{"id":1277,"date":"2016-11-05T01:04:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-05T00:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1277"},"modified":"2016-10-31T09:54:55","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T08:54:55","slug":"st-mary-and-the-devils-hole-jersey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1277","title":{"rendered":"St Mary and the Devil\u2019s Hole, Jersey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=840,width=1230,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script><br \/>\nFirst published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('Jersey.xml');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8649\/30289299252_0f86feee1f.jpg\" title='small copper'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8649\/30289299252_0f86feee1f_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8577\/30405890955_76b7b907c6.jpg\" title='looking east along the cliffs'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8577\/30405890955_76b7b907c6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8133\/30108665060_e370a50510.jpg\" title='L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00c3\u017dle Agois 1.'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8133\/30108665060_e370a50510_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8597\/30319896701_9751ce428e.jpg\" title='L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00c3\u017dle Agois 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8597\/30319896701_9751ce428e_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5528\/29774222463_9c059271ee.jpg\" title='L\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00c3\u017dle Agois 4'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5528\/29774222463_9c059271ee_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5650\/30369792116_a0a5a0414b.jpg\" title='looking west, with La T\u00c3\u00aate de Pl\u00c3\u00a9mont in the distance'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5650\/30369792116_a0a5a0414b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5721\/30369794686_72a584bb4d.jpg\" title='The Devil&#039;s Hole 1'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5721\/30369794686_72a584bb4d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8131\/30369797936_15666b31d3.jpg\" title='The Devil&#039;s Hole 2'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8131\/30369797936_15666b31d3_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5717\/30369800216_cb20e00ec9.jpg\" title='image'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5717\/30369800216_cb20e00ec9_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8567\/29775269484_f201d26b6b.jpg\" title='cliff path loops the rocky north coast bays'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8567\/29775269484_f201d26b6b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8670\/29775273764_39dc62bb39.jpg\" title='stacks and cracks'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm9.static.flickr.com\/8670\/29775273764_39dc62bb39_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5450\/30405914335_70a74a224d.jpg\" title='four young choughs resting after hurdling about on the wind'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5450\/30405914335_70a74a224d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5834\/29775275204_e5c3802ab3.jpg\" title='at the foot of La Vall\u00c3\u00a9e des Mouriers'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5834\/29775275204_e5c3802ab3_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5453\/30369816216_05c4d31a5d.jpg\" title='a Jersey green lane'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5453\/30369816216_05c4d31a5d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5536\/30369818146_3621c6a8ee.jpg\" title='Jersey lily still in bloom'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5536\/30369818146_3621c6a8ee_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7778\/30111376570_70c3396d0d.jpg\" title='IMG_1291'><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7778\/30111376570_70c3396d0d_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1277\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\n<a href=\"javascript:pwindow=window.open('\/Walks\/prn.php?f=1277','pwin','height=700,width=1000,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes');\" title=\"Click for printable version\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Walks\/print.gif\" align=\"right\"><\/a><br \/>\nFor a little island Jersey packs a big punch. Its north coast might have been designed specifically to illustrate the word \u2018rugged\u2019. The coves, headlands, cliffs and sea-stacks are of granite that is sometimes dark, sometimes pink and quartz-studded. They fold in on each other in a series of bays carved out by the storms and racing tides of the English Channel. This is a coast made for walkers, its well-signposted cliff path opening up one remarkable prospect after another.