Herm resident Kathryn Bailey, is currently spending the third year of her Spanish degree in Mexico.  As she was packing her bags last August for the year away she managed to find a tiny bit of space in her suitcase to pack a Herm flag.  She has been a Hermite for 17 of her 21 years so is proud to fly the flag for Herm!

The enormity of a country like Mexico is quite a contrast to Herm so in between studying Kathryn is exploring as much of it as she can. She returns to Herm in August before going back to Exeter University for the final year of her degree.

The Mermaid Tavern, Herm presents the second Real Ale & Cider Festival from midday 21st May – 27th May 2012.  Manager of The Mermaid Tavern, Tom Jones is looking forward to welcoming you to the festival when Liberation Ale and Herm’s own Island Gold brewed by Liberation Breweries will be available.  Patois brewed by Randalls will also be on sale along with ales from 37 different regions of England, Scotland and Wales. James Mellor of Rocquette Cider is brewing a batch of still cider specially for the festival and a range of ciders from Westons Cider in Herefordshire will be on sale 

From Wednesday to Sunday lunch there will be live music performed by Guernsey Fold & Jazz bands and themed food nights.  Please see the download below for more information.

Real Ale & Cider Festival The Mermaid Tavern.pdf (1.39 mb)

The rain held off and the sun came out for the fifty-three walkers who took part in the Herm World Aid Walk on Bank Holiday Monday 7th May.  There was a happy atmosphere at Herm harbour as the participants started the 5.25 mile figure eight route around the island.  Some of the walkers came across on the 08.30 boat from Guernsey and Travel Trident donated half of their fare to the six World Aid Walk charities.  The rest of the walkers were made up of Herm residents, guests staying at the White House Hotel or holiday cottages and campers.  So far the 53 walkers have pledged to raise over £1000 for World Aid Walk.  A brilliant amount – well done and thank you to all those who took part. 

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To read more about the charities which will benefit from the money raised by the Guernsey, Herm and Sark World Aid Walks click here:  http://www.worldaidwalk.org.gg/

http://www.facebook.com/WorldAidWalk

Rosie Wheeler became the first ever lady to represent Herm in the Channel Island darts championships.   Despite playing well she she lost 3/0 to the eventual winner Jenna Avril of Jersey.  Rosie was selected to represent Herm after winning the ladies tournament which took place over the winter at The Mermaid Tavern.

   The male representative for Herm was Mike Rowe   Mike is often  known on Herm as The Fish because of his passion for fishing from his boat.  He is also very talented at darts and his name usually appears on the darts trophy which is played for on Herm each winter.  Mike played his usual high standard and made it to the final in a match which was played at the Peninsula Hotel, Guernsey.  He made it to the final but narrowly lost out to Eddie Le Bailly of Jersey.  It was a close match with just one leg separating them at the end with the final score 3/2 in favour of Jersey.

The Herm bees are now in their 4th year of production and when the Herm honey is on sale in the Herm Gift Shops it disappears off the shelves very quickly.  Ben Makemson (his day job is island maintenance engineer, helping keep plumbing, electrics and the internet running smoothly) is in charge of the bees.  This winter he has had the help of 15 year-old Hermite Will Knight who has taken on the skill of learning beekeeping for his bronze  Duke of Edinburgh award. 

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During the winter months we get the occasional day when strong winds blow  and no boats are able to run between Guernsey and Herm.  It is very unusual for this to happen when the island is open for the season but today is an unusual day – NO boats!  A handful of guests are stranded at The White House Hotel but as they realise that it is completely beyond their control and that there is nothing they can do about it they are enjoying an extra twenty-four hours of rest and relaxation.

The weather has been very changeable today.  One minute glorious sunshine and the next torrential downpours.

The 2nd Herm World Aid Walk will take place on Bank Holiday Monday 7th May 2012.  So far thirty walkers from Guernsey have registered.  Last year 38 people took part for the inaugural Herm World Aid Walk which takes place at the same time as the Guernsey walk.  For more information on how to enter the Herm World Aid Walk please see the website http://www.worldaidwalk.org.gg/?page_id=52

http://www.facebook.com/WorldAidWalk

Every Tuesday from now until 11th September 2012 Herm’s head gardener, Brett Moore, will lead a guided walk of the Herm gardens.  This week the walk was part of the Spring Floral Guernsey Festival http://www.floralguernsey.gg Six hardy garden enthusiasts braved the choppy sea and joined Brett on his walk around the gardens of The White House Hotel, up the hill through the woodland walk and then into the gardener’s nursery. 

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For more information about the garden walks on Herm click here http://herm.com/activities/herm-garden-tours/default.aspx

Dominating the Guernsey news recently has been the general election which took place on April 18th 2012.  Herm come under the parish of St. Peter Port South but for those Hermites who hadn’t registered for a postal vote it meant a trip to Guernsey to the polling station. 

When you live on an island things aren’t always so straightforward.  The weather on voting day was south westerly winds blowing up to force 8/9 which meant that Travel Trident only had one sailing across to Herm.  By late afternoon the wind had changed to a westerly and calmed down slightly so four Hermites keen to use their votes made a special trip to St. Peter Port on the island boat ‘Little Herm’. 

All the Herm children were late for school on the first day of the summer term.  The six students (pictured left) who weekly board usually get an early boat so that they arrive at school in time for registration.  This morning the wind was too strong and the sea too rough for the boat to cross the Little Russell at 7.30am.  Three hours later the wind had calmed so they didn’t miss too much school.

The eight children who go to Herm school had a late start too as they had to wait for their teacher to arrive.  Mrs Carey comes to Herm each day from Guernsey.