If you set foot on the cliff paths of Jersey’s north coast you should know that you’ll be in for a tough walk/jog/run.  The path sweeps from low to high and some of the climbs are fierce, even with the great work done down the years to provide steps in the steepest places.

However the weather was magnificent as I set off from White Rock with the French coast as clear as a bell; also the Ecrehous, the group of islets inhabited in the summer by a few fisherfolk.  The best-known resident was of course Alphonse Le Gastelois who lived in self-imposed exile there from 1961 to 1975.

Here’s a 20-minute interview with him recorded in 1968

The trot from White Rock to Bouley Bay is the easiest bit, though that’s not saying much.  Dropping down to the bay the sign of the Black Dog reminds me that I ought…