<\/p>\n<p>Under high milky cloud we set out from the village of St Mary along a succession of \u2018green lanes\u2019 \u2013 roadways hardly wide enough for a car, leading us between hedgebanks overhung with oaks, sycamore, sweet chestnuts and beech, all pruned low by the constant wind. The lanes were walled with stout pink granite blocks, and the houses were of granite, too, solid and dignified. The small square fields of wonderfully fertile soil had been tilled for winter, and as everywhere in Jersey there was the sense of a settled, well-to-do community not too fussed by the world beyond the waters.<\/p>\n<p>Jersey cattle cropped the pastures, their large dark eyes as beautiful as those of a Bollywood star. In the lush green cleft of La Vall\u00e9e des Mouriers a stream went dancing and sparkling beside the path, and we followed it down towards the sea. <\/p>\n<p>Out on the cliffs we set our backs to the blasting east wind and were buffeted along the coast path that rounded a deeply scooped bay and ran out towards the distant rocky neb of La T\u00eate de Pl\u00e9mont. Views on this clear, cold day were astonishing \u2013 north-west to the Channel Islands of Sark and Guernsey, the green hump of Herm between them; north-east to the long flat reef of Les \u00c9cr\u00e9hous with its fishermen\u2019s cottages apparently perching in the sea, and beyond them the white beaches of the French coast fifteen miles away.<\/p>\n<p>The Devil\u2019s Hole made a fine spectacle from the cliffside viewing platform, with the sea hissed angrily between its jaws. Whether the Father of Evil ever did inhabit that dark, echoing cave is open to question, but the band of early Christian monks who built their retreat on the perilous rock of L\u2019\u00cele Agois just beyond were real enough. We carried away a vivid impression of the harshness of their lives, sustained by faith and a diet of shellfish, as we took the homeward path to St Mary.<\/p>\n<p>Start: St Mary\u2019s Country Inn, St Mary, Jersey JE3 3DS (map ref 603542)<\/p>\n<p>Getting there: Bus 7 (St Helier\u2013Devil\u2019s Hole). Road \u2013 St Mary\u2019s Country Inn is on B53 between St Ouen and St John.<\/p>\n<p>Walk (7\u00bd miles, moderate, Jersey 1:25,000 Official Leisure Map): Left from inn car park; cross B53; ahead down La Rue de la Vall\u00e9e. In 300m pass \u2018Jardin De Haut\u2019 sign on left; left up path to cross B26 (605539). Continue on \u2018Green Lane\u2019; in 300m, left at archway. In 400m, right at T-junction to cross B39 (612542). On to T-junction; left, then first right to B33 (610544, \u2018La Route de St Jean\u2019).<\/p>\n<p>Right, then first left (\u2018La Rue Es Abb\u00e8s\u2019). In 700m, left at junction (613552); in 100m, right. In 50m fork left up lane, soon becoming green lane. At road beside La Vue du Pr\u00e9 house, turn right, then fork right downhill. At \u2018Le Hurel\u2019 sign, fork right. In 200m, bend right across stream (613556); left along Le Chemin Des Hougues. In 300m, opposite lamp post by Les Hougues house, fork right along gravel lane down La Vall\u00e9e des Mouriers. At bottom, through gate by reservoir pump house (608561). Just beyond, fork left\/west along coastal path.<\/p>\n<p>Follow \u2018Cliff Path\u2019 signs for 700m to road at Priory Inn (606558). Follow \u2018Footpath\u2019 signs; then from car park \u2018follow \u2018Devil\u2019s Hole\u2019 signs for 500m down to Devil\u2019s Hole viewing platform (602561) and back to car park. Sharp right and follow \u2018Footpath\u2019 and blue signs for 1\u00bd miles to road just south of Crabbe Farm (592551). Right for \u2154 mile if you want to visit La Gr\u00e8ve de Lecq harbour; otherwise left for \u00bd mile to T-junction (600547). In 150m fork right past Le Ronvillais house; in 600m, left on B33 (602543); in 150m, right to St Mary\u2019s Country Inn.<\/p>\n<p>Lunch: St Mary\u2019s Country Inn (01534-482897, <a href=\"http:\/\/liberationgroup.com\">liberationgroup.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Accommodation: Atlantic Hotel, St Brelade, Jersey JE3 8HE (01534-744101, <a href=\"http:\/\/theatlantichotel.com\">theatlantichotel.com<\/a>) \u2013 extremely comfortable and helpful; wonderful food. <\/p>\n<p>Info: Jersey TIC (01534-859000); <a href=\"http:\/\/jersey.com\">jersey.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Britain\u2019s Best Walks: 200 Classic Walks from The Times by Christopher Somerville (HarperCollins, \u00a330). To receive 30 per cent off plus free p&#038;p visit harpercollins.co.uk and enter code TIMES30, or call 0844 5768122<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/visitengland.com\"> visitengland.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/satmap.com\">satmap.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/ramblers.org.uk\">ramblers.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a little island Jersey packs a big punch. Its north coast might have been designed specifically to illustrate the word \u2018rugged\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}