Sark, another island!

Sark is another of the small Channel Islands. Unlike Jersey and Guernsey, there are no cars, so put your comfy walking shoes on and get ready to catch the ferry. Well I know we cheated and took the tractor cart up the hill but you need to see lots and there is only limited time because you have to be on the 4.00pm ferry.

It’s mandatory to take the local transport, a horse and cart. Our horse was called Winston and he didn’t want to work today. He stopped frequently, plodded slowly and only managed to get up any speed once when we were nearly back to the village. Main occupations……tourism or something related. There are cows ,sheep and some crops . Everyone has a tractor for transport even the doctor.

The village and island  is pretty with stone or brick homes and narrow lanes. The sounds are only those of birds, wind, the ocean, muffled voices and horses clopping along. It is extremely peaceful.. Was There’s even a jail because the island administers itself  following old Norman law.

Now you can go swimming here in a beautiful bay. Access is from a bridge between Sark and Little Sark called La Crópee or by boat. You choose.

Now having decided that swimming wasn’t an option today, admired the wildflowers and wildlife as we walked to the estate of the La Seigneurie. This was the title awarded to the original settler and his men if he would defend the island against the French peril. Each of the 40 men and their families were awarded land and had to have a men at arms to keep watch. The Seigneurie had the largest parcel of land and had the right to collect money  and goods from the other families called Tenaments. (One thirteenth of any property rights sold, chickens for every chimney etc) The present Seigneurie is a fourth generation. Although the family still lives in the house, the gardens have been opened to the public and are stunning…..walled gardens, and a maze! It was an amazing garden

It is a beautiful garden Now there is another mill building. At one point people tried to beat the Seigneurie’s strangle hold on everything on the island. It wasn’t very successful. Neither was the occupation of the island. It wasn’t subjected to the fortifications like the other islands. The Seigneurie of the time, Dame Sybil Hathaway  protected her people and the island by using her position and feudal etiquette. It worked and her people were in a better position than on the other islands.

Well that’s your lot. Come on you have time to walk down and see the smallest working harbour in the UK before you catch your ferry.