Big birthday, small island

Looking back on 2022 in my blog there is one significant omission – a family holiday that would have featured had I not fallen ill with covid a few days after my return. So, to fill the gap, here is one last retrospective trip report for the year that we have just left behind…

A significant birthday called for something a bit different, so a plan was hatched to spend a long weekend on the channel island of Alderney with my family at the incredible Landmark Trust property at Fort Clonque.

Fort Clonque

Fort Clonque is a fort of the Victorian era, built between 1853 and 1855 in response to the threat posed by a resurgent French navy. However, advances in technology ensured that the fort became obsolete almost as soon as it was completed. Instead, it would eventually find a new purpose as a private residence. This peaceful new use was interrupted during the German occupation, when the forts were adapted again, including the addition of a hefty concrete bunker.

In the 1960s the Landmark Trust purchased the fort and restored it as a rather special holiday home that can house 13 guests at a time. Since then many hundreds of families, friends and groups have enjoyed a stay at this unique venue. The log books in the property record wonderful birthday parties, Christmas gatherings and honeymoons – as well as tales of church bell ringing groups, choirs and even a dungeons and dragons group, who spent their time in the fort battling demons. In short, the fort can rarely be short of happy faces and joyous laughter.

The plan was simple enough – we would fly over to Guernsey for a couple of nights, then make a short hop across to Alderney for a couple of nights in town and a long weekend at the fort, before re-tracing our steps to Guernsey and then home. I had planned to write this up in the blog upon our return in May, but Covid finally caught up with me shortly after our return. Thankfully, I kept a mini-diary for the trip so can fill in the gap now.

The full story of our birthday gathering is covered in the following posts, all retrospectively filed under May 2022:

A slow hop to Alderney
Island Explorations
Braye to Fort Albert
Bibette Head: A lethal landscape
Saye Bay and back to St Anne
The Odeon
The fort nestled in the rocks
Three nights at Fort Clonque
Fort Clonque and the flying boats
Walks from Fort Clonque
Exploring Fort Tourgis
The Nunnery and Longis Bay
Farewell to Alderney

Our pre and post trip time in Guernsey was pretty special too. On the way out to Alderney we had one of the best guided tours I have ever experienced at Batterie Mirus and on the way back we were lucky enough to catch the Liberation day cavalcade passing through Cobo Bay.

I can honestly say that our time on Alderney was incredible. It’s hard to believe that such stunning, pristine and empty beaches exist in the English Channel. Any walk around the island’s coastline includes plenty to marvel upon and a complex history to grapple with. There are some pretty fabulous restaurants too. In short, it’s the perfect destination for an unusual family gathering and one that we won’t forget anytime soon.

Farewell to Alderney

After six days in Alderney it was time to start our journey homeward. I took a little morning walk out towards Fort Tourgis to get a last view of Fort Clonque in the glow of sunrise and then returned to the fort to get packed up.

A morning walk between Fort Tourgis and Fort Clonque

The arrangements at the airport were quite modest – hand searches of our hold and cabin baggage, a showing of the safety video in a portacabin and then a short wait in a small open air space with a few steps up to the apron. It wasn’t long before we were on board the midday flight and enjoying a smooth island hop. Around half an hour later we were walking out of the airport terminal in Guernsey.

I think we got to see most of what we hoped in our five night stay, though sadly we didn’t get a chance to try one of the Bat and blonde hedgehog walks organised by the Alderney Wildlife Trust.

I can honestly say that our time on Alderney was incredible. It’s hard to believe that such stunning, pristine and empty beaches exist in this quiet spot in the English Channel. Any walk around the island’s coastline includes plenty to marvel upon and there are some pretty fabulous restaurants too. In short, it’s the perfect destination for an unusual family gathering and one that we won’t forget anytime soon.

Postscript. Since our stay Dan Snow has produced a fantastic 20 minute video summing up the extraordinary nature of Alderney which is available on YouTube at The Most Fortified Island In The World?

The Nunnery and Longis Bay

It’s easy to forget that Alderney has a long history of habitation as you work your way from one Victorian fort to another, but that is never in question at the Nunnery, which has looked out over Longis Bay for almost 2,000 years.

The structure that stands today began life as a Roman fort, but has spent time as the private residence of the Governor of Alderney, a military hospital and possibly as a convent (though some historians think that this was a reference to the Catholic family that lived there, while our tour guide thought it was an army joke referring to a brothel). It was re-fortified during the Napoleonic wars and then again during the German occupation, becoming Resistance Nest Piratenschloss (Pirates Castle) for a short period.

The Nunnery

It is thought that the original Roman Fort was built around 360-400 AD. Archaeological excavations on the site and nearby Longis Common have revealed a much longer history, stretching back into the Bronze and Iron ages. For a long time it was thought that the Nunnery was built in the middle ages, when it was known as ‘Castrum Longini’ (as it is shown on the earliest map of Alderney, dating back to 1540) but archaeological digs carried out since 2008 have proven the Roman origins of the site and shown how the fort was repaired and re-used up to the 18th century.

The German occupiers excavated a large earth bank, previously used as an artillery rampart, and constructed a Type 501 bunker for use as a communications position. It is decorated with an edelweiss emblem that we were told was unusual for bunkers, possibly indicating the presence of elite troops or perhaps an Austrian construction battalion. The builders, whoever they were, also performed the same trick as at Fort Tourgis, reinforcing the 1790s carriage store with concrete walls to create a hidden bunker within the historic structure for an anti-tank gun.

The timeline and display inside the Nunnery

It was great to be able to wander round and piece together the unusual evolution of this fort from the hugely information panels around the fort. I also particularly liked the free Map and Guide available on site (from weatherproof plastic dispensers) which provides a clearly labelled diagram of the fort, showing which parts are Roman, which parts date to the 1790s and which parts are from World War II.

