Horse shoe

I went down to the bathing pools for an early swim yesterday,

the water is warmer than average for this time of year, so it was lovely just

floating, swimming and chatting, so peaceful.

Then as I was heading to work, I thought I would show you the newly refurbished Horse shoe pool.

It was badly damaged in the storms of 2014

and recently through a lot of hard volunteer work has re-opened.

It is the secret pool out of the four Victorian Bathing Pools,

as you approach all you can see are the steps above,

you round the corner and you find this magical man made pool,

a marvel of Victorian engineering and craftsmanship.

It is the only one of the pools that is open to the sea so is very popular with

divers, kayakers, paddle boarders etc.  Its also Chris's favourite at the moment!

There is a lovely little shelter at the top with beautiful granite pillar supports, quite a lot of the machinery from the repairs are still there, I am sure it wont be for long.

The job isn't quite finished,

you can still see how they are underpinning the steps to strengthen them from tide and waves.

I like it when an artist signs his work, well deserved.

Not sure that this was one of the craftsmen?

I would have lovely to see the moment that this seagull accidently walked across wet cement!

The look on its face!!!!

Guernsey Light Infantry

I was having a cup of coffee in the garden on Sunday morning before going for a walk, the radio was on quietly in the kitchen, when one of the neighbours started up with some load music. 

Except on second thoughts, I don't think any of my neighbours are marching band fans.......(well I am, I love them, I blame my Dad!)....then I remembered that the island was commemorating the departure of the Guernsey Light Infantry to fight in the Great War exactly one hundred years ago. 

So we hurried out to catch up with them as they were heading down Fountain St. 

The parade was following their original route from Fort George, down through Trinity Square to Town Church and through town to the White Rock where there was a service of remembrance.

It seems that the parade was split into two parts, so you could properly hear the bands.

The first part featuring soldiers, veterans and a military band.

The second part (which we had caught up with) was the band of the Boys Brigade, re-enactors in authentic WW1 uniform and local school children,

many whose great, great, great grandfathers had been among the original soldiers. 

It was incredibly moving, especially as they rounded into Church Square,

the watching crowds started clapping.

Eyes were definitely moist, glad I had my sunglasses....

Think it was made even more moving for me as on Saturday I had been asked a question in the Gallery that really made me think about the human cost of WW1.

As this gentleman had walked up to St James he had passed the war memorial at the top of Smith Street. This was originally put up for WW1 and other wars have since been added. 

His question was this

There are an awful lot of names on your memorial, when I have visited ones in the UK ,they often list all who went to fight and then put a star next to those who didn't come home.  Is that the case for yours, or are those names all who died?  Because that seems an awful lot for a small island.   

Well I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but I did double check with

The Fountain of All Knowledge, The Priaulx Library, and they confirmed what I thought.

Those four panels on the back wall are all those who died.

Its very humbling when you stop to have a proper look at it. 

They fought at Passchendaele, Cambrai and Lys.

Three hundred and twenty seven young men were killed.

Their moto was Diex Aix - God Help Us.

This derives from the battle cry used by the Duke of Normandy 1,000 years earlier.

Such brave men.