This Is Jersey

LES Mielles makes up the western coast of Jersey, an area of mainly sand dunes and marram grass between the seashore of St Ouen’s Bay and the top of the escarpment; from L’Etacq, with its ancient farms and fields of potatoes, to La Pulente, bordering the Five-Mile (8 km) Beach, after which the much shorter road is named.

The name Les Mielles comes from the Old Norse ‘mjelr’, a sand dune. Originally part of the French mainland, the remains of fossilised trees and ancient peat beds revealed by exceptional tides gave rise to many of the later legends of sunken manor houses and sea-drowned forests.

The wild dunes of Blanches Banques, with their ancient stone menhirs, led to tales of witches and black magic. The sand dunes, as the area is more popularly known, are defined by the huge seawalls that keep out the depredations of the rolling surf and have allowed the development of grasses and plants on the sand.

Before the first walls were built, to defend the Island against French attack, the dunes ran down to the beach and high tides and strong winds created the dune landscape; dunes so high that the sand from their tops was carried over to the streams running down into St Aubin.

The long flat beach is seen as a great landing place for invading forces and the constant fear of attack leads to the building of sea defences around the island, including La Rocco and other towers at St Ouen.

In later times, the sand dunes are often used as training grounds for the Jersey Militia but in calmer times, between the First and Second World Wars, a rash of wooden summer chalets are built and local families take to weekending in the west and try out the new sport of surfing.

Motor racing, sand racing, sand yachting, cycling and running all become - and some remain - popular sports in the bay.

After the German Occupation, which left its own legacy in the extended and strengthened sea defences, the sand dunes returned to their primary role in Jersey eyes, especially as local families acquired their first motor car, as the place for picnics and long summer days.

Hotels and housing increased and there was every likelihood that the whole area would disappear under housing - except that in 1937 arriving and departing aircraft finally left their tide tables at home and moved to the new airport.

The sound of aircraft low overhead was never going to be conducive to a quiet family life and may have, with the soft sand of the dunes, helped to preserve what was left of the dunes from building development.

And from the Fifties onwards, certain people were already voicing their concerns about the ongoing destruction of the dunes and by the 1970s the belief that the ease of driving your car over the dunes to your favourite picnic spot should be subjugated to the communal need to save the Island’s last few wild areas became more generally acceptable. The decision to designate the dunelands as a site of special interest (SSI) in 1978 led to the restoration of La Mielle de Morville as it is today, a mature dune grassland.

Les Blanches Banques, then heavily eroded by sand-surfers, motorbikes and cars, were slowly brought back to a healthy and viable state and sensitive natural habitats were protected.

As part of this, the education of the people who used the area on why areas had to be temporarily fenced off and replanted was essential and in 1985 the Frances Le Sueur Centre at Kempt Tower was opened and an educational officer appointed.

From this, the last fragments of the unique landscape of the island’s west coat was saved and a number of buildings, including one of the Island’s key landmark buildings, La Rocco Tower, were restored.

There have been failures, among them the development of golf as a leisure activity in the area and the continued approval of residential development and ‘improvements’ out of keeping with the overall landscape.

One perceived failure might, however, also be seen to be one of Les Mielles’ greatest successes - the lack of people using the dunes.

Compared with the packed picnic site of 30 years ago, Les Mielles today often appears relatively empty and lacking in people taking advantage of the freedom to enjoy the area.

But then, that is its greatest charm.