The complicated history of the site is brilliantly set out in a display board that helps you interpret the East Wall of the fort which includes (a) a section of wall built in the middle ages (b) Roman tiles and the remains of the Roman tower wall (c) a parapet built in the 1790s (d) a World War 2 observation point cut into the medieval wall. To add to this complexity, you have the Germans re-building part of the medieval wall to hide a new bunker! I would never have seen all this for myself, but having each element so clearly pointed out makes it really easy to understand.

Inside the bunker there was also a superb timeline of the evolution of the site, a model showing how the original Roman fort might have looked and some detailed explanations of the discoveries from recent archaeological digs. The Earl and Countess of Wessex are due in Alderney a few days after our visit and will be breaking ground here for a platinum jubilee archaeological dig.

The anti tank wall at Longis Bay

Outside the Nunnery the Germans built a Type 631b Anti-Tank Gun bunker, which formed part of Resistance Nest Piratenschloss and was integrated with the massive anti-tank wall known as Panzermauer I. This runs along the shoreline at Longis Bay (apparently also grimly known among the forced labourers as ‘Imminent death’ due to the severity of the work there).

The anti-tank wall at Longis Bay

I have seen concrete anti-tank walls in Jersey, but the wall that curves around the bay here looks far more daunting with its sheer scale (1.2 metres thick and 6 metres tall), immense length (600 metres) and protruding lip. All of this took 20,000 tons of concrete. In part the shocking appearance of the wall may be due to the isolated and unbuilt up nature of the environment around it, with this standing out like a sore thumb. It certainly would have prevented any notion of an amphibious assault by the Allies.

Whilst in the area we also visited the ‘Targets’ wall constructed in the 1860s for rifle practice and took in the view out to Fort Raz, built in 1855 to protect Longis Bay.

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Exploring Fort Tourgis

A stroll along the western coastline at a leisurely pace with my folks took us from Fort Clonque to Fort Tourgis, the second largest in the chain of Victorian forts built around the island.

The fort was constructed in 1855 and originally intended to accommodate 350 men with 33 heavy cannon in five batteries. However, the usefulness of the fort was to be short lived. Fort Tourgis was rendered just as obsolete as the other forts coastal forts and batteries around Alderney after the evolution of naval firepower, leaving just Fort Albert and Roselle Battery defending the island by 1908.

A contemporary report from 1896 highlights the importance of the capacity provided by the barracks in the citadel when the Prince Albert’s Somerset Light Infantry were stationed on the island (six companies in total). Two companies were based at Fort Tourgis “as there was insufficient room at Fort Albert”. In the aftermath of the Boer War it was used as an invalid station for sick and wounded soldiers returning from South Africa.

Interior view of Fort Tourgis today

In 1929 large scale military exercises were carried out on Alderney with the scenario set as a war between Guernsey and Jersey, with Forts Albert and Tourgis playing their part (as reported in the photo-essay ‘War in the Channel Islands’, The Sphere – Saturday 12 October 1929) in a battle to repel a mock invasion. However, as we now know, the real life invasion of the island on 2nd July 1940 was not contested at all.

In 1942 Hitler ordered that Alderney be turned into an impregnable fortress. Fort Tourgis became Stützpunkt Türkenburg (Strongpoint Turk’s Castle) with substantial new bunkers built out from the existing batteries. The powerful nature of the defensive position set up by the Germans is clear from the list of improvements made – two beach defence guns, two anti-tank guns, a three-gun anti-aircraft battery, plus machine guns and searchlights.

Some of the modifications of Four Tourgis made by the Germans are hard to spot from the exterior. For example, the northern section of the Victorian caponier in Battery no. 2 was strengthened through the addition of a concrete lining to the original stone walls. The display boards inside the fort do an exceptional job of explaining such differences, which would easily be missed by the untrained eye.

One of many bunkers in and around Fort Tourgis

A display board outside the fort helpfully explained that the fort saw a different use after the war, firstly as accommodation for Italians who had come to the island as agricultural labourers and then by Royal Engineers. The Daily Herald reported (‘Four square miles of race war’, 8th February 1963) that by 1963 15% of the island’s working population were of Italian origin, stating that 60 Italians came to the island to work in 1959 and mostly live in Fort Tourgis. A photo accompanying the article shows Italian children playing while their mothers hang washing within the fort.

Newspaper reports highlight some other post war uses of the fort, ranging from a stay by choirboys from St Agnes’ church, Reading, in 1956 to territorial army soldiers in 1973.

The fort was falling into disrepair by the 1970s and has long been derelict. While the site is easily accessible, there are signs everywhere warning of the dangers that lurk in some sections of the fort. However, the Cambridge Battery and the no. 3 Battery have been cleared by volunteers and are open to the public. As we have seen at other sites on the island, a superb job has been done with information boards to explain the history of the defences here.

Cambridge Battery at Fort Tourgis

It seemed an opportunity not to be missed as there is no guarantee that the site will remain as open as it is today. There are plans afoot to convert the fort into a luxury hotel with 72 rooms in the former barracks and the parade ground covered to create an atrium. The £18m plans from the developers include a restaurant, swimming pool and sauna to be built within the fortifications.

Thank you to the volunteers and experts in opening up this site and providing such clear explanations of its history. I thoroughly enjoyed my time exploring the fort.

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Walks from Fort Clonque

In our three night stay at Fort Clonque we spent our time exploring the south eastern half of the island. The route of our explorations over the next few days borrowed from the The Gannet Trail and the Burhou & Fort Tourgis trail, working in enough time in St Anne to pick up fresh supplies for our stay.

