Guernsey, from the Airport to Le Gouffre and Pleinmont

The weather forecast for today was distinctly grim, but the reality was rather better and the coastal walking was superb. I spent a little bit of time in the morning catching up on work tasks, then we caught the Number 11 bus back to the airport, with the intention of visiting the German Occupation Museum at Forest before resuming our walk. We were soon back at Forest’s attractive Church, which we had passed (and photographed) in better weather yesterday and after a bit of wandering about we reached the museum in what appears to be a fairly ordinary building down a country lane. The museum is the work of one dedicated individual, Richard Heaume, who started collecting wartime artefacts from the fields around his home when he was a boy. There were some interesting items, in particular an Enigma machine, and some poignant stories about individual islanders. However, I struggled to come to terms with the big picture of what it must have been like for both islanders and Germans during the war, and I was not sorry to leave the museum behind us.

We decided not to retrace our steps to Petit Bot, but rather to follow a different lane from Forest, back to the coast at Le Gouffre. It was drizzling as we left Forest and raining somewhat more purposefully when we reached Le Gouffre. This encouraged us to don full waterproofs, standing next to Le Gouffre Café and Restaurant, which appears to have rather a good reputation. We rejoined the ups and downs of the coastal path, and the weather gradually improved.

We went slightly inland at Le Bigard, then back to the coast and stopped for lunch in a little woodland area. More ups and downs brought us to La Prevote Tower. The first tower here was built in the Napoleonic era, but the current concrete one was built by the German army in the Second World War. It appears that we passed a sea cave at Le Creux Mahie, but we were never sure where it was. At one stage we noticed climbing ropes attached to the rocks; perhaps it was there. We did pass an arch and the scenery was spectacular.

The spire of Torteval Church came into sight to the right, and we began to catch glimpses across the Pleinmont Peninsula to Portelet Harbour. We reached the intimidating “L’Angle MP4” range-finding tower, and then the restored gun emplacement of Batterie Generaloberst Dollman.

As we continued around the peninsula, now on the Pleinmont Nature Reserve, there were good views to the Hanois Lighthouse offshore. We turned to the north past the Pleinmont Observation Tower then descended towards Portelet Harbour. Just before we reached the coast we passed “The Fairy Ring” (La Table des Pions), a circular area of grass, surrounded by a shallow trench, in turn surrounded by a ring of stones. This is where the Pions (young valets) would sit to eat a meal during the Chevauchee (cavalcade) de St Michel.

We reached the road leading alongside Portelet Harbour to the bus stop at Portelet Slipway. The buses run hourly and we knew we would not catch the next one, so we took our time, stopping to look at Fort Pezeries, then continuing alongside the Harbour. The bus stop has its own little turning circle, with car parking nearby and – good news – a little refreshment kiosk. We ordered a cup of tea, but unfortunately there was only outdoor seating, and the heavens opened! After rapidly drinking our tea, we walked quickly to the bus shelter, and attempted to keep out of the rain. It was good to see our bus coming along the road!

It took something over 30 minutes to get back to St Peter Port and the rain had stopped in time for our walk back to the hotel. In the evening we ate in the hotel bar; we had a pleasant and very reasonably priced meal; much better value than eating in their restaurant.

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