Guernsey, from Pleinmont to L'Islet

We walked further today than on any other day of our 2015 holiday on the Channel Islands, but the ups and downs of Guernsey’s south coast were behind us and it was easy walking. We had some rain and some sunshine, but the most significant feature of the day was the strong wind.

Guernsey’s excellent buses also run on Sundays, but the service is a little less frequent, so we headed down from the hotel with a specific bus in mind, in this case on the round-island route 91. It took is a little while to find the right bus stop, and by the time the bus arrived there was quite a queue. We fell into conversation with a man who was stuck on Guernsey following the cancellation of the Condor Ferry as a result of the high wind and yesterday’s accident. He was heading to the airport to try to get a flight home. We stayed on the bus back to Pleinmont Slipway, where we had reached on Friday.

The guidebook describes a route alongside the road to L’Erée, but we climbed down a steep flight of steps and walked along the beach. We soon reached Fort Grey, known as the cup and saucer for obvious reasons, and now a shipwreck museum. We returned to the road briefly, but returned to the beach when we could. The strength of the wind was a bit of a problem in places, blowing sand into our faces.

At L’Erée, at the northern end of Roquaine Bay we took a more minor road onto the headland. We stopped to look at the ancient Le Creux és Faies Passage Tomb, then continued to the causeway to Lihou Island and a memorial to sailors lost in 1974. There were quite a number of people about, and the view back to Pleinmont across the sea was attractive in the strong wind. We returned to the main road around the island, passing Fort Saumarez, a German tower built on top of a much older foundation.

On the approach to Perelle Bay, we passed the ancient Le Trepied Tomb and the Perelle Battery, then we continued alongside the road to Perelle. It was drizzling slightly, so we were putting the map and guidebook away when we didn’t need them. We stopped to check where we were up to on the map, and in doing so attracted the attention of the driver of a passing police car, who stopped to ask if we wanted any help.

The main road turns away from the coast at Richmond and we turned with it, then we cut down a side street to emerge by the beach at Vazon Bay. We found a sheltered spot at the back of the beach to stop for lunch, then rather than returning to the path by the road, we walked across the beach to the toilet about a third of the way around the Bay. This is windsurfing territory and whilst the surfers on the water were clearly having an exciting time, we watched someone struggling to walk along the beach carrying a surfboard.

We continued along the back of the beach, mostly on sand but at one stage on a wall close to the water which, in the wind, was a bit too exciting for my comfort. We occasionally had problems with sand blowing in our faces, but the prevailing wind direction was westerly, so we and the sand were mostly being blown in the same direction! We returned to the official path above the beach and turned towards Fort Hommet, with the full force of the wind blowing across our route. We got close to the fort but didn’t walk around it; it was just too windy. Instead we cut across the narrow promontory and onto the path to Cobo Bay, past spectacular seas.

We went down onto the beach again at Cobo Bay, but we were looking for the Cobo Tea Room and we didn’t know where it was, so we headed across the beach to what looked like the centre of the settlement and found the café easily. It was good to have a break from the wind and a cup of tea. The café was busy with locals, out for Sunday afternoon, and we spoke with a man who was extremely impressed that we were walking from west to east and hence not into the wind; this was, of course, actually down to good luck not good planning!

From Cobo, the path took us onto another promontory, though not quite to the fortification at Les Grandes Rocques. We then skirted a number of delightful little inlets, including the almost circular Port Soif. We were on a good coastal path, mostly some distance from the road. We passed a clay pigeon shooting range and the inland Pulius Pool.

The final promontory of the day brought us to Rousse Tower, with good views across Le Grand Havre to Chouet Tower (where we would be walking on another day). We passed a boat store and headed back to the Main Road at L’Islet. We left the coastal path here and walked inland to the Guernsey Freesia Centre. There was less to see here than I’d expected, but I love freesias and made a mental note to order online from them in the future.