Our walks took in the sights of St Anne, including the Alderney museum; the old church tower (1767); the new church of St Anne (1850) designed by George Gilbert Scott; a Luftwaffe observation tower; and the nearby Fort Doyle. Another walk took us to Fort Tourgis, within sight of Fort Clonque, which is covered in the next blog post.

The old church tower (1767) and entrance to the Alderney museum

The Alderney museum has a splendid collection of objects and no shortage of information to help you understand the history of this unusually heavily fortified island. An absolute bargain at £3 for adult entry.

There is a super display about the Battle of the Butes, a rather divisive event in the island’s history, where returning islanders were forced to compete to get the furniture they needed to fill their now empty homes. All the furniture that could be found on the island, plus some new furniture brought over from the mainland, was piled up. Residents were lined up behind a rope and when the whistle blew ran to collect the furniture they wanted. Some islanders watched as their own furniture was scooped by other islands, creating resentments that lingered long in the memory, in spite of the community spirit of those early post-war years.

There are some fascinating exhibits in the museum, spanning the centuries, but I think my highlight was a contoured plaster model of eastern Alderney, donated by the RAF in 1972. The model was said to be based on pre-war Ordnance Survey maps and RAF aerial photographs from 1943, though it has since been noted to include developments from after April 1944.

One display tells the incredible story of Conrad Gies, an artist and surveyor, who drew and painted Alderney whilst stationed on the island during the war. In his work he was required to draw plans of the minefields being set upon Alderney, which included over 30,000 mines. In the days before liberation the Germans ordered the destruction of the plans to frustrate the allies, but Gries had created a duplicate plan which he hid. The plans undoubtedly saved many lives.

Other exhibits included displays about the Stella disaster (1899) and the discoveries from archaeological excavations on Longis Common.

Luftwaffe Observation Tower in St Anne

Fort Doyle, or Doyle’s Battery as it is sometimes known, is the smallest fort on the island (which was originally designed to house 4 guns and 22 men). The fort dates back to 1854 and has recently been restored by local volunteers who cleared the undergrowth, created improved public access and installed new information boards.

As with many of the other forts, this one was adapted by the Germans in 1945 to become Resistance Nest Dohlenfeste (Fort Jackdaw). In this guise the fort was small but lethal, with an array of Czechoslovakian anti-tank guns; repurposed French tank turrets; mortar and machine guns. The Germans even demolished Crabby Village to give the fort a better field of fire.

A handy leaflet is available on site which provides an aerial shot of the fort marked up to show which parts are Victorian and which are German. Unusually the German alterations and additions have hardly disrupted the Victorian footprint of the fort itself. However, outside the fort the additions are more obvious – two bunkers for the Czechoslovak anti-tank guns and a smaller bunker for a machine gun.

Another walk, up the zig-zag path from Fort Clonque and around the boundary of the airport, brought me to the chilling site of Lager Sylt, a concentration camp built during the German occupation and operated by the SS from March 1943.

The entrance gates of Lager Sylt

At first glance it seems that little remains, with just a water trough and the camp gates (which now include a memorial plaque unveiled by survivors in 2008 in remembrance of the 400 prisoners who died there between March 1943 and June 1944) standing out. However, recent archaeological investigations have shed more light on the camp, resulting in the paper Tormented Alderney: archaeological investigations of the Nazi labour and concentration camp of Sylt which challenges the generally held perception of the camp and reveals that “considerable traces of the camp survive”.

Leaving the camp behind I returned to the path, resting a while on a bench sitting on a concrete base where the name of the 24th Field ambulance R.A.M.C. has been inscribed, before retracing my steps, passing the Napoleonic-era signal beacon, Telegraph Tower, on the way back to Fort Clonque.

Once again, today reminded me of just what a complex and often brutal history has unfolded on the three square miles of this most beautiful island.

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Fort Clonque and the flying boats

One of the more interesting stories to emerge from a dive into the newspaper archives was that of a near-disaster that occurred off Fort Clonque in 1923 in the very earliest days of commercial passenger flights.

In 1923 British Marine Air Navigation, a joint venture between Supermarine and Southern Railways, launched the world’s first scheduled passenger flying boat service with a service that operated between Southampton, Cherbourg, Le Havre and the Channel Islands using a fleet of three Supermarine Sea Eagle flying boats (each of which would carry “a pilot and six passengers, with a reasonable quantity of luggage”).

The maiden flight occurred on 14 August 1923 with an inspection of the proposed air route by the chairman of the company and the director-general of civil aviation, flying from Woolston (Southampton) to Cherbourg and then on to Guernsey. An article in the Yorkshire Evening post on 5th September 1923 revealed that the following three weeks had been taken up with test flights.

The service was reported to have proven itself to be very reliable and by late September the service was described as operating daily, with the press highlighting the stories of some early passengers of note from racehorse owners to a tortoise in the care of a schoolboy. However, a big push to promote the service took place on Saturday 13th October 1923. It began well, but came unstuck over Alderney, as contemporary press reports reveal…

Amphibian Flyers
Air Liner Descends to Aid Companion in Rough Sea.
(From Our Special Correspondent.)

GUERNSEY, Saturday Night.

The people of Guernsey are a go-ahead race and are readily receptive of new ideas. They invited a large party to their island to show them how England is supplied with much of its imported garden and greenhouse produce, and at the same time to witness the inauguration of new commercial flying boat service, the first of its kind in the world.

The present year has been a bad one for flying boats, however, and the inauguration the service to-day adds one more to the long list of mishaps which has marred it. Fortunately, no lives were lost in either of the two flying boats concerned, but for a time the pilots, mechanics, and the passengers were in considerable danger. The incident has not damped the belief of the Guernsey people that the service will yet be firmly established.

