Little Miracles An Island Parish

Just off the French coast of Normandy

lies the beautiful island of Sark.

The smallest of the four main Channel Islands

and one of the most unusual places to be found on our shores.

Visitors are attracted to Sark's traditions and tranquillity.

There are no cars and the small, tight-knit community

enjoys a simple way of life, making it the perfect antidote to modern living.

This year, Sark has seen an unusually warm start to spring

and the locals are making the most of the fine weather.

And looking forward to what they hope will be a fruitful summer season.

Up at St Peter's, the island's Anglican church,

the vicar, Gillian Nicholls, has spent the last few months since her arrival

getting to grips with her new way of life.

Sark is a far cry from her home county of Buckinghamshire.

I knew nothing about Sark before I came at all.

The whole thing is a novelty.

It's been really intriguing.

And I'm not sure I've really got my head round how the island works yet.

Gill has wasted no time getting to know a bit more about Sark

and some members of its tiny population of 600 people.

It takes a long time to get under the skin of a community, I think.

Hi there.

Yes, it's unusual, but it has all the charm of an England that you feel has been lost now.

Hi there.

Gosh! How utterly amazing!

Hello!

Aren't you just gorgeous!

-Persil, what's this?!

-Persil!

I'm dropping it. What's this?!

There's a quality to life, a quality to community,

which I don't think I've ever experienced in this way before and I love it.

It's very addictive. Everyone tells you when you come, "If you come for six months, you'll stay for ever."

And I can begin to understand why they say that.

Oh, my goodness me! There's no holding you back, is there?!

Gill's appointment on Sark is only short-term.

She was persuaded out of retirement to hold the fort while the parish looks for a permanent vicar.

The idea was that I was coming for six months to help them out through the winter.

That's now grown to a year.

If she plays her cards right, Sark could become her permanent home.

You're so friendly, aren't you!

But first she has to get to grips with the hard reality of island life,

which is easier said than done.

You'll never be able to eat Sark lamb again.

-It just wouldn't be right.

-An old farmer told me

the greatest honour you can give an animal you rear is eat it yourself.

HE LAUGHS I'm on a very steep learning curve.

You know, you think you've got hold of something and then suddenly you realise you haven't at all.

That there's a whole lot more to it than you'd realised.

-I'll let you get on with your work.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

All right. Bye.

Sark is such a small island that every newcomer is quickly spotted.

And one recent arrival who'll find it very difficult to hide is Ronaldo the horse.

There. That's a good boy.

He's just arrived on Sark from England and his trainer is Julie Jackson.

She's originally from Manchester and like the rest of Sark's 150 or so seasonal workers,

Julie will be here until the end of the summer.

So here we have a pure bred Clydesdale. 17 hands, which is to the top of the back.

Despite his size, Julie is definitely the boss.

Come on then. Go back. Back.

And whoa. Right, stand still.

These shoes are like double the size of a normal riding horse.

-There's my hand.

-Blimey! How much does he weigh then?

Between 700-800 kilos.

And as a full grown horse, he could be a tonne.

Julie's been specially brought in by one of the island's hotels

to train Ronaldo up and help establish a new business venture

taking their guests around Sark on horse-drawn sightseeing carriage rides.

If you look at my legs next to him, I look like one of those fast Charlie Chaplin films.

Before Ronaldo can start work, Julie's first job is to familiarise him with his new surroundings.

But just getting past all the admirers could take some time.

Isn't he beautiful?

Morning.

-So what's the horse called?

-He's actually called Ronaldo.

-But that's a bit posh, so we're calling him Ron.

-Ron.

Julie must get Ronaldo used to all the sights and sounds of Sark

as well as the other horses on the island, who've noticed there's a new kid on the block.

This is where you'll be standing for the next 15 years, mate.

Hey? Good boy!

Over the next few weeks, it'll be a daily routine, come rain or shine.

BIRDSONG

The warm weather that the islands have been enjoying comes to an abrupt end.

Sark relies on visiting tourists to maintain its fragile economy,

but the cold and wet weather is proving disastrous for business.

This time last year, the sun was out, we all had flags everywhere,

I had loads of flags in my courtyard, it was lovely.

Even though the season has just got underway, it's normally far busier.

Originally from Liverpool, Christina moved here 17 years ago and now runs the Petite Poule Cafe.

It's been very, very quiet.

Really quiet. It's the worst I've ever known it to be.

I've been here a long time and it's really quiet. Everybody is saying how quiet it is.

But today, Christina and the rest of the island are putting the bad weather to one side

for a special celebration to mark a key date in the island's history.

Every year a group of war veterans and Chelsea Pensioners

are invited over to form the centrepiece of Liberation Day,

a commemoration to mark the end of the German occupation of Sark during World War II.

-Don't pull.

-Don't pull.

You're trying my patience.

A day for which the islanders are truly grateful.

Everybody needs to have a sense if their history and what happened and why these people went to war

and why the Pensioners and the Gurkhas

still come over to celebrate it and what it's all about.

