Island life: A visit to a place that’s going, going… and far from gone

  • Why a trip to Glencoe is like a step back in time to a bygone age
  • Parish notes: St Clement
  • Meet a true St Martinais
  • Learn more about the St John club that created a golden age of friendship

WHERE would you go if you had a shopping list consisting of a dog kennel, an assortment of wilting plants, a guitar, cement mixer, camper van, a three-digit collector’s number plate, second-hand garden shed and a bird table?

The answer is simple: take yourself to an average auction sale at Glencoe in St Lawrence, where all the items could easily be bought from a list of equally unusual lots such as a gas-powered-fork lift, a brace of well-used shovels, a violin and a States Member’s unwanted garden furniture.

That motley collection, plus many more items, was up for auction when I rolled up to Glencoe a fortnight ago.

Being paid to go somewhere so special, and to chat with some great Island characters, was a treat.

I was first taken to Glencoe before I could walk, and while I may not get there as often as I may like, when I do it’s like rolling back the clock.

Not only do you meet a cross-section of Island life, you are likely to bump into someone you know, or who knew your parents or grandparents.

But the joy of Glencoe is, if you do buy something you don’t want, you can always put it back into the next sale. Or sell it on before the sale ends.

Fast-talking auctioneer Simon Drieu with assistant Karen Dillon

The first auction sale was held at the site just north of Carrefour Selous in 1947, and Jersey can be grateful to father and son H W (HedleyWilliam) and H J (Hedley James) Maillard for founding what has long been the Island’s most famous and best-loved national institution.

Today the sales are run by Simon Drieu Auctioneers and Valuers.

Simon is the one with the flat cap and smart suit, with the required machine-gun pace auctioneer’s gift of the gab, ably assisted by Karen Dillon, Jim Herbert and Ronnie Le Moignan.

As he downed a cold drink to wet his dry throat at the auction’s end, he said: ‘It has got to be the most local of places.

‘You could jump in a taxi and say to the guy behind the wheel “Take me to Glencoe” and he’d know where it is.

‘It’s an institution, and that’s why I have loved it for so long.

‘It is all about the people and the atmosphere.’

If you have never visited Glencoe, then you are really missing out on life.

It is where people have been known to lose all reason in a bidding frenzy for a wheelbarrow; where millionaires rub shoulders with those without a penny to their names, but who can always find a few quid to bid for a lot.

It is also where, for a couple of days a week (viewing and auction days), the hands of the clock slip back to a bygone age when there was more money to be made growing potatoes than dealing in international finance.

You may be more likely these days to hear Polish and Portuguese spoken than Jèrriais, but as one punter said: ‘It’s still the last bastion of local culture.’

Gerald Le Cocq, Procureur du Bien Public for St Martin

Name: Gerald Le Cocq.

Parish: A true St Martinais, St Martin-born and and bred.

Occupation: Worked for 35 years for Pearl Insurance, starting as an agent, going around the Island collecting from policyholders and retiring as Channel Islands manager. Also president of the Insurance Institute of Jersey and a spokesman for the British Insurance Association in Jersey.

Voluntary service for the Island: Crime Prevention Panel member.

Parish roles:

  • Procureur du Bien Public (according to his oath of office, he is expected to oversee the finances of the parish as well, if not better, than his own).
  • Chairman of St Martin Conservation Trust, which monitors and comments on planning applications in the parish
  • Chairman of St Martin’s Jumelage Association. St Martin has been twinned with Montmartin-sur-Mer in Normandy for 20 years.
  • Past player and patron of Rozel Rovers and club auditor, alongside John Higgins, for the past 51 years.
  • For the past ten years organiser of St Martin’s Liberation Day lunch.

Greatest parish achievement: In October 2002, when 21 residents moved into the first parish-built development for the elderly, Le Court Clos in Longue Rue.

The homes were allocated by a draw and each person was given a number. Not one of them was unhappy with the one they got.

And the new café on the parish village green, which was paid for by donations from over 1,000 parishioners.

Why do you give your time to others? Involved in voluntary work since he was at St Martin’s Collegiate School, or Silks, as it was known by the name of the headmaster. But it was his late wife of 53 years, Marguerite, who inspired him to volunteer his time, as she threw herself into parish life when they moved back the parish after beginning married life in St Saviour.