Owing to the gale in the Channel the flying boats were delayed in their arrival at Peters Port, but they turned up to-day when the wind was still blowing hard. One of them, the well known Sea Eagle, and the other, after being christened Sarnia, the old name of the island, took the passengers for Southampton. Captain F. J. Bailey, who was in charge of the Sea Eagle, set out ahead of the Sarnia on the return journey but before he had cleared Alderney had had to descend to the water. A very heavy sea was running but fortunately the crests were not breaking.

But the situation was dangerous, and Captain Bailey sent out signals of distress. The Sarnia was then approaching and, with a view to aiding the pilot and mechanic, Captain H. C. Baird, who won the Schneider Cup for Britain last year, at once descended. The seas were big and steep, however, that found it impossible to take off Captain Bailey and his mechanic and, leaving them in the tumbling and tossing boat, he decided to return to Guernsey.

Then the Sarnia got into trouble but this was not due to any defect in the engine. Owing to the rough seas he found difficult to get off the surface. In taxi-ing along, clouds of spray broke over his boat. The passengers inside were flung about and bruised and became violently sea-sick. The heavy blows of the seas on the shell of his boat also caused some damage, but at length he did rise into the air and made for Peters Port in safety.

Rescued by Motor Boats.

Meantime, motor-boats in Alderney had been manned, and proceeded to the assistance of the wrecked aviators. The wind and the seas were driving them rapidly towards a dangerous reef known as La Clonque, where, if they had not hit rocks, they would certainly have been in broken water which might well have proved their end.

Darkness was falling, and when the motorboats came up with the fliers they were clinging on to the sides of the cockpit, over which spray was flying in white sheets. The hull, on which the wings acted like great levers, was being tossed about in a most alarming manner. The motion made it difficult to pass a tow rope, but this was eventually accomplished, and the boat was towed into the lee of the island, where the aviators were landed. The news of their rescue was received in Guernsey with great relief.

Source: Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Monday 15 October 1923 c/o the British Newspaper Archive.

The rocky surroundings of Fort Clonque today

The news of the near disaster was reported in the national and regional press. A statement from British Marine Air Navigation revealed that the flying boat which hit engine trouble (G-EBGR) was undamaged. It would continue to operate on the route until 1928, when the rapid advances in aviation technology rendered it obsolete. It would end up as the only survivor of its type (G-EBFK crashed and G-EBGS was lost after a collision on the water) but was sadly destroyed by the British Overseas Airways Corporation in 1954 after they ran out of storage space.

British Marine Air Navigation as an independent company proved to be short-lived and in 1924 merged with other fledgling airlines to form Imperial Airways.

The troubles experienced by this early passenger flight, almost 100 years ago, put the relatively minor inconvenience of our fog-delayed flight to Alderney into better perspective!

Three nights at Fort Clonque

Fort Clonque is understandably popular, so we booked our stay just over a year in advance. It didn’t feel entirely real until we gathered at Alderney Airport yesterday to meet the rest of our party off the midday flight. The friendly manager at Fort Clonque, Ray, had been in touch in advance so we were able to arrange a pick up for our luggage, allowing us to go for lunch in St Anne until it was time for us to head over to the fort by taxi for a 4pm check-in.

One of the taxi companies will drive you all the way over the causeway, but we were a tad unlucky to pick a day when they were short-staffed and unable to help. Instead, our taxi dropped us at the landward end of the causeway, giving us plenty of time to marvel over the utterly bonkers location as we walked over. Finally, there was a small drawbridge to cross at the end of the walk and we had made it into the courtyard. Time for our jaws to drop. No matter how many photos you see, nothing prepares you for how extraordinary this place is.

Across the bridge and into Fort Clonque…

Once we were inside Ray walked us through the basics of the fort, before leaving us to our own devices. The fort was far larger than I had imagined and infinitely more amazing. I think we all wandered around with a look of astonishment for the first few hours until we got properly settled in.

The extent of the Fort that is available to visitors runs from the gatehouse to the officer’s quarters, including access to No 1. Battery (which offers excellent views and the occasional mobile signal, leading to the rather ridiculous sight of us holding our mobiles up in the air at the highest point of the fort). No 2. Battery is out of bounds, as is No 3. Battery, which has long been inaccessible following the collapse of the natural arch in 1967.

There are six bedrooms in the fort – one located in the guardroom with a view out onto the causeway; one in the gatehouse; one in the soldiers’ quarters, connected to the lounge, kitchen and bathroom; one in the type 670 casement with its six foot thick walls; a small bedroom in the upper magazine, up a staircase; and another in the officers’ quarters, with access to another lounge, kitchen and bathroom.

A view across the interior of the fort, taking in the soldiers’ quarters, the no 1. battery and the officers’ quarters.

My folks took the soldiers’ quarters; my brother and sister-in-law took up the officers’ quarters; and we selected the German bunker. Our chosen bedroom had the small downside that we would need to cross the courtyard to the soldiers’ quarters by torchlight if we needed the loo in the middle of the night, but the specialness of our room more than made up for the inconvenience.

We had arranged for some sacks of logs and coal, allowing us to get a roaring fire going in the lounge in the soldiers’ quarters, then made supper with the supplies we had bought at the supermarket in St Anne. The remoteness of the fort and its disconnect from the modern world allowed us to spend our first evening on more traditional pursuits, such as playing cards (Newmarket) in front of the roaring fire. It was lovely to have the family together to share a special occasion like this.

The bunker was a rather special place to spend the night. It was pitch black inside and out, with no houses anywhere close by, but the room was incredibly comfortable and warm, with the sound of waves crashing below the panoramic windows at a 10pm high tide. However, as good as the six foot thick walls were at keeping out sound from the rest of the fort, they couldn’t save me from the sound of snoring from my better half. I made my escape to another lovely bedroom, in the gatehouse at 3am, and awoke to the startling sight of thick fog enveloping the fort many hours later.

