Sheep ready to race

IT SEEMS that no sooner has Sark got over the immensely successful Folk Festival than the island is gearing itself up for the next big event – the annual Sheep Race Meeting.

The weekend starts with a party night on the Friday evening – 22 July – with music from 7pm until late, but I have no doubt that there with be lots else going on as well.

On the Saturday, the first part of the programme is the fancy dress parade, which starts from La Collenette at 11.45am and makes its way up The Avenue to the Millennium Field. No doubt there will be the usual mixture of traditional and topical, with some entries with a political message falling into both categories.

The first sheep race starts shortly after the parade ends and the usual course amenities – a euphemism for describing the opportunity to have a bet when such activities were illegal – will be available.

There’s live music again on the Saturday evening and another full programme of racing on the Sunday afternoon. All in all, an excellent weekend of fun and probably a few laughs as well – and it’s all in aid of Sark’s principal charity, the Professor Charles Saint Medical Trust, which subsidises the cost of prescribed medication for island residents.

Something else well worth doing for those visiting Sark is a tour of the lighthouse, which is built high on the cliffs on the east coast of the island. Trevor Kendall is the guide and given that he changes the occasional bulb, there’s probably no one better placed.

Because of the nature of the building, space on these tours – they’re on 21 and 28 July and 2, 9, 16 and 23 August – really is limited, so it’s advisable to book in advance with the Tourism Committee’s Visitor Centre.

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Chief Pleas came and went at its now customary speed last week. Here we are, the better part of three years into our all-singing, all-dancing new democratic form of government and its members have scarcely sat in the Assembly Room long enough to warm the seats.

Still, it was pleasing to note that the vin d’honneur they held after the sitting quite properly recognised the huge contribution made over the years by Sark’s police officers, the constables and vingteniers, by presenting them with a certificate of service and a lapel pin.

The other group recognised was Sark’s Island Games team, which yet again proved to be splendid ambassadors for the island.

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While I’m about it, also worthy of recognition this week is Sark resident Margaret Mallinson. Dave Melling, who is in charge of Sark’s ambulance service, told me earlier this week that she had donated £100 towards providing equipment for the ambulance, which she raised by knitting mobile phone covers and selling them courtesy of the Island Hall management.

It’s not her first donation – the total is over £560 – and given that it costs more than £3,000 to equip the vehicle it is extremely welcome, as would be any other donations lobbed in Conseiller Melling’s direction.

Talking of conseillers, I am told – because I wasn’t able to attend the last sitting – that some of them still have difficulty in pronouncing their own titles, preferring instead to refer to councillors. Similarly, some have difficulty pronouncing Conseiller Christine Audrain’s surname.

I’d have thought that the easiest way to overcome these difficulties was to learn the first and ask the lady herself for the correct pronunciation. She hails from the north of England but managed to learn it, so why can’t they?

(from GEP)