Untimely infringement fine!!

[Auld Bassoon]

I don't know if anyone else here comes from the Channel Islands, but I grew up, largely, in Jersey.

In common with the larger islands (Jersey & Guernsey), there are two different police forces; one, the regular police and, the other, the Honorary police.

Having something of a feudal history, Jersey has 12 parishes, and each one has a "Connetable" (Constable) and, in sequence, a Centenier (nominally in charge of 100 men), a Vinghtenier, with 20 men, and then the hoi polloi; all of whom are elected. None of these Honorary police has a uniform, but - only they have the power of arrest! If the regular police want to arrest someone, they have to get the Constable or Centenier of the parish in which the alleged offence took place to authorise that arrest. Makes for some curious pantomimes, I'd imagine...

A key point: being volunteers of good standing, the majority of Honrary police hale from the farming community.

Anyway, the honorary police also have traffic duties (the mind quietly boggles, but there you go...). During major public holidays, especially Christmas / New Year, said honoraries have an alarming tendency(generally after suitable refreshment at a local pub, something that farming types have a tendency to do - there anyway!), to congregate in hedges around the countryside, and then leap out into the road in front of unsuspecting motorists, one hand firmly clutching their little enamel lapel badges of office, and the other indicating their wish for said motorist to stop. I don't think that they'd heard of a gentlemen by the name of "Buckley"...

Well, you can imagine! Unless one is familiar with the ground rules here, or actually knows the lunatic who's just leaped into the road in front of you, there is a certain tendency to swerve around the bugger, probably telling the oaf to be a bit more friggin' careful...

Mind you, it was surprising how many they managed to catch, mostly doing what they oughtn't be doing - toio fast, too slow, bald tyres, or as pi$$ed as they were /

On the plus side, at least when I was growing up there, most of the honoraries knew the great majority of people who lived in their "patch", and one was more likely to get a clip around the ear and a "watch yourself, or I'll have a word with your father" - an altogether more ominous threat than a mere fine, let me tell you!

Of course, such methods work well in small communities, but probably wouldn't work very well in larger ones, never mind cities.

Sorry for blathering on so...

Cheers!

[jow104]

I imagine during the period 1940 to 1945 things didn't work that way though

[mutanti]

Hey DANP Havnt seen the worlds worst hoon latley.
Its seems safe to walk the dog down the street.
Im guessing he's walking now for quite some time..

[Auld Bassoon]

I imagine during the period 1940 to 1945 things didn't work that way though

G'day Jow,

Too True!

My father and grandparents had some intersting stories, but mostly not at all anti-German. In fact, although towards the end of the war, especially from November '44 through to May '45 (Liberation), most of the Whermacht soldiers were starving even more than the local folks (no imports, at all), so the farming communities, whilst struggling could, just, get by. Somewhere I have an old ration book from my grandmother, and for an adult it was something like 50gm margerine, 200gm bread, 200gm meat per week! These are entirely from memory, so could be very wrong, but I do recall looking at the food intake numbers and thinking, "how the blerry hell could anyone survive on that"...

What was very different, and something not all that many people know about, was the really quite large numbers of Eastern European and Russian PoWs that were brought to the islands from mid '43 and used as, quite literally, slave labour under the Todt organisation.

These "Death's Head" black-uniformed ******** were loathed just as much by the regular Whermacht as by anyone else.

These poor sods, who dies like flies in winter, built a number of roads, but also, and more importantly from the German point of view, a very large number of fortifications, underground C&C bunkers, underground hospitals (for the German troops, of course), munitions dumps, and Lords knows what.

I do know that in the early 60's some attempts were made to remove some of these monoliths, using commerical explosives, and whatnot. Didn't make a whit of difference. They're all still there.

As a lad, there were (and presumably still are) in St. Peter's Valley, and other places also, a huge number of tunnels; tunnels easily large enough to drive a truck into, hidden behind all sorts of camaflauged entrances. Boys, however, have a way of finding these things...

Unfortunately, I knew two lads who, in quite separate incidents, found their way in and also found, inter alia, some cases of munitions. Twenty-some year old munitions and small boys never was a happy mixture.

Many of these tunnels are now (or at least when I was last there) used as anything from mushroom farms (!), strawberry farms, or simply tourist attractions.

Cheers!

[Daddles]

So Steve, what were you drinking to bring on this thread? Hmmmmm?

Good premis for a novel though. Especially the honorary coppers of the inebriated variety.

Cheers
Richard

[craigb]

So Steve, what were you drinking to bring on this thread? Hmmmmm?

Good premis for a novel though. Especially the honorary coppers of the inebriated variety.

Cheers
Richard

I've been trying to figure out what exactly it had to do with being booked in Vic for being an unregistered driver? :confused: :confused:

[Daddles]

That's easy Craig. When you enter Victoria, you cross the reality divide

Richard

[RETIRED]

Better than the western side which is "The Twilight Zone"

[Daddles]

We're sunk. The biggest ratbag is the moderator

Richard

[DanP]

Hey DANP Havnt seen the worlds worst hoon latley.
Its seems safe to walk the dog down the street.
Im guessing he's walking now for quite some time..

It'll be a couple of years before you see him on the road (legally) again.

Dan

[silentC]

My wife has been to Jersey (her ex was born there). She's told me about the underground hospitals and the tunnels with mushroom farms etc. Her ex used to get into those tunnels too when he was a kid.

Funny place. Apparently you can't buy real estate unless you were born there - is that true? Wife's best mate was born there too and has family still there - she told me this but she's half Irish and so a bit mad.

[jow104]

My wife has been to Jersey (her ex was born there). She's told me about the underground hospitals and the tunnels with mushroom farms etc. Her ex used to get into those tunnels too when he was a kid.

Funny place. Apparently you can't buy real estate unless you were born there - is that true? Wife's best mate was born there too and has family still there - she told me this but she's half Irish and so a bit mad.

The last I heard as regards purchase of a residence was that aliens could not purchase less than £250.000 but that was many years ago. Most probably over one million now?
Money talks in Jersey

Dont know what happened to that driving thread

[AlexS]

Dont know what happened to that driving thread

Sorry mate, it didn't get a guernsey

[jow104]

Sorry mate, it didn't get a guernsey

Hi Alexs, I'm off to buy a new bandsaw today, big enough to rip through a railway sleeper.

[Iain]

aliens could not purchase less than £250.000 but that was many years ago.

Maybe the locals should be wearing foilies