Dronelife - Jersey - My Home from Home - Noirmont
📸 Camera: DJI Mavic Pro (+ Polar Pro ND Lenses)
🌐 Location: Jersey, Channel Islands
Jersey Channel Island Blog Series - My home from home
I recently wrote about a great hideaway on Jersey called Ouaisné Bay. Today I want to mention a nearby place of interest for its mini lighthouse and WW2 history. Noirmont headland to the south west of Jersey is a fairly wild part of the island, with nice walks through grassland and some wooded areas. The lighthouse is actually an old Martello Tower that has been repurposed - it's real name 'La Tour de Vinde'. It's just absolutely picture perfect!
The main attraction here though is Battery Lothringen. This is a German WW2 base and coastal artillery battery built during the Occupation of the Channel Islands and was part of the 'Atlantic Wall', an extensive set of coastal fortifications built by the Germans to repel an allied attack. These large concrete towers (Marine Pelistand towers) were built strategically around the island so the defenders could have a full view of the full coastal waters. The towers would have originally housed optical equipment to accurately measure distances to incoming enemy warships. The more of these Marine Pelistand towers that could view a target, the more accurate the location for artillery bombardment.
Around Battery Lothringen you will see all kinds of relics, from gun emplacements to barracks and there is so much to look at and search for. On some days you can take a tour into the extensive tunnels here that lead to other positions, such as the defensive lookout shown in the image below.
During the occupation, the German army (assisted by forced labour) put a lot of effort into fortifying Jersey and you will see brutal concrete structures everywhere - some are now cafes!. That is why Jersey is also referred to as 'Fortress Island'. The WW2 history of this island is absolutely fascinating and well worth reading up on.
Unfortunately, in this part of the island there are no epic beaches and the coastline is mostly rocky and the waves are high energy. A great place to fly around though! Next time I visit I intend to fly the drone down to the bottom of the cliffs as I've found out that after the occupation, many of the huge guns were ripped out and thrown into the sea here. So you can see them at low tide!
I hope you have enjoyed the images an the information on this small part of an interesting and vibrant island!
That is so cool, Jersey is definitely on my wish list for a future trip!
I'd recommend it for sure, its great in the summer when the weather is good :)
A fascinating place to see from your drone.