The surprisingly cosy interior of the bunker

The weather was quite decent, so my folks set up some deckchairs in the courtyard and enjoyed a relaxing day in the fort. The rest of us headed up the zig-zag path and followed the road past the airport and into town (it’s approximately 20 minutes from the fort to the airport and another 10 minutes to the centre of town). On our return we could see that the fort attracts plenty of tourists, understandably attracted by the same magical qualities that drew us here. It felt a bit mad to be able to unlock the main gate and enter.

It was lovely to be able to wander out and climb the zig zag path at sunset, but the cloudy conditions didn’t really deliver anything special. However, much later the clouds shifted and allowed us to see the night sky more clearly than I can recall, with the added marvel of shooting stars on display. It was all so much easier than when I looked up in the light polluted skies back home as a kid many years ago, with my father pointing out what to look for. With a little help on the constellations once again I managed to see the plough and the big dipper, among others.

Our stargazing prompted my father to recall one occasion when he was working a ballast train in 1956/57 with a C class steam loco which had stopped at Appledore. At this point my father was a fireman, which meant he had the better sat in the C class and he could lie back with his feet up on the handbrake. It was pitch black and my father remembered seeing the sky filled with shooting stars.

A wonderful end to a wonderful day. Our stay at the fort was proving to be every bit as special as I hoped it might be.

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The fort nestled in the rocks

Our time on Alderney was already proving pretty magical, but the highlight was still to come… a three night stay at Fort Clonque on the west coast. I think it is the most impressive looking of the many forts on this absurdly fortified small island, built on a small island with three rocky peaks, connected to the mainland by causeway and sometimes cut-off at high tide. As a location for our birthday gathering, it was ridiculously over the top but also really cool!

The name of the fort sounds French, but seems to have arisen as a steady and most likely accidental distortion of the word calanque (meaning rocky inlet) which became clanque and then clonque over the centuries.

Fort Clonque

The first defences were built near the rocks in 1801, but it was the growing threat posed by a resurgent French navy under Napoleon III that prompted the construction of something more substantial. The plans saw the rapid construction of a chain of 18 forts and batteries, including Fort Clonque (1853-1855). The mind boggles at the difficult prospect of construction a fort on this difficult rocky site. It’s not surprising to learn that it cost double the original estimate.

In its initial form Fort Clonque was built to house ten guns in four batteries, operated by fifty five men under the supervision of two officers. However, advances in technology ensured that the fort became obsolete almost as soon as it was completed. A contemporary report was damning in its assessment, pointing out that the forts around Alderney were too exposed to fight back against modern naval firepower.

The defences were run down and it seemed that demolition was the most likely fate of the forts. Instead, the fort would eventually find a new purpose as a private residence.

A local businessman, Ralph Duplain, bought the fort as a weekend retreat when the War Office sold off the Victorian forts in the 1930s, spending his spare time slogging away on the restoration. Some of the quarters were rented out as holiday lets. However, this peaceful use was interrupted by the German occupation, when the fort was adapted again, resuming a role in the defence of the island.

During the German occupation Fort Clonque became Resistance Nest Steinfeste and they made full use of its location, installing heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns on the Victorian batteries. Much of this is now in ruins after the collapse of the natural arch that linked battery numbers 2 and 3. However, you can still climb a staircase to battery no. 1, where the anti-aircraft guns were installed.

The type 670 casement, added during the occupation, sits next to the soldiers’ quarters

The biggest change that the Germans made was the partial demolition of the soldiers’ quarters and the addition of a hefty concrete bunker, a type 670 casement, to house a 10.5cm K331(f) gun. The occupiers also raised and concreted over the original causeway, wired up the fort for electricity, connected the fort to the island’s telegraph system, and constructed a rope based hoist for transferring supplies to the fort.

In the aftermath of war the fort was once again adapted for peaceful use, by necessity incorporating some of the changes made by the Germans, such as the type 670 casement with its six foot thick concrete walls.

In the 1960s the Landmark Trust purchased the fort and restored it as a rather special holiday home that can house 13 guests at a time. Since then many hundreds of families, friends and groups have enjoyed a stay at this unique venue. The log books in the property record wonderful birthday parties, Christmas gatherings and honeymoons – as well as tales of church bell ringing groups, choirs and even a dungeons and dragons group, who spent their time in the fort battling demons. In short, the fort can rarely be short of happy faces and joyous laughter.

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The Odeon

One of the most striking sights in our wanders around Alderney was the ‘Odeon’, a Marinepeilstand (MP3) Naval range-finding tower, which sits on the edge of Mannez quarry with clear views across the coast. Each of the three observation levels were connected to a coastal gun battery, ready to direct fire on targets that came within range.

The tower was built by forced labourers in 1943 and originally stood further back from the edge (the rather dramatic positioning now is the result of post war quarrying for breakwater repairs). It was never used as originally intended, following advances in technology, but was later used by the Luftwaffe. After the war it was used for the disposal of unsafe explosives, which were detonated inside the tower.

The Odeon viewed from the Quarry floor

I’ve seen a few of these observation towers on Guernsey and Jersey, but this one has an unusual design, which is unique in the ‘Atlantic Wall’. It was originally intended that there would be six MP towers on Alderney, but this was the only one that was built.

Taking a pathway up through Longis Nature Reserve it looks as though it stands in splendid isolation, surrounded by a vast spread of bright yellow flowered gorse, but from the top you can see that this was far from the case. The MP3 tower was surrounded by at least 20 buildings and bunkers, some of which are visible as you look down the path towards Braye, but these are most obvious in an aerial photo on display inside the tower. One bunker fell into the quarry after it was undermined by quarrying in the 1950s.

