JERSEY is being hailed as the new Thomas Hardy country in a feature in the Daily Mail today that followed the broadcast of the drama ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’ which went out nationally on ITV on Boxing Day.

Journalist Louise Roddon visited the Island in the autumn and wrote a full-page article, published today, in the newspaper which has a daily circulation figure of 2.34 million.

She described the Island as ‘gorgeous’, with ‘fresh-faced wenches’, ‘handsome farmers’ and ‘pretty picture landscapes’.

She stayed at the Longueville Manor Hotel and tried out a 12-mile ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’ walk from Devil’s Hole on the north coast ‘right down to the windswept expanses of La Pulente on the south-west tip’.

She also took an accompanied walk with Blue Badge guide Tom Bunting from Hamptonne, where much of the drama was filmed, down through Waterworks Valley.

The final paragraph of Ms Roddon’s article reads: ‘So does Jersey cut it as a little piece of Wessex? ‘To this fan it does, absolutely.

What are you waiting for? Go and explore under the greenwood of Jersey.’ Jersey Tourism spokeswoman Jenny Ellenger said that the drama had helped to raise the profile of the Island nationally.