To Guernsey
Jun 30, 2026 · 26 min · 10 segments
An account of our recent holiday in Guernsey - where I was, of course, constantly thinking about the CS and EBD. Kit, not so much. Transcript available at…
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Jun 30, 2026 · 26 min · 10 segments
An account of our recent holiday in Guernsey - where I was, of course, constantly thinking about the CS and EBD. Kit, not so much. Transcript available at…
After our trip to Austria last year, we intended to do a similar trip to Interlaken in Switzerland for our 2026 summer holiday, but we left it too late.
EBD herself holidayed in Guernsey early in the 1920s, probably 1923, and set seven books either wholly or partly on the island.
Heather Raphael and her family return home by boat to Southampton, but Weymouth to St. Peter Port is the usual crossing in the world of EBD.
Kit and I had no desire to drive to the South Coast, so getting there by train would be nice and authentic, but the boat connection no longer departs from Weymouth.
The choices in 2026 are a three-hour crossing from Poole or an overnight crossing from Portsmouth.
At least one set of guests at Janie Temple's wedding arrived at St. Peter Port on the early boat, which I'm interpreting as an overnight crossing, so this felt appropriate.
The overnight boat departs at 8:00 PM, so I had happy visions of us sailing out of Portsmouth Harbor, looking at familiar landmarks in the evening sunshine.
To arrive at the Portsmouth terminal in good time for check-in meant a train journey which started at Rugby, change at Coventry, change at Southampton.
Get off the train at Portsmouth and Southsea, not Portsmouth Harbor, because reasons, and then either walk for 20 minutes or get a taxi to the ferry terminal.
We got a taxi, so we arrived at the ferry terminal with a couple of hours to spare.
This didn't get us onto the boat any quicker, but it did give Kit time to pick up a tourist leaflet in Spanish for Portsmouth, and I bought myself a chicken Caesar salad, because at some point I would need some dinner.
I had booked a superior cabin with twin beds, and it was right at the front, although not actually in the bows because there was some deck below and in front of us.
As we trundled our cases to our cabin, the captain's voice over the sound system welcomed us aboard.
"The forecast is quite breezy, and there's a bit of a swell," he said, "so you may notice some movement." I was immediately on the alert.
Anybody who has read The Maids of La Rochelle knows that the crossing to Guernsey can easily become a near-death experience, thanks to extreme seasickness.
Quells was of course known to EBD, as Felix Maynard is supposed to take it before getting in the minibus to travel from Switzerland to Austria, and doesn't.
But this was in the 1950s, and I have to assume that Quells had not been invented in time to save the young Janie Temple in the early 1920s.
Quells' own website is no help at all on this, because it says that Quells has been an over-the-counter travel sickness remedy for UK travelers for over three decades, and although three decades ought to see us back to the 1950s, in fact, it only takes us back to the 1990s.
The website also says the tablets melt in the mouth, which means I have been using them wrongly because I knock one back with water.
After our trip to Austria last year, we intended to do a similar trip to Interlaken in Switzerland for our 2026 summer holiday, but we left it too late.
EBD herself holidayed in Guernsey early in the 1920s, probably 1923, and set seven books either wholly or partly on the island.
Heather Raphael and her family return home by boat to Southampton, but Weymouth to St. Peter Port is the usual crossing in the world of EBD.
Kit and I had no desire to drive to the South Coast, so getting there by train would be nice and authentic, but the boat connection no longer departs from Weymouth.
The choices in 2026 are a three-hour crossing from Poole or an overnight crossing from Portsmouth.
At least one set of guests at Janie Temple's wedding arrived at St. Peter Port on the early boat, which I'm interpreting as an overnight crossing, so this felt appropriate.
The overnight boat departs at 8:00 PM, so I had happy visions of us sailing out of Portsmouth Harbor, looking at familiar landmarks in the evening sunshine.
To arrive at the Portsmouth terminal in good time for check-in meant a train journey which started at Rugby, change at Coventry, change at Southampton.
Get off the train at Portsmouth and Southsea, not Portsmouth Harbor, because reasons, and then either walk for 20 minutes or get a taxi to the ferry terminal.
We got a taxi, so we arrived at the ferry terminal with a couple of hours to spare.
This didn't get us onto the boat any quicker, but it did give Kit time to pick up a tourist leaflet in Spanish for Portsmouth, and I bought myself a chicken Caesar salad, because at some point I would need some dinner.
I had booked a superior cabin with twin beds, and it was right at the front, although not actually in the bows because there was some deck below and in front of us.
As we trundled our cases to our cabin, the captain's voice over the sound system welcomed us aboard.
"The forecast is quite breezy, and there's a bit of a swell," he said, "so you may notice some movement." I was immediately on the alert.
Anybody who has read The Maids of La Rochelle knows that the crossing to Guernsey can easily become a near-death experience, thanks to extreme seasickness.
Quells was of course known to EBD, as Felix Maynard is supposed to take it before getting in the minibus to travel from Switzerland to Austria, and doesn't.
But this was in the 1950s, and I have to assume that Quells had not been invented in time to save the young Janie Temple in the early 1920s.
Quells' own website is no help at all on this, because it says that Quells has been an over-the-counter travel sickness remedy for UK travelers for over three decades, and although three decades ought to see us back to the 1950s, in fact, it only takes us back to the 1990s.
The website also says the tablets melt in the mouth, which means I have been using them wrongly because I knock one back with water.
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