AS Richard Bitot stepped inside La Folie Inn for the first time in 55 years, memories of a once-popular haunt for fishermen, sailors and Harbour workers came flooding back…
Today, the dilapidated building and its boarded-up windows presents a very different picture to the property he remembers, with the pub having remained vacant since its closure in 2004.
The site’s future is currently a subject of discussion for Ports of Jersey, which unveiled its Harbour Master Plan last year.
Hundreds of people have taken part in surveys and public drop-in sessions about the proposals to transform St Helier Harbour.
However, further details about some stages of the project have yet to be confirmed, such as the development of the New North Quay, regeneration of the Old, English and French harbours – and the potential renovation of La Folie Inn.
A Ports of Jersey spokesperson said that possible uses for the site were still being considered following a public consultation that closed over the summer.
Mr Bitot, who left the Island in 1981 for Australia, knows La Folie better than most – having spent his childhood years there.
This is because the licensee was a relative, Whitby Harold Machon, who left the lease after he passed away to Mr Bitot’s father in 1963.
Following last year’s announcement about the Harbour Master Plan, Mr Bitot wrote to the JEP about his memories of La Folie – explaining that he had lived there in one of four attic rooms. He also has an image of Ethel Maud Colligny – his grandmother and Mr Machon’s sister – who had once helped her brother to run the pub.
After contacting Ports of Jersey, Mr Bitot was granted the opportunity to look inside the building for the first time in over five decades and allowed the JEP to document his visit.
Dusty rooms and maritime memorabilia
Stepping through the entrance of La Folie Inn, it immediately becomes clear that its now dust-filled rooms have acted as a time capsule marked by the drunken antics it hosted for decades, until the early 2000s.
Memorabilia, photographs and even drinks menus – left untouched over the years – litter the floors, walls and shelves.
Behind the bar, a note pinned to the wall details the snacks that were available to peckish patrons.
Now just a painful reminder of the impact of inflation, it lists a packet of Walkers crisps as costing 30p, as well as prices for pork cracklings (65p), salted nuts (40p) and other staple bar snacks.
In another room, a certificate naming La Folie Inn as a 1994 “Best Tavern in Bloom” finalist sits on a shelf, next to a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records from a few years earlier.
The second and third floors tell a similar story, with more memorabilia, photographs and various items in keeping with the Inn’s nautical theme – including a large propeller – strewn everywhere.
Mr Bitot said: “I have been back [to Jersey] a couple of times and seen it from the outside, but this is the first time that I have been inside La Folie Inn in 55 years. There are a few minor changes but everything is [otherwise] exactly the same.
“It’s like going back in time.”
He added: “I was behind the bar, helping with the drinks, doing all the cleanup – I was very young, sweeping up all the cigarette ends.
“In those days there was far more drunkenness and chain-smoking than today, I can tell you.”
Commenting on Ports of Jersey’s plans for the area, he said: “It is not just a discussion about do we want to keep [La Folie], it’s about if you do keep it, it has got to be a nautical theme. It has got to be something to do with the marine life, the seamen and the dockers who used to be here.
“There is still quite a lot of original timber inside, which surprised me.”
Mr Bitot added that he was “very grateful” to Ports of Jersey for allowing him to visit the derelict pub.
