Siblings donate two Petit Bot plots to National Trust

The first site is a bluebell wood close to the Manor Hotel, and the second a furze break on the cliffs.

Dr Margaret Ainger and her brother Paul inherited the land after their mother passed away.

Dr Ainger said they felt privileged to help preserve some of Guernsey’s coastal beauty and believed her mother and grandparents would be pleased with the legacy.

‘Our motivation was to preserve these areas for the people and for wildlife,’ she said.

‘And perhaps to encourage others in a similar position to do the same.’

The woodland sits almost opposite where a major footpath emerges on to Rue des Croise.

Currently people have to walk up the road and round the bend at the end road opposite the Manor Hotel to rejoin the path.

‘If a footpath could be added through the donated land it would join up the paths’, said Dr Ainger.

The siblings visited Guernsey for holidays every summer as children and vividly remember playing on the steep sided site.

The land was originally bought by her grandparents, Bazil and Miriam Brehaut – horticulturalists who had also run a funeral service – as an investment.

The family lived at Rue des Landes and were active members of Forest Methodist Church.

There was originally a small cottage on the site that was left empty during the Occupation.

Dr Ainger said that her grandfather had written in his diaries that the house was raided by the Germans for its wood and it had been left derelict.

In the subsequent 78 years the site has been reclaimed by sycamore trees and bluebells.

Dr Ainger’s mother, Lois, had been evacuated from Guernsey when she was 11, with Dr Ainger’s grandparents making the difficult decision to remain on the island with their infant son.

‘It is another example of a family split by war. When my mum returned at the age of 16 she didn’t want to stay and returned to the UK, where she was one of the first women from the island to attend university.’

The trust will assess the site for a year and cap an open well before making firm decisions on its future.

The second site, a smaller furze break, is not accessible and trust president Mike Brown said they planned to leave that site to nature.

It is the second time in the last three months that the trust has been donated land by someone in the UK, who has inherited it.

Mr Brown said donations like this were invaluable as the trust’s funds could then be saved to look after the land in their care.

‘We, and I think the whole island, are very appreciative of these donations, as the whole island stands to benefit,' he said.