'bye to Granny Alice

THE doyenne of Sark's charity workers and fund-raisers, 'Granny' Alice de Carteret, died last week at the age of 93.

Mrs de Carteret, known throughout Sark and probably well beyond these shores as Granny Alice, was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1990s for her services to charity and the island community.

And to the obvious delight of everyone who knew her, Granny Alice's fund-raising continued after her death.

At her own wish, a raffle and charity auction was held immediately after her funeral on Easter Monday and it raised close to £1,000.

Not surprisingly, it was standing room only for the service at St Peter's Church. Tributes were paid by Methodist pastor Roger Browning and Anglican minister the Rev. Graham Leworthy. Both emphasised Mrs de Carteret's caring nature and her sense of fun.

There was reference also to her family – five children, 10 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. As someone remarked to me as we left the service, there aren't many people who have a grand-daughter who is herself a grandmother.

And in a lovely tribute to Granny Alice, another grand-daughter, Michelle Forsyth, spoke eloquently of her grandmother's love for her family.

Mr Leworthy referred to a telephone call he had received from former Lieut-Governor Sir John Coward, just before leaving home, who recalled the visit of the Prince of Wales at which he invested Mrs de Carteret with her MBE.

'And how did you get here?' asked Prince Charles as he made the presentation.

'On me bike, sir,' replied Granny Alice.

As Pastor Browning said, we all have memories of Granny Alice that have added to the richness of our lives.

The two charities most closely associated with Mrs de Carteret were the British Red Cross – which means so much to Channel Islanders who lived through the dark years of the Occupation – and Sark's principal charity, the Professor Saint Fund, which subsidises the cost of prescribed medication to island residents.

I have no idea how the incredible amount of money raised at Mrs de Carteret's wake will be used, but it would not surprise me if those charities benefit. What is pleasing to report is that, yet again, the caring side of this small community rises to the surface – a fitting legacy, if a relative newcomer is permitted to say so, to a quite remarkable daughter of Sark.

Drawing on my own experience of children and grandchildren, if there's one thing that can be almost guaranteed, it is that kids are happy when they are playing with water or simply getting wet.That was certainly true on Good Friday morning when, in keeping with an established Sark tradition, the island's children gathered at the duck pond near the former Beauregard Hotel to sail their model boats.

Scores of them turned out on what must have been one of the coldest Good Friday mornings in years, but the low temperature – made much worse by a biting wind – certainly did not deter them.

The craft they had brought with them were many and varied with some quite clearly the product of many hours of work.

There were occasions when I wondered who was having the most fun – fathers or their kids.

That said, it is a splendid tradition and part of what makes Sark one of the best places in which to raise a family.

The Easter meeting of Chief Pleas should have been and gone by the time this is published, although the sheer length and complexity of the agenda could mean the sitting continues into a second day.With a bit of luck, not to mention some firm handling from the chair, there will be fewer of the personal undercurrents, which, according to some members and several of those who attend the sittings on a regular basis, there have been too much of recently.

No doubt I will get into bother again for expressing an opinion but I have always thought government is about policies – what is being said rather than who is saying it.

On that subject, I now hold the rare distinction of having been criticised in the January edition of La Vouair de Sercq and in the latest edition of the Sark News, which emanates from our neighbours in Brecqhou.

I shan't lose any sleep over either piece but instead will take comfort that almost simultaneous criticism in both publications could mean I'm getting it just about right.

* The email address for comment is fallesark@sark.net