The tower re-opened as a visitor attraction in August 2021 after a six month long programme of enhancements, including the installation of information boards, a really clear timeline of the German occupation and a video screening room. At the time of our visit it was open daily from 10 to 4.

Once inside we were able to explore the restored crew areas, observation levels and operations room on the four levels open to the public (there is no access to the roof). Photos from just after the surrender showed how the site had been used in practice, with the lowest observation level boarded up as an additional defensive measure.

It was striking to see how much damage had been to the interior by the post-war detonation of quarry explosives without affecting the integrity of the structure in the slightest. It certainly emphasised just how formidable these towers were.

An excellent documentary, projected onto the walls of the Odeon

Our visit to the Odeon proved to be nothing short of amazing. The information boards provided a really well laid out explanation of how the observation tower was used and the documentary projected onto the interior concrete walls (Alderney: The War Years) was one of the most compelling historical accounts I have seen, using first hand testimonies from survivors.

One of the clear messages coming through in the documentary was the importance of providing as accurate an account of what happened on the island as possible, out of respect for the victims, and not indulging in some of the wilder suggestions (such as a suggestion of 40,000 deaths on the island) as time passes further from the events in question. It also proved helpful in debunking some of the myths that I have long heard, such as the idea that prisoners were buried in the concrete, though chillingly only because it would have compromised the concrete, rather than any restraint by the occupiers, who would threaten this.

Our visit to the Odeon was perfectly complemented by a stop at the Alderney Museum, which holds many exhibits from the occupation, ranging from a copy of the handbook on Alderney issued to German forces to the horrific weapons used by the SS on the island.

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Saye Beach to St Anne

On leaving Bibette Head behind, I followed the footpath down onto the pristine beach at Saye Bay. It was extraordinary to have this beautiful beach almost to myself with its soft sand and astonishingly clear water, plus bright blue skies overhead. I’d heard it said that you could mistake these beaches for the Caribbean and whilst I have never been, I could understand what folk were trying to say. Looking back to Bibette Head, the German fortifications seemed much more obvious on this side.

A view of Saye Baye and Chateau L’Etoc

On my right as I walked down the beach I could see a campsite. It looked like a wonderfully tranquil place to stay, so it was hard to reconcile with the knowledge that such a beautiful location was once the site of Norderney Concentration Camp (one of four such camps on the island) where crimes committed against humanity were committed. Archaeological investigation has shown that the camp was constructed in 1942 and then levelled in March 1944. The camp housed 1,500 men used as forced labour, mixing much of the concrete that we have seen already in the fortifications around the coast.

Continuing along the coast, I came to Château L’Etoc, a Victorian fort at the most northerly point of Alderney. The fort has been converted into private apartments but last summer the chateau hosted events for the Alderney Performing Arts Festival with a pop up bar. Beyond the fort, under a small archway, was another pristine beach – and beyond that another Victorian Fort. I detect a theme here!

The next fortress, Fort Corblets, was completed in 1855. It housed 13 guns with accommodation for 59 officers and men. It was adapted by the Germans as Resistance Nest Strandfeste (Beach Fort). Today, it has been converted into private accommodation. On the other side of the coast road is the flooded Corblets Quarry, now a reservoir which has been adapted for carp fishing.

A little further down the road we came to the Quesnard Lighthouse (1912), currently undergoing renovations, and beyond that Fort Quesnard, a Victorian fort converted into a luxury home.

Fort les Homeaux Florains

Out to sea we could see the ruins of Fort les Homeaux Florains, built in a remote position on the rocks and connected by causeway at one time, now long since lost to the ravages of the sea. Most of the fort has disappeared, leaving just the ramparts and the magazines that sat below. At the time of its completion in 1859 the fort housed seven guns with accommodation for 67 officers and men. The madness of the position must have become apparent soon enough, with the fort only seeing 30 years of use. Even the Germans, who needed little encourage to plonk concrete down left, right and centre felt no urge to do so here.

After a brief view of Fort Houmet Herbe, another Fort located out on the rocks, I turned back towards Braye – heading up on a path up and over Longis Reserve, to a German naval tower (The Odeon) overlooking Mannez Quarry (the end point for Alderney Railway, when it is operating – sadly not today). The Odeon is well worth taking the time to visit with a fascinating and information display inside.

The final stop on our route was the Hammond Memorial at the road junction. This memorial remembers the forced labourers who lost their lives on Alderney with plaques in five languages. From here, the route looped back onto the route we had taken earlier in the day, bringing us back to Braye and St Anne. A thoroughly enjoyable walk with so much to see, so much history to absorb – and barely a soul out and about.

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Bibette Head: A lethal landscape

Our walk brought us downhill from Fort Albert, to Bibette Head, site of Strongpoint Biberkopf during the German occupation (the name turns out not to be a direct translation, with Biberkopf meaning Beaver Head, the closest they could get to Bibette Head!). The fortifications here are the best preserved of their type on the island and really give a good sense of just how much of the natural landscape was adapted.

At first glance I spotted one or two bunkers, like a shelter for a towed gun which presents a rather obvious gaping hole in the landscape. However, once you look more carefully you slowly realise that you are looking at over a dozen concrete bunkers and fortified positions, connected by trenches. And that rusty looking feature in the stubbly rock at the tip of the peninsula, that’s an armoured turret… and actually, that rock isn’t natural at all is it!? Nope… it turns out to be a camouflage of cemented rocks, up to 1 metre thick.

Strongpoint Biberkopf at Bibette Head

In wartime the various bunkers and positions would have been camouflaged with tarpaulins and netting, but now nature has taken over that job to impressive effect. However, it would be a mistake to think that these are abandoned and unloved. Volunteers have put in an incredible effort to clear many decades of debris so that visitors can explore this remarkable landscape, assisted by a map displayed at the site and information boards inside each bunker.

