You would not get forced to grass at Shoreham if there is any room on the apron.
Th problem is where an airport appears to be reserving the hard parking for some imaginary traffic.
Regarding Alderney population, from here
From here there is quite a turnover of people
There is a lot of houses for sale and somebody must be buying them.
Unsurprisingly the number of young people is falling rapidly, but that will be true for any remote area of the mainland too. Too many glittering distractions elsewhere
Aren’t the conditions in Britain and CI just outrageous? I always get grass parking although there is perfectly good paved parking. Alderney, Shoreham, Guernsey.
But in those places, unfortunately there are no Frenchmen to blame for it 
There are some extremely colourful characters in Alderney, and some very relaxed licencing laws. Whenever I’ve visited the island, it’s been gorgeous weather and a wonderful spot to visit. However, I am also pretty sure that it might be a dire place to spend a rainy week. We had to take a taxi back to the airport once, and without being too disparaging…. The ride was more exciting than one would have liked. It’s a personal choice whether to wear seat belts or not on Alderney, and I thought what harm can a 5 minute ride be without a seat belt in small narrow roads? Within 200 yards, I was scrabbling to get that sucker snapped into a buckle.
I have however, always enjoyed every single visit and would like to spend a few nights there. It’s just that time is so limited….
Here’s a video of the flight from Shoreham to Alderney. It has been edited to cut out the boring bits but I left in most of the radio exchanges. It was done as a Eurocontrol IFR flight but I got dumped by London Control onto Solent Radar 120.225 because I was still below CAS
There are certainly interesting social aspects to the Channel Islands, and they are different for the three main ones.
One of the surprises (to me) was just how much poverty there is on say Jersey, which was always shown as hugely glamorous in various TV dramas set there, and that was apparently true in the 1950s.
Alderney is harder to judge because one doesn’t see many people out and about, but the property prices are very low for a scenic location.
Guernsey seems to be different again.
The social security provisions are always the key to what the bottom end looks like. In the poor parts of the UK mainland you see large numbers of 15 year old girls pushing prams, everywhere you go.
Alderney would be a super place to live if you are “self contained” in terms of interests, projects, are obviously totally financially solvent, and can buy everything you need from the internet (there are practically no shops there). Having your own plane will give you independence too.
If Alderney has really dropped from 2500 to 1500 in a few years, that is a disaster.
I,ve heard the population is down to 1500 ish and very near to critical mass.Love the Braye Beach hotel and had some great stays over the years including a great weeks holiday.Not sure I,d want to live there full time.Vbr Stampe
Peter wrote:
According to one article, from a few years back, there were 2500 residents and 100 properties for sale!
I think the Guernsey residents (maybe pg can confirm ) describe Alderney as 2500 alcoholics clinging to a rock.
Shoreham needs the GAR with a 12hrs’ notice.
AFAIK the places which don’t are Biggin Hill, Southend, Bournemouth, Oxford, Cardiff, and of course Gatwick Luton Stansted but they are mega pricey.
The “same day decision” issue is routinely solved by flying via say Cherbourg This is done all day long, the UK Special Branch keep muttering dark rumours about it being illegal (which is of course complete nonsense), and it wastes maybe an hour; less if you get it just right.
It’s easier with VFR flight plans because the time limits on those are really slack (plus or minus an hour or some such); anecdotal evidence indicates “same day” is good enough a lot of the time
However IMHO the 12hrs, stupidly pointless as it is (Alderney is a hotbed of IRA terrorism, drug and Vietnamese immigrant trafficking and money laundering as we all know ) can be worked around because you just chuck in the GAR say 8pm for an 8am departure the next day, and usually you will know at 8pm if you might be going. At that point you have the long TAFs and those are knocked up by people who do it for a living all day long. If you cancel, they say they would like to know (with a phone to some number) but in practice almost nobody bothers to do that and in any case the police can see the flight plans…
Peter
Sorry I missed it I,m a huge fan of the island and try to visit at least twice a year preferably for overnight stops.The special branch notice period is a real pain ruling out any spontaneity.out of interest does Shoreham have any designated statue enabling departures without notice I believe that was the case in the distant past? Regards Stampe
Alderney is really beautiful.
I do wish more stuff was open. Even simple cafes – tea and coffee and cakes and ice cream etc. It must be really dead for any young people who live there, and last time I was there one resident (definitely not “young” and lived there for 15 years) was complaining how dead it is and how much stuff simply shuts at weekends.
The property prices are low – similar to prices in the deepest and least accessible parts of Kent And an amazing number of houses are for sale.
There is no regular car ferry. Cars have to be freighted in.
According to one article, from a few years back, there were 2500 residents and 100 properties for sale!
They are trying to attract new people there but they need to start by making it a bit more welcoming. Not many people want to just sit by their patio door and watch the sea…
It would be great to spend a few days on it – having picked nice wx of course…
