Britain has a variety of names, depending on which part of the country you are describing. One of its titles is Great Britain and that is made up of several countries. The one I came from is England, but Great Britain also includes Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Another name for Britain is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually contracted to the United Kingdom. This stems from the time in the early 18th century when the crowns of England and Scotland were combined when King James VI of Scotland also became King James I of England.
Another name that you may hear mentioned is the British Isles. This covers the countries in Great Britain and also the Republic of Ireland, which is a separate nation. It also includes more than 6,000 islands of varying sizes Ƶ and itƵs one of these that I want to talk about today.
Most of these islands are found off the coast of Britain, but there is a group that is called the Channel Islands by the British and Isles de la Manche by the French that lie much closer to the French coast than the British. A thousand years ago, these islands were part of the Duchy of Normandy and became part of Britain when William, Duke of Normandy, successfully invaded England in 1066. These islands have belonged to the British Crown ever since.
There are seven inhabited islands in the group, ranging from Jersey, a popular vacation destination with a population of over 100,000, to Brecqhou, a tiny islet where just two people currently live. Brecqhou lies just off the island of Sark, one of the smaller Channel Isles at less than 3 miles long by 1.5 miles wide.
Visiting Sark, which is 80 miles from England, is somewhat like stepping back in time. There are just 600 people living on the island, which boasts white, sandy beaches fringed by cliffs that are a nesting haven for seabirds Ƶ and itƵs little wonder that it attracts tourists who outnumber the locals by as much as ten to one in the warmer summer months.
Inland the island has farms, a dairy, market gardens and sheep, whilst there is also a harbor; but there the similarity to other British coastal resorts ends, because Sark proudly boasts that it has no street lights and no paved roads. TheyƵre not needed because there are no cars on the island. There are horse drawn carts and carriages, the occasional tractor, bicycles and one or two electric carts for the elderly.
The people of the island tend to cling to their own way of life and, although the British government is responsible for the islandƵs defense and foreign relations, it still maintains its own system of government and, up until 2008, it was the last feudal state in Europe. In medieval times it was a haven for the pirates who ravaged shipping passing through the narrow gap between Britain and France, and then Queen Elizabeth I gave the land to settlers from the larger island of Jersey on condition that they got rid of the pirates. That was in 1565, and the result was SarkƵs unique system of government.
The islandƵs parliament is called ƵChief Pleas.Ƶ It has 18 members, called conseillers, and a speaker while the titular head of government is called the ƵSeigneurƵ or, if it is a woman, the ƵDame.Ƶ Service as a conseiller is voluntary and the members of the Chief Pleas are unpaid.
Even though those who govern the island are unpaid, there are still costs to be met because there are private medical and education systems as well as an electricity-generating company. It is estimated that these cost around $1.8 million a year, and much of this income is generated to a large extent by tourism. The island receives more than 60,000 tourists each year, some of whom come simply to gaze at the night sky because the lack of ambient lighting means that millions of stars are visible. In fact, the sky is so clear on Sark that in 2011 it was officially designated EuropeƵs first International Dark Sky Community.
How do the tourists get there? There is no airport and there are no planes on the island; in fact, aircraft cannot fly over it at less than 2,400 feet. Transport is usually by ferry, small ones in the winter and a high speed one in the summer. They usually travel the nine miles to and from the nearby, bigger, island of Guernsey, although it is possible to get a boat to Alderney, another small island.
The ferries also provide another service. Law enforcement is carried out by a very small police force and the islandƵs jail has only two cells. By Sark law anyone arrested for misbehaving there can only be held in these for a maximum of 72 hours, after this they are transported to Guernsey.
Ƶ I said, there are no cars on Sark. There are two ambulances, but the part where the driver usually sits has been removed and the remainder of the vehicle is pulled by a tractor. Serious cases can be transferred to Guernsey by a high-speed marine rescue launch. The same situation exists for the islandƵs fire and rescue service, which has two fire trucks and a trailer, all of which are pulled by tractors.
The island has one doctor and both he, and the emergency responders, move around on electric powered bicycles. Anyone else who wants to get from place to place on the island can walk, hire a bicycle or take one of the horse-drawn carriages, safe in the knowledge that, by law, the driver of the vehicle must have had at least 10 days work experience and has to be at least 16 years old.
Unfortunately, IƵve never had the opportunity to visit Sark, nor any of the other Channel islands. I have seen them in the distance whilst taking a ferry to France and would like to sample what seems like the quiet, peaceful lifestyle on the island Ƶ but the world is a big place and there are so many other places I would like to see. That being so, I fear the chances of me taking a horse-drawn buggy ride to study the stars shining on Sark are remote.
Derek Coleman is a part-time writer who is a native of England and who now lives in Hurricane, W.Va. He can be reached at tallderek@hotmail.com.
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