The Flag of Alderney was officially adopted on this date in 1993. 10 facts about Alderney:
It is the third largest of the Channel Islands after Jersey and Guernsey. It’s 3 miles (5 km) long and 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) wide. Its area is 3 square miles (8 km2).
It is the most northerly of the Channel Islands, 60 miles (100 km) from the south coast of Great Britain. It’s also the closest to France at 10 miles (15 km) to the west of the cape of La Hague on the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which is 20 miles (30 km) away.
It has one parish and one town, Saint Anne, which is referred to as 'The Town' by the locals. There is just one school, and no Traffic Lights or Roundabouts.
The Romans used Alderney as a staging post-en-route from Brittany to Great Britain using Longis Bay as their harbour. They called it Riduna.
The name Alderney or Aurigny (the French name for it) may be a corruption of Adreni or Alrene, which is probably derived from an Old Norse word meaning "island near the coast". Residents (around 2,141 of them in March 2021) are sometimes nicknamed vaques after the Cows, or lapins after the many Rabbits on the island.
As well as rabbits, the island is home to many Hedgehogs. Unlike in the rest of the UK, they have no natural predators here and are thriving. There is also a larger than usual number of blonde hedgehogs. Their colouring is caused by a recessive gene and they are rare elsewhere because they’re more easily spotted by predators. Legend has it that the first blonde hedgehogs arrived on the island in a Harrods carrier bag.
Alderney airport is the smallest in the Channel Islands. There are several flights each day from Southampton and Guernsey. If you need to pass the time waiting for a flight, you can help yourself from a box of unfinished Knitting projects which has been left at the airport.
During the second world war, knowing a German invasion was imminent and that defending the island wasn’t going to be possible, pretty much the entire population (1,400 at the time) was evacuated to Weymouth in the south of England official evacuation boats. German troops arrived to find a deserted island and proceeded to turn it into a fortress. It became part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall and was the location of two work camps and two concentration camps. At the end of the war when the residents came back, the Germans and the prisoners of war had all gone, but the fortifications and buildings remained as evidence of what had gone on during the occupation.
For centuries Alderney had its own dialect of the Norman language called Auregnais, which is now extinct. It was primarily a spoken language, so only a few known poems and written works using it exist.
The residents have a reputation for liking a drink, as do the tourists who visit, so natives of other Channel Islands sometimes call Alderney 'two thousand alcoholics, clinging to a rock.’
A Very Variant Christmas
Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.
The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?
Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.
Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.
Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.
Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.
Themes Christmas; superheroes; reunions; parties; life choices; shocking surprises; mistaken identity; kidnap and rescue.
Reasons not to read it
- It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
- It's a bit short. You could probably read it in one sitting.
- Most of the action takes place at a Christmas party. In a palace.
- It's all about Christmas but there doesn't seem to be a schmaltzy moral message.
- There are a couple of babies and some small children in it - and one nearly gets eaten.
- Santa appears in it, but he isn't really Santa.
- Superheroes. Again.
- Not to mention a whole bunch of super-villains. Again all new ones and not the ones we know from Marvel or DC.
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