Steps into the harbour

A walkway and steps leading from the promenade at Gorey into the harbour.

A contribution to Outdoor Wednesday.

Gorey Chain

A seaweed encrusted chain on the beach at Gorey Harbour.

For Our World Tuesday.

St Catherine's Breakwater

St. Catherine's Breakwater is all that exists of a projected "refuge" harbour for the Royal Navy. It was intended to be used as a forward base in the event of a blockade of the French coast. The harbour was designed during the period of Anglo-French rivalry during the 1840s, and work began on the North breakwater in 1847. It was finished in 1855, by which time Britain and France were fighting as allies against the Russians, and the planned Southern breakwater was never completed.

The breakwater provides shelter from south-westerly to north winds. The bottom of the harbour is mud and sand, and there is a landing slip at the base of the breakwater. It is now used mainly by leisure craft as a quiet anchorage. Fishermen use the long breakwater for catching conger eels, mackerel and bass.

See Ports and Harbours of the UK for more information.

Gorey Seawall

Looking along the inside of the seawall at Gorey Harbour.

Low tide in Gorey Harbour

The beach at Gorey Harbour has been used for loading cargo since at least the Middle Ages. In 1685 Dumaresq wrote that Gorey was the most ancient port of the Island and described the pier as "old and decayed". In 1815, it was decided to rebuild the decaying pier to serve the 150 or so visiting oyster-fishing boats stationed in the port during the season. The work cost £16,000 and was completed by 1817 and, in the following years, hotels, chandlers and houses were built along the pier when the land beneath the castle was sold off by the Crown.

Today the harbour has been taken over by yachts and small craft.

Read more on This is Jersey.

For Scenic Weekends

Victoria Pier

The Port Control building is on the end of the pier.

For ABC Wednesday

Quay Working Cranes

The blue crane is working on the New North Quay whilst the ones in the background are on Albert Pier.

For ABC Wednesday.

Inside Gorey Harbour

Inside Gorey Harbour at low tide.

For Outdoor Wednesday and ABC Wednesday.

Victoria Harbour

Viewed from Pier Road.

A contribution to Outdoor Wednesday and ABC Wednesday.
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St Catherine's Breakwater

St Catherine's Breakwater, strictly called Verclut Breakwater, but invariably known as the former by islanders, was built in the middle of the 19th century as the northern arm of what was to be a massive naval station. It would have been the largest harbour on the south side of the Channel after Le Havre.

More information can be found on The Island Wiki.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Telephone kiosk at St Catherine's

Since 2000 almost all variations of telephone kiosks have been replaced by the present Jersey Telecom Limited standard kiosk. It is an anodized aluminium design finished in all yellow. Manufactured by Prosider S.P.A. of Ravenna, Italy, it is slightly wider than previous designs, this being to enable easier access by wheelchair users. To further facilitate this access the kiosk is installed on a flat stainless steel plate with anti-slip patterning.
Information culled from "A History of the Telephone Kiosk in Jersey" by Graeme Marett [PDF file].

To the right of the kiosk is a plaque commemorating Jane Luscombe's round the island swim in 1976.

For Mellow Yellow Monday

Gorey Harbour at Low Tide

The beach at Gorey Harbour has been used for loading cargo since at least the Middle Ages. In 1685 Dumaresq wrote that Gorey was the most ancient port of the Island and described the pier as "old and decayed". In 1815, it was decided to rebuild the decaying pier to serve the 150 or so visiting oyster-fishing boats stationed in the port during the season. The work cost £16,000 and was completed by 1817 and, in the following years, hotels, chandlers and houses were built along the pier when the land beneath the castle was sold off by the Crown.

Today the harbour has been taken over by yachts and small craft.

Read more on This is Jersey.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Red dinghy

On the seawall at Gorey Harbour. The lines go out to craft moored on the beach.

A contribution to Ruby Tuesday.

French Harbour, St Helier

From Pier Road looking over the yachts in the French Harbour towards the cranes on Albert Pier.

A contribution to Skywatch Friday.

Gorey under its castle

According to Paul Grodon

The first recorded mention of Gorey Castle aka Mont Orgueil (its French name, meaning "pride") was in November 1212. Gorey Castle was a stronghold of English rule. In 1337 the French invaded, and the castle resisted siege. Blood flowed, but the castle did not fall. A second siege under French buccaneer Bertrand du Guesclin followed in July 1373, and the outer walls were breached. But the rock did not fall. The French finally occupied it in the fifteenth century, but through treachery not brute force. Sir Walter Raleigh was sent by Queen Elizabeth to tear down the old fort but sentiment won the day. Gorey Castle turned from sanctuary into prison. As the French Revolution cast its fanatical spell over Europe, the castle was used as a royalist base by d'Auvergne and his secret network. Then as Jersey sauntered into the sunlit uplands of the Victorian age, the castle retained its potency as a symbol of the island's proud loyalism and independence. Queen Victoria chose to visit Mount Orgueil with Prince Albert. She had a penchant for island castles. As Hitler's armies poured into Jersey and the swastikas flew over the fields of brown Jersey cows and sweet potatoes, Gorey Castle, as a prominent coastal fortified site, was absorbed into the machinery of the Third Reich. Concrete gun emplacements, bunkers and flak towers were added to the ancient walls. Today it is a tourist trap, but one with a unique sense of presence and power. You can experience something of the depth of the past, of the blood and glory of previous ages.

A contribution to ABC Wednesday.

Gorey Promenade

An easy walk between the harbour and the gardens.

A contribution to Shadow Shot Sunday