Rain, squabbling politicians, rain, heroics at sea, rain and a bee attack. And rain. Richard Heath looks back on August, when it rained. A lot.
THE front-page headline on 3 August set the tone for what was a quite miserable month: “Worst summer in 20 years is ‘devastating’ beach cafés”. Business owners lamented that while the previous summer (remember those long, hot days?) “felt like Saturday every day”, this holiday season was turning into a washout. And August meant business – dishing out more rain on its first day than was recorded during the whole of the same month the previous year. And it continued to rain, and rain and rain.
… SO much so that residents in Grands Vaux – whose homes were left under several feet of water during the even wetter winter – were lining up sandbags outside their properties.
We did though have the Battle of Flowers to look forward to, as floats took to Victoria Avenue… under grey skies and drizzle. The weather didn’t deter the crowds though, but merely proved that the old adage that “it never rains on Battle” is quite simply nonsense. In an effort to breathe more life into an event which has begun to wilt in recent years, it was held on a Friday, rather than the usual Thursday. Other than that, it was exactly the same as previous years (and if the organisers had stuck to the Thursday, it would have been held on pretty much the only day in the month when we had glorious sunshine).
Those who couldn’t make it to Battle could instead head over to Queen’s Valley reservoir to marvel at its huge patches of bright green water caused by a massive algae bloom. The unusual sight sparked concern from some on social media. But officials quickly moved to reassure them that they go to the trouble of extracting the algae before letting the water anywhere near our taps.
While most of us were fed up with the terrible weather, one Islander found it a truly hair-raising experience. Natalie Stevens enjoyed 15 minutes of fame after she had a rather unusual reaction to a nearby thunderstorm – and documented it with a selfie. The picture, which showed her hair standing on end, went viral and was featured in the national media. But commentators were quick to point out that it might have been a sign she was about to be struck by lightning.
There was a series of very sad and troubling stories during August. The whole Island was shocked when news broke that a father and son – later named as Dean and Charlie Lowe – had been killed in a suspected hit-and-run in St Clement. A man was later arrested and is currently on bail.
The danger faced by children online was highlighted when a man was jailed for 17 years for luring a vulnerable teenager to Jersey and raping her after meeting in a chat room. Shay Bester (47) spent six months grooming the girl before buying her a one-way flight from London to Jersey and abusing her.
Former paramedic David Moody was jailed for eight-and-a-half years for raping and sexually assaulting a vulnerable woman.
Three people were arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in relation to the Haut du Mont explosion, which claimed the lives of ten people last December. The men were questioned before being released on police bail as the investigation continued.
And in one of the most unusual cases to come before the Royal Court for some time, a man was jailed after assaulting a drinker in a town bar – then returning to confront him with a deactivated AK-47 assault rifle and bayonet. During sentencing, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said that the man’s actions during the homophobic attack had been “incredibly stupid and reckless”.
Tributes were paid to well-known Islander John Boothman – a former banker who later in life contributed significantly to the Island in both a professional and voluntary capacity – after he died suddenly aged 71 on the last day of the previous month.
There was “unprecedented heroics” at sea as firefighters were hailed heroes for saving a man in “treacherous” conditions in St Ouen’s Bay. The crew were repeatedly pounded by large waves crashing against the sea wall as they fought to rescue the solo swimmer. Following a near half-hour operation, the swimmer and the crew got out of the water unharmed. “The heroics and bravery of the crew – it was unprecedented and I am very proud of them,” said station commander Ryan Hall.
Earlier in the month, a “massive whale” stopped by off the north-west coast and was caught on camera by Islander Donna de Gruchy. She said it was probably a fin whale (the second-largest species of whale), about 15-metres long and was apparently happily swimming off in the general direction of Guernsey.
Bass were also seemingly having a good time of it. Only six years ago, their population had shrunk so much that tough restrictions were imposed and fishermen were banned from taking them home. And it seems to have done the trick, as anglers and divers reported seeing large numbers of juvenile bass around coastal waters. The restrictions were eased slightly a few years ago, and fishermen are once again able to waste hours fruitlessly trying to snare one of the prized fish, before returning home via Beresford Street.
There were briefly fears that aliens had landed (and unconfirmed reports that locals in deepest St Ouen had taken to their bunkers and were refusing to come out) after what appeared to be a space capsule arrived on the north coast. But we need not have worried – it was all in the name of art. The capsule – called Dissent Module – was created by a Jersey artist and was part of an ArtHouse Jersey exhibition.
A woman and her young niece were left in agony after being attacked by a swarm of bees in St Ouen. The unusually aggressive insects, whose hive was right next to a road, were later moved elsewhere and haven’t caused any trouble since.
And in some rare political news during what is usually a quiet period for the States, Deputy Max Andrews had a vote of censure brought against him after an investigation found that he and Deputy Moz Scott had breached the Code of Conduct for elected officials. It basically boiled down to some playground behaviour during which Deputy Andrews apparently called his colleague a “silly cow”, and “violated her personal boundaries” by telling her she looked “stunning” and buying her “inordinately expensive” gifts. Deputy Scott, meanwhile, was accused of telling her fellow politician to “f*** off”. Twice.
