Shell Beach
Waiting for the ferry back to Guernsey
Shell Beach
Herm
Herm
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| Herm is 1.5 miles long by half a mile wide. It has some fabulous shell beaches and a coast path runs round the whole island, which is flat in the north and bit more hilly in the south. Neolithic tombs and artefacts have been found on the island, which was later visited by Roman traders. In the 6th century it was a place of meditation for monks from Jersey and Sark. By the 10th century it was ruled by the Dukes of Normandy and later came under the control of the Benedictine Abbey of Mont St Michel. In the 12th century St Tugual's Church was built on the site of an earlier chapel. This has now been incorporated into the main house on the island. In 1204 Herm came under the control of the English Crown. From the 16th century until 1737 the island was a sporting playground for the governors of Guernsey, who hunted game birds and rabbits. Granite quarrying was carried out on the island in the 19th century. From 1889-1949 the island had a succession of owners including Prince Blucher von Wahlstatt, the novelist Compton Mackenzie and Sir Percival Perry, the Chairman of Ford Motor Company. The island was occupied by the Germans from 1940-45. The whole island is now run as one farm. It was bought in 1949 by Major Peter Wood, who found it in a derelict, rundown and overgrown state. There is a hotel on the island and some self-catering cottages. I visited for a morning in May 2009. It was raining when I left St Peter Port, so there weren't many people on the first ferry of the day, which meant that I had most of the island to myself for the first few hours. I recommend the Herm Ice Cream, which is on sale at the Shell Beach Café. I don't particularly recommend spending half an hour in a hole covered by scrubby trees next to the coast path looking for a geocache. I did find it in the end! For a small island Herm has a wide range of habitats - grassland, woodland, sandy beaches, rock pools and granite cliffs. |
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