Another island beginning with "G" (not in Orkney)....

Martello Tower dating from Napoleonic War

Yes I've been galavanting about again. This time to the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands (off the North coast of France for those from foreign parts).  A few days spent in the company of my sister, grown up niece, two nephews, and peedie (small) great niece (well she's taller than me but only 12) and great nephew (who is still smaller than me at four years old).  A lovely time spent pottering around. The family have lived there for many years so I've done most of the touristy stuff. Now visits are leisurely, with bus journeys and coffee stops as well as playtime and pottering.  Just a few pictures to share...

Above is one of many Martello towers that are around the coast of the Channel Islands and England. Scotland has only 3 (two of which are in Orkney!). These were built as defences against French and (ahem) American privateers.

The weather was warm and sunny most of my visit so it was lovely to wander along a different shore. Though these were slightly more populated than the Graemsay one!

There are also a lot of fortifications in Guernsey dating from the German invasion in WWII. The Channel Islands were the only part of the UK to be invaded. As you can see here the Germans also made use of previous fortifications....

Part of this fortification has been turned into a shrine of reconciliation.

A gun opening in a German defence battery wall (hmmm there's probably a technical term for this!).

A ghostly lady (AKA my sister!) glides across the foreground of the German WWII battery....








Then there was some wandering around the town.... Guernsey has beautiful displays of flowers throughout the summer.  They have their own "Battle of the Flowers" too each year. Here's some photos from 2010

And the post boxes in Guernsey are BLUE not red like the rest of the UK.













And the harbour is full of sailing boats....

Some buildings with a French influence - not surprising given the proximity of Guernsey to France.










There was, of course, time to sit in the garden, and share a bench or chair with Sophie the cat, a sun worshipper if ever there was one!

And there were visits to parks (Sausmarez Manor) which had some lovely sculptures around (wouldn't mind one or two of these in MY garden!).

And a train ride for a wee boy.....

And ducks for a wee boy to feed.

And more walks along a beach

And rocks for a wee boy to explore (while Great Auntie Sian shuts her eyes!! Don't worry Mum was on hand....).

And the chance to buy some home grown produce from the many stalls around the island - with honesty boxes to receive payment.....

There was even sand racing on one of the beaches!! It looked very exciting....




But I preferred the quieter spots.....

And now I have my latest visitors all the way from York (Yorkshire). Very hardy North of England types who were stripping off and donning swimsuits within an hour of their arrival. A little light snorkelling and wild swimming off the shore near the house.  They hold the record I think for the shortest time on visitor arrival to total immersion!  The water was declared as warm-ish......  There was also time for shell gathering and rockpool watching.  Unfortunately the weather changed dramatically yesterday with lots of rain and quite breezy. Today is like a Winter day (though warmer) with a bit of a blow with the wind and heavy rain showers.  So it's a leisurely day inside. I had a lovely brunch cooked for me and have been promised a roast dinner too.  These are my kind of guests ;-)  Oh and young R has also been introducing me to the delights of "Ice Age" DVs!