A Place of Solace: Alderney, Channel Islands
Floating between England and France, with a population hovering around 2,000 people, Alderney is the kind of place where front doors remain unlocked and cows walk up to your doorstep. It’s also where one photographer found herself isolating during the peak of the pandemic.
04 August, 2020
Ram
Dass said: “if you think you are enlightened, then go spend
a week with your family.”
It’s week 20 of being isolated with my family on Alderney, a
Channel Island barely touched by COVID-19. It’s something that none
of us anticipated, but I’m using this time to reconnect with them,
with myself and with nature.
Floating between England and France, with a population hovering
around 2,000 people, Alderney is the kind of place where front
doors remain unlocked and homegrown vegetables are left out for
passing neighbours. Cow walk up to your doorstep while iron age
pigs bask in the sun, mere metres from Shetland ponies, horses and
donkeys.
This is a place of bohemians, bankers and barn dances.
Fishermen’s cottages rub shoulders with Roman fortresses. Days on
vast, empty beaches give way to evenings cosied up by the Aga or
gathering in the orangery at the local pub. Julie Andrews once
said: “When there is rain in England, you can count on the sun in
Alderney.”
Above all, this is a place where people look out for each other.
Rainbow flags line the coastline, the queer community is strong
here. I ask a gentleman and his husband I frequently pass walking
their dog on the beach why he thinks it’s so. “isn’t it obvious?”
he replies. “We feel safe.”
And thats exactly it. Why they’re here, i’m here, and why you’ll
probably visit here – it is a place of solace, a place of
community. I’ve spent the last 10 years galavanting between major
cities. Have I just lost my sense community – of reality?
Despite the geographical isolation, islanders feel the
reverberations of the current health and social crises rippling
across the Channel. They remain informed, aware and educated. They
feel the existential shift. It’s in this climate that, now more
than ever, I think those living on Alderney have a true
understanding of a quality of life. They grow what they eat, spend
more time with their families than on their phones, more time
indoors than out, and care for each other through daily acts of
kindness. This island is my solace.
A Place of Solace: Alderney, Channel Islands
