Available Now – Touring Booking Form and JIMF Introduction Form
Friday – Cost £71.00 per person
Meet at People’s Park
Depart for scenic drive through the countryside to Victoria Village for a self-guided tour of the Orchid Foundation. The foundation not only exhibits orchids at their centre in Jersey but throughout the world.
From the leafy lanes of Victoria Village the drive takes you through the little fishing harbours along the north coast to La Mare Wine Estate.
On arrival you will be met by one of the estate guides and taken on a private tour and tasting of the local products, all made on site. Why not visit the shop and take some genuine Jersey produce home?
Leaving the Vineyards, it is a very short distance to the Windmill where lunch will be served. The ladies may like to visit the Catherine Best Jewellery studio which is on site.
After lunch drive through the picturesque St Peter’s Valley to St Matthews Glass Church renowned for its large collection of Lalique glass.
Continuing from the Glass Church heading to the parish of St. Lawrence to a private residence for a garden tour followed by a cream tea in the farmhouse courtyard. Returning to St. Helier with plenty of time to join the cavalcade and the moonlight sprints.
Saturday – Cost £58.00 per person
Assemble at People’s Park
This morning’s drive takes you across the island to Grosnez
Here you will meet a member of the Channel Island Occupation Society who will take you on a tour of Battery Moltke, the bunker complex and explain how it was built and its uses.
Re-joining your vehicles, drive through L’Etacq admiring the breath-taking scenery to St. Ouen’s Bay.
The second visit of the morning will be the St. Ouen Bunker which is one man’s life long collection of occupation and military memorabilia.
An Occupation / Liberation themed lunch will be served in the nearby Jersey Pearl.
This afternoon take a leisurely drive to La Corbiere, St. Brelade’s Bay and onto the Jersey War Tunnels. On arrival at the War Tunnels you will be met by your guide who will take you on a gentle stroll through the valley retracing the steps of Tony Robinson and the Time Team.
Returning to the park late afternoon
Sunday – Cost £50.00 per person
Meet at a pre-determined point.
This morning’s drive will explore the north east coast of Rozel, St. Catherine’s and onto Gorey. Stop for a while at this picturesque little harbour, once famed for its oyster fishing and boat building. The drive continues along the south coast, where at low tide you can see the oyster beds. Heading back into St. Helier you will have the opportunity of visiting the “Fresh Fish Company” to enjoy a glass of wine and sample some Jersey oysters.
Returning to the park to enjoy the afternoon festivities.
Late afternoon, there will be an opportunity to enjoy an afternoon tea on the terrace of the Grand Hotel.
During the weekend’s programme you will have participated in a “Treasure Hunt” and during afternoon tea there will be a presentation to the winning car.
Costs include:
Friday
- Entrance to Eric Young Orchids
- Tour & tasting at La Mare Wine Estate
- Two course lunch with coffee
- Entrance to private garden & afternoon tea
- Full representation throughout the day
Saturday
- Entrance & private tour of the Battery Moltke
- Entrance to the occupation bunker
- Two course lunch with coffee
- Guided occupational trail
- Full representation throughout the day
Sunday
- Oyster tasting & wine
- Afternoon Tea at the Grand Hotel
- Presentation of “Treasure Hunt” winner with Prize
- Full representation throughout the day
The organisers reserve the right to change the itinerary at any time, but the content will always have the same or similar value.
For further information or to make a booking please e-mail touring@jimf.je
Eric Young Orchids
Born in 1911, Eric Young’s fascination with orchids began in his teens. He lost his first collection during the Second World War, but a move to Jersey and a successful business career rekindled his passion.
We strive to inspire and spread the word around the globe. It is why we travel to give talks and lectures. Why we open our doors to visitors in Jersey, and why we exhibit at prestigious shows. Our living collection and the accumulated knowledge of our staff are key resources we willingly share. We cooperate with other organisations to promote orchid growing, research and conservation. We provide an educational resource for schools on the island by offering a series of workshops designed for all age groups.
A unique centre dedicated to orchids and proud Chelsea Flower Show gold medallists. Whatever time of year you visit you will be sure to see something different and amazing. Admire the sheer diversity of this most extravagant and flamboyant of all flowers in our purpose built display facility.
