Alderney
Alderney is also a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England, and a breed of cattleAlderney (
French:
Aurigny;
Auregnais:
Aoeur'gny) is the most northerly of the
Channel Islands and a British
crown dependency. It is part of the
bailiwick of
Guernsey. It is 3 miles (5 km) long and 2 miles (3 km) wide making it the third largest island of the Channel Islands. It is around 10 miles to the west of
La Hague in the
Cotentin Peninsula,
Normandy, in
France, 20 miles to the north-east of
Guernsey and 60 miles from the south coast of
England. It is the closest of the Channel Islands to France as well as being the closest to England. It is separated from Cap de la Hague by the dangerous Race of Alderney (Le Raz).
The island has a population of 2400 people, and they are traditionally nicknamed
lapins after the number of
rabbits seen in the island. The only
parish of Alderney is the parish of
St Anne, which doubles as the main town, and features a pretty church and cobbled high street. There are a primary school, a secondary school, a post office, hotels, restaurants, banks and shops. Alderney has a somewhat ageing population, being popular with people wanting somewhere quiet to retire.
Alderney shares a history with the other Channel Islands, becoming an island in the Neolithic period as the waters of the Channel rose.
The etymology of the Island's name is obscure. It is known in
Latin as
Riduna (giving the rarely-used adjective
Ridunian for inhabitants of Alderney), but as with the names of the all the Channel Islands in the Roman period there is a degree of confusion.
Riduna may be the original name of
Tatihou, while Alderney is conjectured to be identified with
Sarmia.
Alderney/
Aurigny is variously supposed to be a Germanic or Celtic name. It may be a corruption of
Adreni or
Alrene, which is probably derived from an Old Norse word meaning "island near the coast". Alternatively it may derive from three Norse elements:
alda (swelling wave, roller),
renna (strong current, race) and
oy or
ey (island).
After choosing independence from France and loyalty to the English monarch in his role as the
Duke of Normandy, in
1204, Alderney developed slowly and was not much involved with the rest of the world. That is, however, until the British government decided to undertake massive fortifications in the
19th century and to create a strategic harbour to deter attacks from France. These fortifications were presciently described by
William Ewart Gladstone as "a monument of human folly, useless to us ... but perhaps not absolutely useless to a possible enemy, with whom we may at some period have to deal, and who may possibly be able to extract some profit in the way of shelter and accommodation from the ruins." An influx of English and
Irish labourers, plus the sizable British garrison stationed in the island, led to rapid anglicization. The harbour was never completed - the remaining breakwater (designed by
James Walker) is one of the island's landmarks, and is longer than any breakwater in the UK.
The last of the hereditary Governors, John Le Mesurier, resigned his patent to the Crown in 1825 since when authority has been exercised by the States of Alderney (as amended by the constitutional settlement of 1948).
The island was
occupied by German forces during
World War II. Before the
Nazi Germany troops landed in June
1940, almost the entire Alderney population evacuated, leaving only 2% of the population. The Germans built four
concentration camps on the island. Each camp was named after one of the
Frisian Islands and included
Nordeney located at Saye,
Borkum at Platte Saline,
Sylt near the old telegraph tower at La Foulère, and
Heligoland. Each camp was operated by the Nazi
Organisation Todt and used
forced labour to build
bunkers, gun emplacements, air-raid shelters, and concrete fortifications. In 1942, the
Norderney camp, containing Russian and Polish
POWs, and
Sylt camp, holding Jews, were placed under the control of the
SS Haupsturmfuhrer Max List. Over 700 of the inmates are said to have lost their lives before the camps were closed and the remaining inmates transferred to Germany in 1944. The German officer left in charge of the facilities, Comandant Oberst Schwalm, burned the camps to the ground and destroyed all records connected with their use before the island was liberated by British forces on
May 16,
1945. The German garrison on Alderney surrendered a week after the other Channel Islands, and was one of the last garrisons to surrender in Europe. The population was unable to start returning until December 1945.
For two years after the end of World War II, Alderney was operated as a communal farm. Craftsmen were paid by their employers, while others were paid by the local government out of the profit from the sales of farm produce. Remaining profits were put aside to repay the British Government for repairing and rebuilding the island. Resentment from the local population towards being unable to control their own land acted as a catalyst for the United Kingdom Home Office to set up an enquiry that led to the "Government of Alderney Law 1948", which came into force on 1 January 1949. The law organised the make up and election of the States of Alderney, the justice system and, for the first time in Alderney, the imposition of taxes. Due to the small population of Alderney, it was believed that the island could not be self-sufficient in running the airport and the harbour, as well as in providing services that would match those of the United Kingdom. The taxes were therefore collected into the general Bailiwick of Guernsey revenue funds (at the same rate as Guernsey) and administered by the States of Guernsey. Guernsey became responsible for providing many governmental functions and services.