You do need a torch to take a proper look inside. I made the mistake of not bringing one on my first visit to the site, so made a second visit more suitably equipped. This proved helpful in navigating the tunnel between the chambers, allowing me to spot trip hazards hidden in the dark and saved me from plunging into a room flooded with water!

It was really lovely to be free to explore the site in this way though… it brought back all the enthusiasm I had for these sites back when I was a kid on Jersey, not really appreciating the dark history they represented and just taking for granted that holiday beaches came with German fortifications. Such big kid moments have to be treasured now that I am in the 50 club!

Loop-hole armoured turret for machine guns, and Jäger bunker for 10.5cm K331(f) beach defence gun

Being able to see inside the casemate for a 10.5cm gun was fascinating. The opening showed just how good a defensive position this was, with a really clear view across the whole of Braye Bay. From another position the whole of Saye Bay was covered. Seeing this, you can appreciate why it was regarded as the most powerful of the 13 coastal strongpoints constructed on Alderney.

One board sets out the 8 powerful guns that would have been positioned here, supplemented by numerous machine guns. The murderous intent of this well-armed position feels rather at odds with the tranquil site that we see today, home to rare plants like the sand crocus and swallows who have adopted the network of bunkers for their nests. I largely had the place to myself, with just a couple of walkers passing through while I was there.

I spent a good half hour exploring the site before moving on to Saye Bay to continue my walk. Thank you to everyone who has helped preserve Strongpoint Biberkopf so that we can understand the astonishing extent to which this island was fortified.

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Braye to Fort Albert

Starting from our hotel (La Ville Hotel on Victoria Street) we made our way downhill from St Anne along the Route de Braye, passing the house where Beatles producer George Henry Martin once lived and the cute terminus of the Alderney Railway, before reaching Braye Harbour.

Braye Harbour was originally established in the late 1730s to replace the old harbour at Longis, on the other side of the island. In time this was followed by a mile long breakwater (1850s) which was partially abandoned a year later, leaving half beneath the sea, and a new jetty (1895). The German occupiers added a further extension to the jetty in 1942, which was demolished in the late 1970s. Through the years it has been important as the main route to bring freight onto the island.

Braye Harbour and breakwater, with Roselle Battery in the foreground

There were a few things to see around the harbour, starting with a Type 680 casemate bunker built by the Germans to house an anti-tank gun. This was originally designed to look like a house, but today it is left open with a series of display boards to explain how this fitted in to the defences here (known as Resistance Nest Schotterwerk).

Besides this, there are the last few buildings from Braye Battery (1853) such as the Royal Engineers’ Office (now Harbour House) and the Guard room (now used by a radio station). The Victorian battery was largely demolished in the early twentieth century, but a much larger structure that survives from this era is Fort Grosnez. The fort is used today as a maintenance depot and store for the breakwater, but still makes an impressive sight.

There is also a Memorial for the lost submariners of HMS Affray, an A-class submarine which sank near Alderney on 16th April 1951. The memorial panel, installed by the Affray submarine memorial trust lists the 75 lives lost, while their website provides more information about the disaster.

A walk along the green strip by Route de Beaumont brought us to the distinctive football pitch at The Arsenal (capacity 1,500) which is nestled between Mount Hale Battery and Fort Albert. A week before our trip the ground had seen action with the most anticipated match of the year, the semi-final of the Muratti Vase, the annual inter-island football competition between Alderney, Guernsey and Jersey. The result on this occasion was a 2-0 loss for Alderney.

The Arsenal, with Fort Albert in the background

The competition was initiated by a donation from the cigarette manufacturers Muratti Sons & Co, Ltd. with the inaugural match between Alderney and Guernsey taking place at the Cycling Grounds, Guernsey, in April 1905. On that occasion Alderney went all out in the first half in a fast paced match, conceding just one goal, but then went to pieces in the second half, letting in another five goals.

The match report in the Jersey Evening Post (Tuesday 18 April 1905) suggested that the end result scarcely showed the competitive strength of the teams, but suggested that there was scope for the team to improve. They noted that the most useful save of the match came when the secretary of the Guernsey FA stopped a shot kicked with “terrible force” straight at a table holding the Muratti Vase!

Alderney’s only victory in the competition came in 1920. The challenges of putting together a team were best described by an article in the Guardian (‘The island lives in hope’: Alderney out to end 102-year wait for win) which said it was like putting together an international squad from the catchment area of your average pub team.

Moving a little further on, uphill past the highest point of the railway line, we took a left turn to take us up the path that runs alongside Fort Albert. Fort Albert is the largest of the Victorian forts on Alderney, built to a polygonal design in the late 1850s. In the later 19th century the military presence in Alderney was focused in Fort Albert as the chain of fortifications around the island became redundant.

It was during this late stage that my great grand-uncle, William Bailey, served in the Alderney garrison, whilst with the 2nd Battalion Wiltshire regiment (as I understand it, the battalion was split between Alderney and Guernsey) when he was 23-24 years old. William served in Alderney, most likely at Fort Albert, from 2nd April 1898 to 8th May 1898 and from 1st July 1898 to 8th June 1899.

Fort Albert last saw regular military use by British Forces in 1929, before inevitably being revived during the German occupation as Batterie Elsas. In more recent times it has seen use by a company specialising in private security, though it all seemed pretty quiet when we passed by.

A view from Fort Albert, looking over The Arsenal and Mount Hale Battery

From the bend at the top of the track we could look down on one of the most incongruous mixtures of fortifications with the seven gun Roselle Battery (1850s) which was adapted into Batterie Marcks by the Germans (1940s). Added to that, you have the instantly recognisable profile of a British Pillbox and a searchlight shelter (early 1900s), albeit not in the greatest of shape. The evolution of the fortifications on this spot illustrates just how important the island was seen to be for over a century – whether as part of the line of defence against the French or later as part of the Atlantic Wall defences of occupied France.

