Viewers of the Bergerac reboot are falling in love with the Channel Island all over again – we tell you the best places to visit.
Now that the reboot of 1980s TV show Bergerac is on our screens, I’m sure many viewers will have fallen in love with my beautiful island home. I’ve been avidly watching the new series in which actor Damien Molony reprises the eponymous role once made famous by John Nettles, and Zoë Wanamaker plays Bergerac’s mother-in-law Charlie Hungerford.
Jersey has been home to my family since the 1960s, when my father Peter decided to move here from London. His mother Margaret had loved her holidays on the island in the 1930s so much that when he came, she and my grandfather Harold decided to up sticks and move with him.
She didn’t drive, so our childhood summers were spent exploring the bus network with her, finding beaches we’d not been to before. Jersey has 24 to work your way through, like the wonderful St Ouen’s Bay with its five-mile sweep of sand.
She said every day that living here felt like a holiday.
Then one summer, when I was about ten, she told us she’d got a job. At the age of 76, she’d lied on the application form to become an extra for the original Bergerac.
I think the upper age limit was 65, but nothing was going to stop her getting close to the action.
Enter here to win a luxury break to this beautiful Channel Island with flights and a three-night stay at the Pomme d’Or Hotel included.
She had the time of her life for several years and we had fun trying to spot her on telly among diners in a restaurant, or shoppers in the high street.
Her encore career (she’d previously worked as a sales assistant) came to an end when she was asked to walk up and down the Norman granite steps of Mont Orgueil Castle over and over again and she finally accepted she might be too old for the job – she was 82!
She probably wouldn’t have approved of the new version currently streaming on the U&Drama channel, but only because it lacks her beloved John Nettles!
Jersey is the largest and most southerly of the Channel Islands, and it enjoys about 2,000 hours of sunshine a year – making it one of the sunniest places in the British Isles. Having been part of the Duchy of Normandy until 1204 – the year that Mont Orgueil Castle was built to keep out the French – Jersey still retains a lot of French influence.
In the country parishes you may still hear the local language, Jersiaise, being spoken and you’ll notice most of the road signs are in French.
When you’re sitting on a sunny terrace tucking into a bowl of moules or a plateau de fruit de mer, you could well imagine you’re on the continent.
If you enjoy walking, you’ll be hard pushed to find a prettier route than the northern stretch of Jersey’s coastal path, along which you’ll inhale the coconut scent of gorse and watch the sun bouncing off the pink granite cliffs on to the sea below.
It’s a three-mile trek along the cliff path from the turquoise waters of Bouley Bay, which appears in the new series of Bergerac, to the bijou harbour of Rozel.
Here you can revive yourself with a crab sandwich from the famous blue-painted The Hungry Man beach shack, which also serves veggie bacon rolls (local vegetarians travel from afar to treat themselves. Well, as far as you can get in an island that is just nine miles by five).
For a spot of wild swimming, head over to St Catherine’s Bay, where you can access the water safely from the slipway, and then book into a sauna session at the Sauna Society, a pop-up, wood-fired sauna with a picture window overlooking the bay.
The island is great for foodies, with plenty of local produce available from land and sea.
If you’re booked into self-catering accommodation, you can buy Jersey Royal potatoes, courgettes and rhubarb directly from the farms through the honesty boxes in the country lanes, and for seafood, head down to Faulkner Fisheries, in the shadow of majestic Corbière Lighthouse (which has just celebrated its 150th anniversary). There you can buy local lobster, langoustine and shrimp.
To see what culinary magic can be worked with this produce, head to Michelin-starred Bohemia in Saint Helier for an unforgettable tasting menu with wine pairing.
Days out may include visits to Jersey Zoo, which was founded by Gerald Durrell, where you can see gorillas and sloths and find out about the zoo’s conservation work; or to the 17th-century Elizabeth Castle, which was built on a tidal island where Sir Walter Raleigh once stayed. Half the adventure is getting the amphibious vehicle across the water.
And then, of course, there are those glorious beaches, which we are seeing a lot of during the first series of Bergerac. Among my favourites are St Brelade’s Bay, which is the island’s pleasure beach, lined with seaview restaurants, including Pizza Express (I challenge you to find one with a better view) and Oyster Box, one of the island’s most respected seafood establishments.
I also enjoy the dramatic tidal range on the east coast, where you can pootle in rock pools on the beaches of La Rocque and Le Hocq before stopping for a pint at the Le Hocq Inn, the most southerly pub in the British Isles.
Saga's Jersey’s Joie de Vivre eight day tour takes in the best bits, including a visit to Bouley Bay and a wine tasting at a local vineyard.
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