Portbail delegatation visit strengthens island links

LINKS between Sark and Portbail were further strengthened last month when a delegation from the small Normandy port spent a day in the island.

Among the delegation were several members of the Portbail and Carteret area local government and they were particularly interested in a visit to the Chief Pleas Assembly Room when Seneschal Reg Guille gave a short explanation of how the island's legislature operates.

They later visited the Island Hall before lunching with Sark officials and a number of members of Chief Pleas.

Conseiller Michelle Perree later told a meeting of Sark's Chamber of Commerce that while a formal twinning arrangement was not yet being pursued there were exploratory discussions taking place in relation to links between island children and those from Portbail, as well as commercial links.

The timing of the visit was particularly pertinent because the Manche Iles service from Jersey started on Tuesday and the shipping company plans a number of departures from Gorey - as well as the more frequent services from St Helier Harbour - during the season.

The first of the Gorey runs is scheduled for Wednesday 20 April. The effective reopening of Gorey - and with it Customs and Immigration facilities - could be significant for Sark because it appears that the vessel being used will be the one coming from Carteret, which is just a short drive from Portbail. Additionally, Manche Iles also intends to lay on coach transfers from St Helier to Gorey on the days the Sark service comes from the east coast harbour, thus linking it to the service from Granville to St Helier.

While the frequency of the Manche Iles scheduled sailings this year does not match that of two years ago, Sark businesses have praised the company for putting on more trips than in 2010.

The euro/sterling exchange rate favours French tourists coming to the island at present and most Sark traders say that business is invariably brisker on the days when Manche Iles runs its services.

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Further evidence (as if any is needed) that Sark residents, in common with other Channel Islanders, are as generous to overseas charities as they are to local ones came this week with the news that the Red Cross appeal for victims of the earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan - and the even more devastating tsunami in the latter - was boosted by more than £700 following one of Zoe Adams' jumble sales.

That figure will be further increased after today, with Sark School's No Talking Day. No talking, by either pupils or staff, is being allowed between 8.45am and noon and again between 1.20pm and 3.30pm. Anyone who breaks the rule will be fined 50p and the whole event is being sponsored by many island residents.

Most people think it's a great idea and yet another example of how one of the best of Sark traditions - thinking about others - is being passed on to yet another generation. Well done to everyone involved.

However, I'm told that the idea did not come from Chief Pleas, despite the fact that many people believe that its members have been holding what are close to No Talking Days four times a year for the last couple of years.

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Sark's programme for the royal wedding celebrations on 29 April have been announced. Anyone wanting to see the ceremony on the Island Hall's big screen can do so from 10.30am - that's adults and quiet children, so I'm told - while there will be a street party outside from 2pm to 4.30pm. That evening, there will be a disco and live music at the hall with a buffet, although drinks will have to be paid for.

By way of a postscript, I have just been told that Sark Shipping is having an open meeting for Sark residents at the Island Hall at 6pm on Tuesday. The latest accounts are available from the Chief Pleas committee secretary.

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