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Island explorations

Our first couple of days on Alderney provided ample opportunity to explore the north easterly half of the island on circular walks from our hotel in St Anne that took in Braye, Bibette Head and the Odeon. We also joined my folks on a minibus tour of the island from Alderney Tours superbly led by John Horton, who did a brilliant job of catering for their reduced mobility.

The route of our walks over those first few days loosely followed the Fort Albert and Bibette Head Trail and The Longis Nature Reserve Trail walks promoted by Visit Alderney, whose handy leaflets I carried on my walks. If you are in Alderney you can usually pick up copies at the Visitor Information Centre in Victoria Street. The other essential was the States of Guernsey Official Map of the Bailiwick, an Ordnance Survey style map which covers Alderney on the reverse (1:10,000 scale).

Alderney maps and guides

I really appreciate the vast array of information available from Visit Alderney, the plentiful information boards around the island and additional leaflets available at the key historic sites.

We had plenty of time on the island so could explore at our leisure, but if you have a more compact itinerary there is a 10 mile coastal path walk that would take in most of the historic sights, sweeping landscape and pristine beaches on offer. For an island of just three square miles there is an incredible amount of history to see – and an extraordinary number of fortifications.

A slow hop to Alderney

After a few days in Guernsey it was time to make the short hop to Alderney. It was the one aspect of the trip that made me nervous, as weather has been known to close off the island from plane and boat traffic. It was a relief then to wake up and see clear blue skies and sun over Guernsey.

Flights between Guernsey and Alderney are operated by Aurigny using two New Generation Dornier 228 aircraft, the latest evolution of a design that originated in the 1970s. These twin-turboprop carry 19 passengers and are perfectly suited to the inter-island hop, which is timetabled at just 20 minutes. In addition to passengers, these planes also carry essential inter-island cargo – in this case, it looked like a few sacks of post were being loaded.

Our flight would be operated by four year old Dornier 228 G-ETAC

There is no online check-in for flights to Alderney, but this was quickly easily sorted when we arrived at the airport around 11am. We were travelling relatively light, with small bags for the cabin (where the maximum dimensions are 35x25x20cm with a 6kg limit) and small cases for the hold (where there is a 20kg limit). Initially we were told that our flight would be delayed by an hour due to fog, but then it suddenly switched back to being on schedule.

As the planes are pretty small we were shown the safety briefing in the departure hall and then led out through a side door to a waiting bus for the short ride over to the plane. Boarding was handled by row, from front to back, with passengers asked to remain on the bus until their row was called. Once it was our turn I clambered on board, somehow managing to clatter my head despite all the warnings (clumsy as ever).

Seating was in a 1-1 configuration for the first seven rows. The eighth row has a pair of seats together, leaving room for the pull-down aircraft door and steps. Finally, the back row provides the only row of three. It’s cosy but completely comfortable. Our seats would be in row 3 today, while my folks were in row 6. Once on board our pilot popped his head out of the cockpit and gave us a final safety briefing and a bit of an update.

Although the skies were beautifully clear over Guernsey our pilot said that Alderney had been fogged up this morning. He went on to explain that we would be taking the long way round to Alderney – so a bit longer than normal, meaning 13 or 14 minutes! If only…

Once we got up into the air at 1.02pm we headed in the direction of Alderney. A sinking feeling came over me as we could see nothing but cloud. Our pilot came over the PA system and told us that we would be returning to Guernsey.

Our figure of eight flight path from Guernsey to Guernsey on GR206. Courtesy of Flightradar24.com

After safely returning to the apron at Guernsey airport our pilot gave us a fuller update. He said that they hadn’t expected it to be as bad as that from the forecast they had seen before setting off. From the cockpit they had not a single sighting of the airport – or indeed, Alderney. The forecast for the rest of the day suggested it could go either way. Now it was just a waiting game…

We were told to collect our luggage from the belt in arrivals, then go back to check-in and have our boarding passes stamped – then head back through security to get airside again! The wait began. It was hard to believe the conditions could be so different over Alderney as we looked out at the cloudless blue skies over Guernsey.

Some of the more seasoned travellers from Alderney started to hatch a Plan B, getting in contact with boat owners in Alderney to discuss a possible rescue by water. Meanwhile, one or two of the passengers decided to abandon their plans altogether. At 2.45pm it was announced that there would be an indefinite delay to our flight (now designated GR206A) and the subsequent mid-afternoon flight to Alderney.

Indefinite delay at Guernsey Airport

The prospects didn’t look great, so I started checking out hotels we could book in Guernsey… but then everything changed. We were going for another attempt! Apparently conditions were looking much better.

Boarding for our second attempt started at 3.40pm and by 4.05pm we were up in the air again. Sixteen minutes later we were down on the ground at Alderney airport. It was a huge relief to have made it this far and I finally started to believe that our slightly mad holiday might just work out. We walked across the tarmac to the airport building and our luggage was wheeled across by trolley not long after.

Alderney Airport was the first operational airport in the Channel Islands, opening in 1936, before Jersey (1937) and Guernsey (1939). The dinky terminal building dates to 1968 and the runway was last resurfaced in 1999. There has been much debate about its future, particularly after runway and plane problems earlier this year effectively shut the airport. A proposal is being assessed that would see the construction of a new terminal and the extension of the runway to 1,050m, meaning Aurigny’s larger ATR aircraft could land there.

A short taxi ride delivered us to the centre of St Anne’s, the main town on the island. After dropping our stuff at La Ville Hotel we headed down the road to the Georgian House where a tasty meal revived us after a long day of hanging around!

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