A little trip to Alderney EGJA and probably the last before next summer.
Found another tunnel, in the quarry where the train ends. I have no idea why the locals keeping telling one all kinds of BS about these being dangerous, closed-off, etc. This one has obviously been cleaned since 2002 when somebody did a report and is perfectly clean and safe. The other good one is off Londis Road, close to that restaurant (which is closed most of the time and doesn’t serve you for an hour when it isn’t). Others I have not found yet, but without coordinates probably won’t.
Tried camping again (night temp down to about +8C which is OK for the kit I have) but the campsite was shut end of Sep. I tried to find out if they allow a tent to be put anyway (there is a public toilet right at the entrance so for 1 night would have been fine) but no reply and their phone is obviously disconnected until next year 
Stayed in the Harbour Lights Hotel. My usual favourite, highly recommended, Villa Mondriam, was closed for a few weeks for the owners’ holiday. Braye Hotel was open but still pricey at £150 (normally over £200). Nice, very good food in the restaurant, but a bit cold at night.
A lovely visit to a special place Alderney is improving; I remember when the Braye Hotel would not serve food to outsiders, which was quite a problem on Sundays. But the “England 100 years ago” feel is still successfully retained
Cold night before the flight
“Winter” produces great photos
Left base 08
I ate only a bit of this!
This one is in the quarry where the train runs from (it runs on summer weekends and is great fun, running ex London Underground carriages)
A bat flew past…
Figs!
A nice healthy meal for the last lunch, at Jacks which is closed on Sundays but is open through the winter nowadays
One of the 600+ WW2 defences built by imported slave labour. Totally wasted; nobody attacked, and the vast effort remains a mystery strategically.
The (literally and psychologically) little man at the airport was absolutely delighted to spot a mistake on the GAR – I put 15th instead of 16th for the return flight, and he delights in forcing you to hand write a whole form by hand on multipart paper. Well, island mentality The hilarious thing is that there is no check on your arrival… He knows inflicting pain is much better on departure.
Must get that hood which @Dan uses to stop reflections easily
Must do another fly-in there – just best not done on a Sunday No PN for anybody except Brits (12 hrs)!
Looks good
Do you know what that cave or tunnel was for? It has definitely been enlarged and squared off.
Hitler had an obsession with the Channel Islands because they were British (according to The World at War IIRC). The heavy defensive fortifications were to free up troops for the Eastern Front. But yes, vastly disproportionate.
The tunnels were for ammo etc storage AFAIK. They had a 60cm rail track in them, as is customary in bunkers everywhere (Croatia too).
That tunnel, according to a 2002 report, was timber lined and the collapsed timber rotted, producing ~40cm of sludge on the floor. Obviously, somebody cleared this up since. Another tunnel is this one, near Essex Farm, which was never lined and which is still fine and you can go right through
Other tunnels which I never found were concrete lined and they are reportedly in a bad condition because a lined tunnel’s roof needs to support the entire water column above it and will thus collapse unless either drained or made very strong.
Peter wrote:
Totally wasted
Not at all…they seem to provide good support for mobile network antennas nowadays…
I need to get to Alderney one day…thx for reminding us , and for the Sunday warning!
Thanks for the last 23 Alderney report Peter.
This one is definitely in my sights…
Peter wrote:
No PN for anybody except Brits (12 hrs)!
Just bring a filled GAR form ?
It’s definitely in my mind, being close to home and hard to reach.
Despite being only 166nm from EGJA, we would need a customs stop both ways in France.
How long would you say is necessary to see most of the island and get a feel of how life is there ? Same as Ouessant ?
Alderney is half the size of Ouessant but more settled.
I can’t find a reference but I think they like to have the “Guernsey GAR” form emailed to them, so do that before you depart. I very much doubt this is checked, in the sense of a refusal of arrival; the whole Jersey Zone is very professionally operated. Also bring two paper copies; one to put in a letterbox in the “C” hut (those get chucked away AFAIK) and the other for the little man to check when you are departing from there (that one can be a phone copy but a printout is better). Search here for “guernsey”, or do a google (I see one here).
Same as Ouessant
Similar
If possible, go to the bike hire shop (there is only one, closed Sundays now and will be closed Jan+Feb 2024) and rent two e-bikes and then you can get around it super quick. Without bikes you can do a good walkabout in daylight hours; obviously less time in the winter.
If you plan to visit, I would be happy to meet you there and show you the main bits It’s a 45 min flight for me. It would be the smallest mathematically possible EuroGA fly-in
Peter wrote:
If possible, go to the bike hire shop (there is only one, closed Sundays now and will be closed Jan+Feb 2024) and rent two e-bikes and then you can get around it super quick. Without bikes you can do a good walkabout in daylight hours; obviously less time in the winter.
I translate this to 2 full days (departing 3 days after landing) in our toddler space-time
I would be glad to spend a Sunday on the island to feel the quietness and go to Mass, so a Friday-to-Monday stay.
We would need to rent an apartment anyway for the kid(s).
Peter wrote:
If you plan to visit, I would be happy to meet you there and show you the main bits It’s a 45 min flight for me. It would be the smallest mathematically possible EuroGA fly-in
It would be a pleasure for us too.