La Mare Wine Estate
Set in the peaceful grounds of a traditional 18th century Jersey granite farmhouse. La Mare is a working 25 acre domain, committed to creation the very best wines, ciders and spirits, along with hand-made preserves, fudge, chocolates and Jersey black butter. Your guide will be on hand to explain the methods of our wine, liqueurs and apple brandy production and then offer you a guided tasting including wines, Jersey Black Butter and luxury chocolate.
St Matthews – Glass Church
Very much a working church, St. Matthew’s Glass Church is small and quite unassuming from the outside. The beauty lies within as the church is decorated or more precisely furnished with moulded white glass elaborated in the 1930’s by René Lalique. The building dates back from 1840 when it was just a chapel of ease. However Lady Trent, married to Jesse Boot, founder of Boots. The Chemist lived close to the church and holidayed in France where she met Lalique. She commissioned the artist with some artwork to complete her refurbishment project of the church. The results are well worth a visit not only because the glass font, altar rail, cross and pillars are stunning but also because they are so original and unique. The moulds used were destroyed as the panels were completed.
Private Garden
Set in the heart of the Jersey countryside this private garden is created around a Jersey granite farmhouse. This garden was first begun in 1970 by the mother of the present owner, who have since extended and enlarged the garden in recent years. In front of the farmhouse is the Italianate garden set around and above a sunken rectangular lawn, the boarders here are a riot of unusual and familiar perennials and shrubs. Nearby are the miniature formal herb gardens, the Mediterranean garden and the ornamental kitchen garden. The valley stretching down below the house is planted with specimen trees, including magnolia Campbell, peroration Persia, corns Sousa, eucalyptus and many species of fir. The woods hold a collection of camellias, which flower continuously from November to July.
Battery Moltke
Battery Moltke or Batteries Moltke is an uncompleted War II former coastal artillery battery in St Ouen in the north west of Jersey. It was constructed by Organisation Todt for the Wehrmacht during the occupation of the Channel Islands The battery structures include bunkers, gun emplacements and the Marine Standpipe 3 tower, which are located on Les Landes, a coastal heathland area at the north end of St Ouen’s Bay. The bunker was left unfinished at the end of the war, when completed there would have been an M132 Command Bunker like at Battery Lothringen and the main armament would have consisted of 4x 15 cm SK C/28. The primary purpose of this battery would have been the defence of St Ouen’s Bay in the event of an amphibious assault by the Allies, although Jersey’s entire coastline would have been within range of the guns, as would the stretch of water between Jersey and Sark.
Jersey Occupation Museum
The Museum is housed in a German bunker which once formed part of Hitlers Atlantic Wall defences. Sitting right on the sea wall the bunker dominates the surrounding area. Within the bunker itself are many rooms full of artefacts both military and civilian which help tell the story of the 5 long years of German Occupation. There are hundreds of interesting pieces to look at as well as lots to read, there is also a 40 minute commentary of locals recounting experiences of the time.
St Peter’s Valley Occupation Trail
Follow in the footsteps of Tony Robinson and the Time Team when they visited Jersey.
Approximately 165 anti-aircraft guns were installed by the Germans around Jersey during the Occupation years; these were operated either by the Luftwaffe or Army units. The battery that was established at Les Gellettes, St. Lawrence, in 1942 was one of Jersey’s six heavy Flak emplacements. It was positioned to protect Jersey Airport from Allied bombardment, whilst the guns of the battery also covered St. Aubin’s Bay and the valleys in the vicinity, rendering the site a place of strategic significance.
Gun pits, crew accommodation, defences, storage sheds and ammunition dumps were constructed, and water was supplied from the stream in the valley below, being pumped up from Pre-Vallon Farm and stored in a reservoir on the hillside. Remnants of structures such as these, including trenches and barbed wire perimeter fences, are visible along the pathways of what is now the Jersey War Tunnels War Trail. This Trail is a series of footpaths which pass through a perimeter section of what was the German battery. Period photographs show the location of gun emplacements, wooden buildings and adjoining pathways. For more than sixty years now the site of the battery has been allowed to go back to nature; the trenches, defensive positions and troop shelters almost lost under the flora, leaving the visitor with little idea of the nature of the original site. Whilst a pleasant wooded area for walkers, the War Trail site is actually an area of unique historical interest.