The 20th century saw a lot of change in Alderney, from the building of the
airport in the late 1930s to the death of the last speakers of the island's language (
Auregnais, a dialect of
Norman language). The economy has gone from depending largely on
agriculture to earning money from the
tourism and finance industries.
The States of Alderney is the
legislature of the island, and sends two representatives to the
States of Guernsey as well. The origin of the States is unknown, but has operated from the mediaeval period.
The States of Alderney consists of the President, directly elected every 4 years, and 10 States Members, half elected every 2 years for a 4 year mandate. The President of Alderney is Sir Norman Browse (since 2002). The whole island is a single constituency.
Until the reform of 1948, the States of Alderney consisted of:
*
Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey*the Judge (appointed by
the Crown, equivalent of the Bailiff in Guernsey and Jersey)
*6
Jurats (elected by the voters)
*the officers of the Court of Alderney
* 4 Douzainiers (elected annually by the ratepayers)
* a Douzainier-Delegate (appointed by the Douzaine)
* 3 People's Deputies (elected by the voters for a 3 year mandate)
 |
This is a map of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Alderney is in the North East. |
In terms of geography Alderney is similar to the other islands in that it has sheer cliffs broken by stretches of sandy beach and dunes. It has a temperate climate, moderated by the sea, and summers are usually warmer than elsewhere in the British Isles. Trees are rather scarce, as most, if not all, were cut down by the occupying German forces; though those that remain include some palm trees.
Alderney and its surrounding islets feature a rich flora and fauna.
Puffins on Burhou and gannets on Les Étacs just off Alderney are a favourite of many visitors to the island . The
Blonde hedgehog is a species native to Alderney. The island has its own breed of cattle, called the
Alderney, though they are no longer bred on the island. In August 2005, the west coast of Alderney and associated islands, including Burhou and Ortac, were designated as
Ramsar wetlands of international importance.
Travelling to Alderney is fairly easy, and in season it is a popular holiday destination. Flights arrive daily from
Bournemouth,
Shoreham (Brighton),
Southampton,
Jersey and Guernsey. Boats sail regularly between the island and France, as well as the other Channel Islands.
The
Alderney Railway is the only railway in the Channel Islands.
The island is surrounded by rocks, which have caused hundreds of wrecks. There are two treacherous tidal streams on either side of the island: the Swinge between Alderney and Burhou, just outside the harbour, and Le Raz between the island and the Norman mainland.
 |
Aerial shot of Alderney (centre) and Burhou (upper right) |
Auregnais, the local dialect of
Norman is extinct, and
French is no longer spoken in the island (except by tourists); it ceased to be an
official language in
1966, it declined a great deal from neglect, especially in the education sector, and also when most of the population was evacuated in WWII. To this day however, many, if not most of the local placenames are in French or Auregnais. One or two words linger on in the local English, e.g.
vraic (
seaweed fertiliser), and the pronunciation of certain local names, e.g. Dupont as 'Dippoh' rather than the French way.
Golf,
Fishing and other water sports are popular on the island, though there are many clubs and associations on the island for sports and other leisure activities (
List of Clubs & Associations). Due in part to the large numbers of tourists, Alderney has a large number of restaurants and public houses.
Alderney Week is celebrated from the first Monday of August, during which a number of events take place. Cavalcade Day takes place on the Monday, on which residents and organisations construct parade floats based upon a particular theme. The Torchlight Procession, on the Saturday evening of the week, sees a parade of people walking through the town centre, carrying torches towards a large bonfire upon the local green. The evening ends with a fireworks display and an open-air music event held in a now-disused quarry.
Being a quiet and secluded island, Alderney has attracted a number of famous residents, including authors
T. H. White (
The Once and Future King) and
Elizabeth Beresford (The Wombles),
cricket commentator
John Arlott, cricketer
Ian Botham, Beatles producer
George Martin, actress
Julie Andrews, balloonist
Colin Prescott and olympic swimmer
Duncan Goodhew.
Alderney Place Names, Royston Raymond, 1999 Alderney ISBN 0953712702
Noms de lieux de Normandie, René Lepelley, 1999 Paris ISBN 2862532479
*
Alderney official site*
Aurigny Airlines - flights to Alderney*
Rockhopper Airlines - flights to Alderney*
Alderney language*
Fortress Alderney
