seashells.

The less continent may wish to note that there are only two toilets on the island: one on the coastal path just south of Shell Beach and the other by the Mermaid Tavern near the harbour. There are few buildings: just a couple of hotels, inns and gift shops, and a very old chapel at the top of the hill dedicated to St Tugual of Brittany.

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Sark is about a 50 minute journey from Guernsey - boats also serve it from Jersey - but this is an island with a character all of its own. As you approach the harbour on the east side, watch out for bottlenose dolphins and seabirds. There appears to be no path to the plateau at the top of the cliffs, but walk through a tunnel and you'll find a steep windy road and, thankfully, a tractor-drawn bus service. The tractor journey uphill is worth taking - you can always walk down again when you leave.

At the top you'll find a village with banks, tea-rooms, gift shops and cycle-hire shops. If you're there just for the day and wish to explore the far south of the island then the bike hire is worth it. You'll also find horse-drawn carriages for hire, if you want to explore at a more leisurely pace.

You won't find beaches, although there are one or two places where you can clamber down a rocky path to the cove below. Although Sark is small - maybe 3 miles long by a mile wide - there's enough to justify a longer stay on the island to experience it all. I can't confirm it, but it's said that the character changes in the evening after all the day trippers have left.

The most picturesque view on the island is of a narrow isthmus known as La Coupee which joins the northern and southern parts of the island. Thankfully the path, with a 300 ft drop on each side, has railings today.

Around 600 live on Sark, but the most unusual feature of life there is the feudal system which still largely operates (although they are slowly being dragged kicking and screaming into the modern world and its democratic principles).

The lord of the manor is known as the Seigneur, and its small parliament, the Chief Pleas is presided over by the Seneschal. Other officials include the Prevôt (court sheriff), the Greffier (court clerk) and the Constable (chief of police) - there is one other junior police officer, the Vingtenier. Sark also claims to have the world's smallest prison.

Although everyone speaks English, the official language is a Norman dialect known as Sercquiais (and not Sarky, as I'd hoped).

This is interesting stuff, Icy. I know we already have an Entry on Guernsey A590302. Would you consider updating it?

I like that Guernsey entry - it's written by a resident, is packed full of detail, and has all the insular angst you'd expect.

The only things which I believe have changed are:

Sark is now no longer a Feudal Seignury, having been forced to introduce a level of democracy in recent years. (I could research this, but it's a changing situation, so maybe needs an 'up until recently…' or a footnote for now)

I think the Guernsey bus numbers have changed (I can look this up)

I've also noticed that the sub-sections Beaches and Sunbathing are identical


We also have a general Channel Islands entry at A6959208. It's light on detail, but the Sark situation needs to be changed here, too.


There's no edited entry on Sark or Herm. I don't know if I could manage a full entry on either of these, though, having done only a day trip to each. Maybe I'll write something for the Post as Dmitri suggested, then see whether it feels like EG material.

The Guernsey entry had rather an odd history, as two separate entries were written and both became edited, nobody noticing the duplication. They were then combined together in an update to make a new entry which replaced them both.

I had an entry like that which was later combined with another one on the same topic.

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