Happy Liberation Day..

[Antonia]

....to those that know what the heck I'm on about.
To the other 99.9% here's a ten minute video on the history of a tiny corner of the British Isles that you might enjoy watching whilst drinking your morning coffee.



À bétôt

[Blaze]

I'm exhausted watching that, but thanks Antonia !
Jersey is a beautiful island but sadly very complex today. We discovered Jersey only 3 years ago when we went over to pick up a melodeon (the one in my avatar) from a native islander, who has now become a pal of ours. He says that today, only 30% of the population are "original" Jerseyans. From being an island with a mainly farming population, investment and rich incomers have changed many aspect of local life there.

But the scenery is stunning, undulating, incredibly green, with hedges and trees and a coastline ..... breathtaking, especially on the north coast.
I could go on .... but I won't, except to say that if you haven't been there, it's well worth a visit

[Antonia]

Well you and I might have something in common as I thought I recognised your Avatar. OH used to own one which he gave to a friend ( long dead ) before we left the island. I wonder how many Melodeons there were on Jersey.

[tagh]

What is the difference between a melodeon and and accordion?

[Antonia]

A Melodeon has buttons instead of keys like a piano ( hence piano accordion )

[Blaze]

What is the difference between a melodeon and and accordion?

@tagh Melodeons are what you see Morris dancers playing and accordions are what Jimmy Shand plays (he plays button and piano)

A simple explanation is that an accordion, whether button or piano tends to be chromatic, that is, you press a button or note and the sound stays the same whether you push or pull. (That said, there are diatonic accordions but they're less common in countries like France and the UK). A melodeon is diatonic, that is, when you press a note it has one sound when you push and another when you pull. A bit like a mouth organ (but there are chromatic mouth organs as well ...).
I play chromatic piano and button accordions and the melodeon, though it's the melodeon that has now taken over my life

@Antonia Our friend is an artist who also teaches in Gorey but he's also a very good musician.
Jersey is becoming more multi-cultural because many young people are leaving the island and foreigners are moving in, mostly for work. We liked the multi-cultural aspect of Portuguese and eastern European, plus they have a reputation for being hard workers. All the ones we met were very happy to be there. It made a strong contrast with the Range Rover/Porsche set .....

[tagh]

Wow, thank you so much, such knowledge. I shall go back to the comb and paper!

[Doug]

Sorry to hear that Jersey has changed so much, but then where hasn't.
Remember it still from 1961 when spent ten days there on my first marriage honeymoon, used to be called the honeymoon isle in those days, very quiet and beautiful.

[Blaze]

@Doug It still is beautiful and quiet out of holiday seasons. The narrow lanes are scary in a French car, but the speed limit is 40mph and we found the drivers very considerate. We were surprised by the number of Range Rovers, 4x4s and flat sporty things which looked very out of place.

[Antonia]

Young people have been leaving the island for decades I'm afraid. We were priced out of the island in 1989, moving to London because of it's more reasonable property prices
Since then we've only been back a few times, normally for funerals.
Jersey has always been very open to immigration. They know that without new blood the island will wither and die.
I'm actually going back this summer for the first time in 20 years. It'll be interesting to see how much it's changed.