- Work has begun on transforming bungalow on site of former tourist attraction
- Colin Soudain set up the Shell Garden in 1957 and it was open until 2012
- The fate of the garden is unknown as it hasn’t been given heritage status
- See how many of these other former tourist attractions you remember.
- Should the Shell Garden have been given heritage status? Take part in our poll below
FOR more than five decades it was a must-see attraction for many visitors to the Island, but the once popular Shell Garden is now a building site.
The St Brelade bungalow is being rebuilt with extensions, new rear and interior walls and a flat roof.
Some of the shells have already been removed and the fate of the rest of the once popular garden is unknown, as it has not been given heritage status.
The landscaped garden, which contains more than one million shells, was started as a hobby in 1957 by Colin Soudain.
Although he did not live in the property for many years, it continued to be run as a summer visitor attraction for several decades by John Morgan until it closed in 2012.
The 861 sq ft property at Mont Les Vaux was sold earlier this year after being put on the market for £250,000, and builders recently began working on transforming the property.
During its 55 years as a tourist attraction, the Shell Garden attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors through its gates.
Almost every inch of the garden is covered by colourful shells in a variety of patterns and depicting various scenes.
There are also models adorned with shells, including a church.
Peter Le Gresley, the Planning Department’s director of development control, described the Shell Garden as ‘iconic’, but said that it would not be given heritage status.
He said: ‘The Shell Garden was well regarded as a much-loved iconic building, particularly at the height of the tourist years.
‘However, the garden did not amount to something by itself that amounted to requiring heritage protection.’
Fantastic Tropical Gardens
Nestled in St Peter’s Valley, the gardens were run by the Parkin family and included family attractions such as a parrot show, different ‘countries’ from around the world to visit, as well as food stalls and giant models of dinosaurs.
The venue was especially popular for children’s parties, and many fondly remember running around the park as children trying to collect as many stamps in their ‘passport’ from stations in the various countries.
DID YOU KNOW? Many of the parrots from the attraction were former residents of Fort Regent. More than 30 different species were moved to the gardens after the closure of the aviary at the Fort in 1988 following concerns about their health. Part of the problem was their exposure to the cold winters, but to combat that Gary Parkin, the owner of the Fantastic Tropical Gardens, agreed to move the birds into his own home during the winter.
FATE: Closed in the 1990s, replaced with housing.
Belle Vue Pleasure Park
Opened in the 1960s at Les Quennevais, the popular park was home to the Island’s go-kart track for four decades, with the last race being held there in the early 1990s.
DID YOU KNOW? On 9 March 1970 the world’s first self-fly hoverdrome was opened at Belle Vue. The machines were a type of hovercraft that travelled six inches above the ground on a cushion of air. They were designed by Jersey-based mechanical engineer Eric Bisson, who helped to design and build the famous Cooper Norton streamliner racing car which became the first 250cc car to break the 100 mph barrier at Mon- za Italy in 1957.
FATE: The States bought the land for housing in 1992 using compulsory purchase powers, sparking an expensive 12-year legal battle about how much the site was worth. It culminated in 2004 with the
States being ordered to pay £5.5 million to the original owners, Lesquende Ltd, after first valuing the site at £2.5 million. Today the States are building social rented homes at the site in various phases.
The Butterfly Farm
Known officially as the Jersey Butterfly Centre, the attraction at Haute Tombette in St Mary was exactly what it says on the tin – home to dozens of species of butterflies.
It was set in the grounds of a carnation nursery and visitors could walk through greenhouses in which hundreds of rare and exotic butterflies bred in a recreation of their natural habitat. It was also known for having a good café.
DID YOU KNOW? As a tourist, if you are searching the internet for things to do in Jersey, you may be disappointed to discover that the Jersey Butterfly Centre no longer exists – particularly as a number of websites still encourage people to visit the attraction.
FATE: Following the closure of the business, Maillard’s general auction moved to the site in 2006 from its former home at Glencoe in St Lawrence. The auction house closed down in 2009, blaming the recession.
The Shire Horse Farm
Located in St Ouen, the farm was home to a number of … yes, you guessed …. shire horses – as well as pigs, chickens, goats and other small animals for people to pet.
Visitors may well remember the farrier, who would give talks and demonstrations about how he helped to look after the horses’ hooves. There was also a large apple crusher that was regularly put to good use, and owner George Langlois would give people tours in his horse-drawn cart.
FATE: Returned to being a private property.
Battle of Flowers Museum
Run by the longest-serving Battle entrant ever, Florence Bechelet, the museum, at La Robeline in St Ouen, opened in 1971 and featured all of the wildflower floats that she entered into the annual Battle parades.
DID YOU KNOW? The Battle stalwart was only 16 when she entered her first exhibit into the annual parade in 1934, and over the course of her Battle career went on to build a total of 70 floats. She entered her final exhibit, A Little Child Shall Lead Them, into the 2012 carnival less than a month before her death.
FATE: Closed when Miss Bechelet died aged 94 in 2012.
Fort Regent
OKAY, so technically this one doesn’t really count, as it is still open. But large sections of the site are now disused and have fallen into disrepair.
Remember the cable cars? The dancing fountains? The parrot show? Stage shows? Aquarium? Quasar? Fairground rides? The skatepark? Pluto’s Playtime? We could go on …
DID YOU KNOW? Today the building that once housed Quasar is a nursery, and visitors to it may still recognise some of the room lay-outs from the laser quest game.
FATE: Who knows when, or if, this massively underutilised site will ever be put to better use, but the latest plans from the States are currently being discussed.
The Troglodyte Caves, which were opened on 23 September 1878 at Five Oaks, are widely regarded as one of Jersey’s first purpose-built tourist attractions.
They were man-made embellishments of a clay pit, which had been used to source material for the nearby brickworks.
They were also known as Champion’s Caves, after their creator, brickmaker John Champion, and there was also a man-made lake that was often used to celebrate royal occasions, including Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1887.
Jean Philippe Giffard, the sculptor behind the first devil used as the centrepiece at Devil’s Hole, was responsible for many of the decorations at the Troglodyte Caves. One of the main attractions was a lifesized statue of the Zulu chief Cetewayo, who was said to be ‘a complete man in every sense’.
Reportedly after certain parts of the sculpture received too much attention from female visitors, a skirt was added, followed later by a cubicle to protect his modesty from skirtlifters.
However, reports suggest that women would still use their parasols to gain a peak.
Nothing remains of the attraction today, and houses have since been built on the land.
