Lines on the Sand
October 2019 marks the 10 year anniversary of THE Line In the SanD demonstration.
This saw 7000 islanders protesting against excessive coastal development by forming a human chain along St Ouen’s Bay.
According to the National Trust’s Mike Stentiford, the protest made ‘quite a statement’, and it’s hard to disagree. The Line in the Sand was an important call to arms, a clear signal sent to the States that islanders cared passionately about their coastline and were concerned that it was being ruined by speculative developers and inappropriate construction.
The Line made its mark. Two years later saw the creation of the Jersey Coastal National Park, an area that now covers 1,900 hectares (roughly 16 per cent of the Island’s land mass) that is firmly embedded within the Island Plan, and within which which any development is strictly regulated.
As an islander, Paul Bisson remains grateful to the National Trust and all who took – and continue to take – a stand against the erosion of Jersey’s natural treasures. It’s a sentiment shared by all on the Jersey Festival of Words team, and when the suggestion was made that they support the Line in the Sand’s ten year anniversary celebrations – falling on October 4th, a week after this year’s festival – it was met with huge enthusiasm.
So what could we do? Well…this.
The Lines On the Sand project is simple in its ambition: the creation of an online gallery to encourage, celebrate and share students’ creative work inspired by the beauty, power and vulnerability of our coastline.
In execution, however, it’s take some doing! They’ve been blessed from the offset by our close association with project partners Nexus Technology Jersey, who – in collaboration with local web design firm The Collective – have been working hard to create the website that we look forward to presenting to you this October.
Along with Paul’s fellow Highlands English teacher and Festival committee member Simon MacDonald, he says he is hugely indebted to the school teachers and students who have provided them with their initial original content including class poems, musical pieces and artwork, all of which has been captured on film and will populate the site upon its launch.
They are also ‘grateful to Ocean Culture Life for their encouragement and support.’
Their website will be both celebration and invitation, a showcase of the work they have gathered so far and a call to students to submit new pieces for inclusion. Jersey’s children care passionately about protecting their seas, beaches and coastline, and they look forward to providing a digital gallery within which they can display their creative glories - their very own Lines On the Sand - for all to see.
For further info please contact info@jerseyfestivalofwords.org
Year 5, First Tower
Event
Alex Rogers: The Deep
Jersey Festival of Words 2019
Sponsored by Ports of Jersey
Professor Alex Rogers, who recently served as a scientific consultant on the BBC’s ‘Blue Planet II’ series, has spent the past 30 years studying life in the deep ocean. Local ocean campaigner Matt Porteous will be talking to him about his new book ‘The Deep’, which brings us right to the edge of what is known about our oceans today.
