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We went to Guernsey in the Channel Islands to attend the wedding of Neil. His family have lived next door to us in Camberley for more than 25 years. So he was only 3 when he entered our lives and now it's time to see him married. His bride Natalie's family lives in Guernsey.
We've never been to this island before. We went to Jersey for our honeymoon in 1974 and we visit again in 1975 and 1984 (to celebrate 10 years of marriage). Guernsey has a population of 65,000 and it's a small island. You can easily drive round it in 2 hours - and probably have time for a walk along the way. Traffic moves at 25mph in tiny narrow roads. It's really beautiful. I believe the main industry on the island is off-shore banking and the place looks very prosperous indeed.
We spent Thursday night in St Peter Port - the capital and the only place you could describe as a town on the island. It has a beautiful harbour and large marinas for very wealthy people. That was fun. On Friday we moved to "La Grand Mare" hotel on the other side of the island to join the McGibbon family for the wedding. We had lunch with old friends of the family and then had a good long walk along the cliffs.
Guernsey (and Jersey) were occupied by the Germans during WWII. The islands were very strongly defended by the Germans and only liberated with the fall of Nazi Germany on 9 May 1945. No attempt was made to invade - it would have been suicidal to have landed men on the beaches. Of course the islands were totally isolated from supply during the last year of the war and I believe the islanders and the occupying forces suffered starvation in the final months. The Islands were also fortified during the Napoleonic wars and it's interesting to see the difference in the defences in just over 100 years.
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