IA tractor ripped up the jersey royals from the potato fields next door. Dawn illuminates my hexagonal room with five slits marked with military coordinates, and a compass inscribed into the ceiling. Heading downstairs, I slip into a 19th century lounge with gothic style windows framing sea views in all three directions.
During World War II, the occupying forces of Jersey seized a number of items. Nicolle TowerThe two-storey abomination was a whimsical folly. An extra level was added. In the room that is now our bedroom, German troops kept watch for an allied invasion which never arrived.
The Landmark Trust, a charity that specializes in restoration work, is responsible for my enjoyment of this hilltop tower. This self-catering holiday home is situated inland of Le Hocq. This is a unique fortification, but one of 1,200 on Jersey. The Channel Islands have served as a showcase. Hitler’s Atlantic Wall defences. In the 1980s, during my childhood holidays, abandoned bunkers were a source of excitement and fear for me and my siblings. Now, on to the 80th anniversary of liberationI’m interested in finding out how some of the structures that were destroyed by the Germans on 9 May, 1945 have been reborn.
I begin my journey in a rock-hewn underground hospital. It was never used to treat battle injuries; instead, it was used by a farmer after the war to grow mushrooms. It now houses Jersey War TunnelsThe museum is a record of the almost five-year occupation.
I also learn about the rush to evacuate, how residents traded meager rations via newspaper personal ads and Organisation Todt, a massive Nazi construction project that saw hundreds fortifications constructed. In the half-finished tunnel sections, hand tool marks are still visible. One of them has lighting effects that simulate a rockfall. Interactive exhibits are also displayed in the islanders’ stories, posing ethical dilemmas, like whether or not to wash a German uniform for food.
On that evening, I attended a nonprofit Jersey War Tours The resistance nest is built into the sea wall of St Aubin’s Bay. Phil Marett, our guide, winds the hatch and sweeps an anti-tank weapon over a deserted shore, showing how soldiers were prepared for a D Day-like scenario.
Le Coin Varin is a large battle headquarters in the form of a block. Its chimneys, once poorly disguised as houses, hid periscopes. Inside, the rooms have been blackened with modern fire drills. Marett points to an oddly-shaped bungalow nearby. Homeowners built a new home around an abandoned bunker.
The waves crash beneath the headland at our last stop, Noirmont Point. A crack of light, hidden in the gorse and ferns, lures us to Battery Lothringen. In a two-storey restored subterranean bunker command, I notice the poignant bunk side photo of an old German man who came back here as a visitor.
Nicolle Tower’s hexagonal lounge is cosy and quaint compared to that imposing, austere space. After staying at other Landmarks in Jersey, I’m more interested in the logbook. This is a logbook that has been filled out by guests. It’s part journal, part guidebook, and it’s always charming.
As I read the stories of former guests, including a wedding proposal and a naked Yoga session interrupted by a canine walker, at a desk with a view to the sea, I smile. Many guests have shared their recommendations for pubs and hiking routes. Some have painted the folly in watercolours.
Next morning, I’m heading to Faulkner FisheriesA fishmonger/café has been operating in a former bunker on a rocky Peninsula to the North of St Ouen’s Bay for over 45 years. This is the largest sandy beach of Jersey. Lobsters for the lunchtime BBQ shuffle in seawater pools that are flushed by pipes repurposed from wartime ventilation shafts. Sean Faulkner, the owner, tells me that in the end tank where the crabs were, there used to be a gun pointing towards Guernsey. “The office used to be another machine gun station.”
Faulkner was raised on the farm next door, where he played in a bunker and snatched crabs from a junkyard with a pram. After a successful career in the merchant fleet, his youthful adventures became his business. While I am eating huge, garlicky, plump scallops on a picnic, watching the sun glint off the ocean waves, enjoying the aroma of barbecue, and the plump, juicy seafood The 5-mile (8-km) long surf beach in Australia makes you think of it.
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A smaller bunker with boards and wetsuits is visible on a cobbled slipway. Jersey Surf School Its original, yet sturdy metal doors are painted. Jake Powell, the owner, tells me water intrusion is never an issue. He then reminisces about teenage parties held around a bar that he constructed inside another bunker.
The vast tidal range of Jersey is home to many rockpools. La Corbière lighthouse, where I linger for the celebrated sunset view. The lighthouse stands sentinel on the opposite side. Radio TowerIt is a German range finding post. For many years it was the coastguard’s headquarters. Now, however, it is a holiday home.
The charity Jersey Heritage The fortifications include a German-adapted Martello Tower, a Cold War shelter from the 1940s, and many others. Many are open to visitors. Jon Carter, chief executive, recognizes the tourist attraction. “They were all built in the most scenic places with the best views because that was the idea – they were observational and they wanted arcs of fire,” he tells me over tea.
These mass bunkers are impossible to destroy because of their reinforced concrete that is metres thick. The combination of abandonment and historical reconstruction, as well as pragmatic reuse that I have seen reflects changing attitudes over the years. If you continue to feel uncomfortable about the presence of these structures, it’s because attitudes have changed over time. Carter explains: “It is no longer about why they were built but how.” Carter explains that prisoners of war, forced workers and others were often assigned the backbreaking work.
Jersey Heritage works with the government to recruit and train volunteers in preservation. Channel Islands Occupation Society To consider the reuse 70 state-owned fortifications, also connecting to those “wrestling the same conundrums along the Atlantic Wall”. Carter expects to continue a mix of “selective conservation” and “contemporary uses”.
Next, I visit the newest fortifications museum on the island St Catherine’s BunkerMarett calls it “a Bond villain’s lair”. The cliff-faced gun post is in front of a large German-built tunnel. This was once a fishmarket. It feels ironic, like the toilets that I found in a bunker on the beach of my childhood.
In ten minutes, I will be eating lunch. Driftwood Cafe at Archirondel Beach. Gabby Mason, a fisherwoman who owns a cafe and is a crab sandwich maker, tells me that she will be away at sea for the next few days as I enjoy my thick crab sandwiches on the French side of the coast. Liberation 80 weekend, her boat decked in flags. There will be street celebrations, an international festival, and historical reenactments from today through next week. For example, British soldiers in St Helier will raise the Union Jack above Liberation Square. This was named in 1995 in honor of 50 years since the end to the occupation.
Landmark Trust also celebrates – Restorations lasting 60 years. Before I leave Nicolle Tower I take in these glorious views one last time and add a journal entry. My own sliver of the multilayered history this building and island.
This trip has been facilitated by The following are some of the ways to get in touch with us. Landmark Trust The following are some examples of how to get started: Visit Jersey. Nicolle Tower Sleeps Two-thirds of the population are able to vote. You can buy it from £180 for four nights.
