Pub Walk 5 A Grouville Gander.pdf - Jersey

PUB WALKS
Summary
5
A Grouville Gander
Start the walk at The Seymour Inn,
a typical Jersey country pub with
the accent on fishing talk - people
here love to go low-water fishing on big
spring tides, walking out to Seymour
Tower, clearly visible 2 kms out to sea.
The pub serves a good pint and excellent food
and snacks. Walk inland along Seymour Place
and join the main road at the little chapel of
St Peter de la Rocque. Brent geese in winter
and Jersey cows can be seen in the marshy
fields around. The Jersey Eastern Railway
line passed this way until it closed in 1929.
Cross the main road by the cemetery -
notice the magnificent yew trees, reputed
to keep away bad spirits - and fork right at
the 1893 milestone.
Continue along the road, passing Grouville
Primary School on your right. The Pembroke
is just a little up the road on the left. Take the
first left upto the junction, turning right here.
You will pass the Beausite Hotel on your right.
(Walk now across the golf course to the sea).
Notice the statue of Harry Varden, the
famous Gorey golfer from the turn of the
19th/20th centuries.
For the most part in the
Parish of Grouville, the
walk is along country lanes
through outdoor tomato
fields, over high ground
with spectacular views of
Mont Orgueil Castle and
Grouville Bay, finishing with
a stroll along the beach,
tide permitting.
Distance: 5.5 miles/8.9 km
Attractions: Grouville
Refreshments: The Seymour
Inn and The Pembroke Hotel
Bus no’s: No 1 to the
Seymour Inn; No’s 1,1b and
2c to the Pembroke Hotel
Cross into Rue des Nouettes, then over the
main road after the greenhouses, up Rue
Crèvecoeur and past Grouville Mill, the oldest
of Jersey’s once 64 wind- and watermills,
now a shipping mark and house! The sails
were removed during the war to create an
observation tower. The next junction is known
as ‘La Croix de La Bataille’ recalling a bloody
battle against Spanish raiders in 1406. Turn
right to descend ‘Blood Hill’, (the lane, not
the main road), to Grouville Parish Hall, once
the parish school, and the shooting range
(shooting is one of the island’s major sports).
The pretty 11th century church of St Martin
de Grouville is a short distance to the right.
Cross the main road with care into La
Rue de Grouville, passing Home Farm
(1748) and a granite cottage from 1689.
Fork right along La Rue du Moulin de
Bas, passing the grassy retaining wall of
Queen’s Valley Reservoir (1991). There
is an attractive walk around the reservoir,
accessed from the next turning to the left.
Turn next right beyond Lower Mill and Les
Pres Manor, down the hill through Grouville
Marsh, a nature reserve and haven for
migrant birds. The island has over 120
species of resident or migrant birds.
This is common land, but the Greens
are sacrosanct! Turn right along the
promenade, or along the beach if the tide
permits to the first slipway (Le Hurel). The
slipways or Charrières’ are still used today
to bring seaweed (vraic) from the beach
for use as fertiliser on the potato fields.
Depending on the tide, walk along the
beach or the road back to the Seymour
Inn, passing a number of 18th century
coastal towers (properly called Conway
towers after the Governor of the time),
several now part of private houses.
Seymour Tower
1 Pub Walk 5 - A Grouville Gander

Maufant
Camping Site
Ransom’s
Garden
Centre
Faldouet
Dolmen
WC
NT
Anne Port
M
La Hougue Bie
WC
Queen's
Valley
Reservoir
Jersey
Pottery
Gorey
Village
WC
K
Gorey
WC
Gorey
Harbour
K
Fort William
GROUVILLE
Ville ès
Renauds
Millennium
Cross
The
Pembroke
Hotel
Fort Henry
ROYAL BAY
OF
GROUVILLE
Fauvic
F
Millennium
Stone
Le Hurel
Pontac
S
ais
WC
Le Hocq
Millennium
Cross
ST. CLEMENT'S BAY
La Rocque
DANGER LARGE TIDAL FLOW
Take care when walking at low tide
WC
La Rocque Harbour
2 Pub Walk 5 - A Grouville Gander