St John club that created a golden age of friendship

St John's Golden Age Club

EACH parish has a collection of clubs, groups and associations which, by bringing Islanders together in a variety of activities, are the building blocks of the local community.

Organised by Islanders who freely give their spare time for the benefit of others, they range from mother and toddlers’ groups, through varying age groups’ interests, hobbies and preferred sports, to social clubs for senior citizens, such as St John’s Golden Age Club.

The club was founded by Wendy Rondel, when her husband, Phil, was parish Deputy, in July 1995.

She says such clubs are a necessary part of parish life as they bring people together.

Members have to be 55 years old to join and it costs £10 a year to attend an event on the last Wednesday of the month, excluding December.

In addition to four outings for lunch and afternoon tea parties in other parishes – St Brelade being the most popular destination for these St Jeannais – the club organises talks, demonstrations and games afternoons.

Mrs Rondel said they all got along exceedingly well and, as St John was a small parish, members tended to know each other and got together outside of meetings.

Nonetheless, the club reunited two school friends who had lost touch decades before.

‘St John is a small parish where a lot of people do know each other. But when we first set it up we had a couple of members who went to school together but had not seen each other for 40 years.’ she said.

Members also enjoy activities with St John Primary School, especially as some of the children don’t have grandparents, just as some members haven’t got grandchildren, so they all benefit.

Mrs Rondel is keen to recruit younger parishioners to help with club activities, so she and her fellow organisers can relax a bit more. Willing helpers can call her on 863667.

WI on the move

THE Jersey Island Federation of Women’s Institutes has moved its office from Minden Street to the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society Showground in Trinity. The telephone number – 731669 – and email – wi.jersey@yahoo.co.uk – remain the same but members and visitors will find it much easier to park.

Twins’ birthday

ST Martin is this year celebrating the 20th anniversary of twinning with Montmartin-sur-Mer in Normandy. With the exception of St Clement, the Island’s parishes are twinned with towns in Normandy as a mark of Jersey’s historic and cultural ties with the department that date back more than 1,000 years. In addition, St Helier is twinned with Bad Wurzach in Germany. St Martin has developed close ties with Montmartin-sur-Mer and a celebratory lunch has already been held in the Island. Next month a party from Normandy are joining in the parish’s Liberation celebrations. Later in May, more than 40 primary school children from the French town are spending a two-day exchange in Jersey, staying with pupils from St Martin’s School. They will be visiting the parish’s most famous landmark, Mont Orgueil castle.

Address: Parish Hall, Grande Route de la Côte, St Clement JE2 6FP

Telephone: 854724

Email: stclement@posc.gov.je

Opening hours: 8.15 am to 5 pm, Monday to Thursday. 8.15 am to 3.45 pm, Friday

Parish secretary: Beverley Corley

Constable: Len Norman. Telephone: 854724. Email: l.norman@gov.je

Deputies:

  • Deputy Susie Pinel. Telephone: 853969. Email: s.pinel@gov.je
  • Deputy Simon Brée. Telephone: 840773. Email: s.bree@gov.je and simon@simonbree.co.uk

Churches:

  • St Clement. Rector: Rev David Shaw. Telephone: 851992
  • St Nicholas. Rev David Shaw. Telephone: 851992
  • St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church. Canon Nicholas France. Telephone: 720235

The Constable of St Clement, Len Norman

Procureurs du Bien Public: Sue Pearmain and Tony Perkins

Centeniers: Eddie Caldeira, Edgar Wallis, Mandy Le Brocq and Peter Ward

Vingtaines: Grande, Roquier and Samarès

Kerbside recycling: Weekly glass collection

Recycling centres: Clos de Roncier, FB Fields, Le Marais and public car park next to parish hall

Parish magazine: L’Amarrage. Telephone 866956

Clubs and associations:

  • St Clement’s WI
  • Grève d’Azette WI
  • St Clement Sports Club
  • St Clement’s Battle of Flowers Association
  • St Clement’s Bridge Club
  • St Clement’s Community Support Team
  • St Clement’s Flower Club
– Advertisement –
– Advertisement –