A Wandering Botanist: Travel Story--The Isle of Jersey

Sunday, October 4, 2026

Travel Story--The Isle of Jersey

We flew to Jersey, between England and France, on a very short flight from Southampton, England.

Jersey from the air

The largest of the Channel Islands at 45 square miles, Jersey is a pretty island with long sandy beaches

and scenic rocks and cliffs

The temperatures are mild, making it a beach resort for England and beyond.

They can grow big palm trees

Frosts are rare and very light, comparable perhaps to southernmost Florida. But the summers are traditionally cool, highs 66-77 F, with cooler nights, due to the influence of the surrounding ocean. (Recent heatwaves affecting Europe have set records for heat on Jersey too.) Rainfall is about 34" a year, especially in winter. I saw small storms come and go during the day.

The wild vegetation on the headlands looked like Britain:

heather (Calluna vulgaris)

gorse (Ulex europaeus)

brambles (Rubus species)

Jersey is part of the British Isles but not of either England or Great Britain. It is a British Crown Dependency, reporting to the King of England and letting England represent it internationally and militarily, but with its own government (parliament, the States), currency, and judicial system. The relationship began when England lost Normandy to France in the 1200s. The Channel Islands remained with England and worked out distinct separate arrangements that remain in place.

The center of the island had pastures with Jersey cows, carefully bred and a source of great pride.

Houses along the beach

One of several castles:

The history was very interesting and complex. Visits by Neanderthals when low water connected it to the mainland of Europe. Prehistoric sites. Celtic and medieval artifacts and ruins.

Grosnez Castle, 14th Century

And over it all, the stamp of the occupation of Jersey in 1940-1945 by Nazi Germany. The Nazis spent the time fortifying the island, especially underground, using captured soldiers as slave labor. The Nazis left but their extensive works remain. Maybe a lot have been removed, but they are still visible in many places. The Jersey War Tunnels is an underground complex and a memorial: very interesting, challenging ("What would you have done?" they ask) and a moving memorial to the people of the island.

Jersey War Tunnel: looking down a hall

I was born in New Jersey and never really thought about the name. This is the Jersey that my birthstate is the New of. Sir George de Carteret (1610-1680, interesting guy: link) part of a noble family holding much of the Channel Islands, stayed a loyal supporter of Charles II through his exile. So, when Charles returned to the throne of England and received large parts of the Atlantic Seaboard in North America as part of a settlement with the Dutch, he granted big pieces to Sir George, and it was renamed New Jersey (from New Netherlands) as fitting for a major landowner on Jersey. He never visited New Jersey.

Since I was visiting Jersey, I specifically wanted to see Jersey kale (link) the cabbage plants that grow 8 feet tall in the mild climate. But the one place that advertised canes from Jersey kale was closed while I was there and the tour bus driver said nobody grows them today. A pity.

A few more photos