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Yesterday evening we caught the bus (15) to the nearly village of St Aubin. It’s a classic seaside resort, with a wide sandy beach and a harbour surrounded by pubs and restaurants. We have a reservation at the Anchor bar & grill overlooking it all.

The food was the best we’ve had since we arrived on Jersey, and lobsters were consumed once again.

This morning we walked into St Helier. Our first port of call was the museum, where we watched a very informative film about the history of the island. In the garden is a statue of Cupid riding a Centaur.

This is actually a copy of a Greco-Romane marble which was once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte. The original is currently in the Louvre in Paris.

Just across the road from the museum is Liberation Square, named to commemorate the liberation of the island from the Nazis in 1945.

The plaque reads: AT THIS PLACE ON 9TH MAY 1945, ADVANCED PARTIES FROM THE ROYAL NAVY AND THE BRITISH ARMY LIBERATED JERSEY FROM NEARLY FIVE YEARS OF OCCUPATION BY THE GERMAN FORCES. THEY AND THE RETURN OF THE BRITISH FLAG WERE GREETED BY THOUSANDS OF ISLANDERS WITH RELIEF, JOY AND GRATITUDE. ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT DAY, THE STATES AND PEOPLE OF JERSEY DEDICATE THIS LIBERATION SQUARE TO COMMEMORATE THAT HISTORIC EVENT AND ALL THOSE WHOSE EFFORTS AND SACRIFICES MADE THIS POSSIBLE.

In nearby Royal Square, a slightly weird statue of King George II overlooks the French market. I’m not sure why he’s dressed as a Roman Emperor, but hey ho.

The market itself is good, with lots of delicious smells from food stalls.

A short walk brings us to the Maritime museum. Val is peeking out from behind a propeller salvaged from the wreck of the mail steamer Caesarea II, which struck rocks here in 1923.

The tower behind the propeller is St Helier’s war memorial. Another St Helier curiosity is the steam clock ‘Ariadne’.

This steam powered clock on the waterfront was built to commemorate the Ariadne, one of the first steamships to sail between England and the Channel Islands. Every hour the paddle wheels turn and steam is emitted from the funnels.

And that’s just about it for our holiday to Jersey. Tomorrow we’ll be back in Shropshire to deal with electricians, plumbers, window blind fitters and floor tilers. Deep joy.

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This morning we caught the number 28 bus to Jersey War Tunnels.

The Channel Islands were the only Sovereign territory to be occupied by the enemy during the second world war. Once it became obvious that the German invasion of France was inevitable, a decision was taken to demilitarise the islands. This meant that they would not be defended in the event of attack. Thousands of residents chose to evacuate to England.

Many more chose to stay however. England was being bombed after all, and Jersey was not.

The Germans set about turning the islands into a fortress, determined that they should not be retaken by the British. Part of this plan was the construction of a large underground hospital, and the remains of this is what we’re visiting today. I won’t reproduce the history of the occupation – Jersey Heritage has a good article here. Here are some pictures.

The tunnels are vast – we walked about a kilometre. It’s also very cold down there – between 5 and 10 degrees. There’s a nice visitor centre and a cafe where we had lunch.

A good day out, and very educational.

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Super dinner at the Quayside restaurant last night, lobster followed by crepes suzettes.

The sea was like a millpond.

Jersey has an excellent bus service. The fare is £2.50 no matter how long or short your journey, and even the smallest villages have a bus stop. This morning we caught number 7 to a place on the north coast called the Devil’s Hole. The hole itself is a sea cave, and in stormy weather with a high tide seawater shoots upwards towards the cliff top. Conditions today are completely calm, but we’re not here to see the Hole itself. Rather, it looks like a good starting point for a cliff walk along the rugged north coast.

It’s very warm again, but there’s a breeze blowing off the sea so we make good progress. Eventually our destination is in sight.

This is a tiny fishing village called Grève de Lecq. It’s very picturesque.

Next to the beach is a seafood shack. Time for lunch – we shared a lobster roll.

The beach is lovely.

After lunch and a wander around the number 9 bus picked us up and took us back to St Helier. Jersey is only 9 miles by 5, so it doesn’t take long to get anywhere.

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We had a lovely fishy dinner last night at a place just around the corner from our hotel called Aromas. This morning we caught a bus to a village called St Brelades Bay. It’s a bit of a tourist trap so the bus was busy, but it’s a lovely spot.

There are some quieter corners.

We found a signpost pointing to a footpath over the headland, so we followed it uphill. On the top of the headland is a very nice network of paths leading in all directions. We navigated our way to a bus stop and 5 minutes later bus number 12A picked us up and took us back towards St Helier. We hopped off at a beachside crab shack called The Lookout.

We had a late lunch of crab sandwiches and walked the rest of the way back to our hotel. It’s been another blazing hot day, and it was a relief to get back to the luxury of an air conditioned room. Beers to follow, and tonight we have a reservation at a seafood restaurant called Quayside.

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Yesterday morning we drove up to Liverpool airport. Liverpool is a good airport. Parking is immediately opposite the terminal, check-in is done by an actual person rather than a recalcitrant machine, and the cafe is table service without having to resort to ordering with your phone. Nice views too.

Our flight south takes about 50 minutes. A taxi takes us to our hotel on the Esplanade in Saint Helier, Jersey’s capital.

We have a very nice room on the third floor, with splendid views of the bay and Elizabeth Castle from our balcony.

As night falls, the castle is illuminated.

There was World Cup football last night with Norway playing Brazil. Despite being very much the underdogs, Norway won the game. We have some Norwegian guests in the hotel, and needless to say they were delighted.

Of course England had a famous victory over Mexico overnight, but to our eternal shame we were too tired to stay up and watch.

This morning we had a nice breakfast and we went for a wander around Saint Helier. There’s a big marina, which is exactly the same as every other marina we’ve moored at back in our sailing days. Some things never change.

There are some nice gardens along the waterfront.

Despite a little sea fog this morning the sun has shone all day, and after grabbing some pastries for lunch we retreated back to the hotel for a couple of hours. We’ll pop out for ice creams later before choosing a restaurant for tonight’s dinner.

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About 10 miles north of Shrewsbury is an airfield called Sleap. It was created by the RAF in 1943 and used for training bomber crews. The RAF left in 1966 and now the airfield is the home of Shropshire Aero Club.

It’s busy today, and a group of brave souls are trying wingwalking.

There’s a nice garden for watching the action.

One thing that you can rely on at civilian airfields like this is a good cafe. We had a very nice bacon bap for lunch. There’s an arrivals board so we can keep tabs on what’s going on.

Another intrepid wingwalker is ready to go. It’s really popular.

A nice couple of hours out at Shropshire’s only civilian airfield.

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Our old mate Rob messaged yesterday to say he’s in Shrewsbury for the weekend, and would we like to meet up for a beer. Of course we would! Here we are at the Admiral Benbow with Rob and his lovely partner Elaine. The afternoon flew by while we enjoyed our drinks in the garden.

We spent a happy few hours catching up and reminiscing, before we headed home to get ready for our next event. We’re off to the Abbey again, as the Rock Choir are playing a concert. The choir are incredibly (and deservedly) popular, and the place was packed.

We enjoyed a super concert. Although the photo looks quite formal, the concert was great fun. Sarah was singing, and afterwards we headed to a nearby pub for drinks.