They'll go for lunch, do their carriage ride

and there's a sense the island will all pull together and just celebrate it, really.

I think it's really lovely. I'm not even from here but I think it's really important.

But the weather's not helping.

Well, not at the moment!

The whole island is preparing to welcome the Pensioners,

but the weather has worsened and there's no sign of the ferry bringing them in.

The storms are also bad news for the local fishermen

whose livelihoods are for ever on a knife edge.

Baz Adams has been fishing around Sark since he was a small boy and is normally at sea six days a week,

but today he's kicking his heels.

We've got a boat in the harbour, on the anchorage outside the old harbour,

and it's plenty rough down there.

I could have put it to shore and I thought I'd take a chance and left it.

But I didn't sleep during the night worrying about it.

So we went down this morning at six o'clock just to check it was OK.

And it was all OK. But I'll be glad when it changes.

It doesn't make sense, we had such lovely weather at the beginning of the potting season,

it was like summer. We were sunbathing when we should have been digging snow.

But you can't do anything about it. We've just got to take what comes.

Baz depends on the short fishing season to make his living and can't afford to be stuck at home for long.

You know, it's our life and... Look at that, they know it's feeding time, see.

I really don't think we'll be going fishing till Wednesday.

It looks as though we're gonna have three days off for sure.

It's just one of those things, you can't do anything about it.

You're an active man, does this frustrate you?

It does, it gets me bad tempered. HE LAUGHS

Down at the harbour there's some good news.

The Sark ferry has battled through.

Shaken, not deterred, the plucky veterans are delighted they've not let the islanders down.

APPLAUSE

The locals are keen to give their heroes a warm welcome.

And first on the agenda, a quick pick-me-up to steady those sea legs.

But starting the day's proceedings in one of the island's pubs

means keeping to the busy schedule could be a bit of a challenge.

BIRDSONG

Across the island, the Methodist chapel is unusually silent.

The lay minister, Karen Le Mouton, has been away for a while.

She had an accident involving a concrete slab and her foot.

As there's no hospital on Sark,

she had to be evacuated to the nearest A&E department on the neighbouring island of Guernsey.

It's been a big ordeal.

I was in quite a bit of pain, yes.

And we got over to Guernsey and the ambulance met us at Guernsey.

Then when I got to the hospital, the radiographer was already there

and I eventually had it X-rayed.

It's a job to see the break, actually, but here we see a line running down the big toe.

The consultant confirmed the break and said it would probably take three months to get back to normal.

At which point I started thinking, "Oh!"

Because how do you get around Sark on a pair of crutches

when you've either got to walk everywhere or cycle?

It does make life very difficult.

You won't want to rush about, you need to rest and elevate it and do as minimal as possible.

But taking it easy could be difficult for Karen

as she has a big date looming in her diary that will need a lot of planning.

DIAL TONE

Hi, Maggie. Are you up for catering for a buffet for around 60 people?

Having finally left the pub, the Chelsea Pensioners make their way towards St Peter's Church.

Although none of them actually were among the forces that liberated Sark in May 1945,

their presence on the island is hugely symbolic.

Gill, the Anglican vicar, is here to greet them.

She understands the debt of gratitude that the islanders owe for their freedom.

It's lovely to see the Chelsea Pensioners all arriving

with their wonderful red coats, in carriages.

There's a bit of history about it anyway, isn't there?

And a day that's etched on the minds of those who lived through it.

PIPES PLAY

The tiny island of Sark and the other Channel Islands

were the only parts of the British Isles to be occupied by the Germans during World War II.

Many of the Sark residents elected to stay during the occupation.

Day to day living was tough.

Fisherman Baz Adams was just six years old at the time.

I remember the war, you know, as a kid.

Life was hard. Food was the worst, bit there was an abundance of fish.

And we were a bit favouritised because my uncle and grandfather used to fish.

But you know, people got very, very hungry.

We was allowed only so many slices of bread.

And they used to use a proper mixer for mixing the dough,

that broke down and they used a concrete mixer.

And it was nothing to find a lump of concrete in the loaf!

HE LAUGHS

There are just a handful of islanders still left on Sark who remember those years.

Phyllis Baker was a plucky young 17-year-old at the time.

She was determined not to let the presence of German soldiers destroy her carefree childhood.

We had no fear of them at all.

They came, ten men and a sergeant.

and they spent the whole of their time giving the children rides in the motorcar

imported by the occupying forces.

The tiny ones, half of them had never seen one,

there had never been cars on Sark, before or since.

Apart from a few military orders,

they never interfered with the way of life in Sark.

When the occupation came to an end and they were all marched off, we went back to normal.

BIRDSONG

Father, on this anniversary of liberation,

we remember those who won for us our freedom

at great cost to themselves.

In the name of then Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

ALL: Amen.

As the occupying forces were banished from Sark,

Phyllis' war was to end with the most extraordinary twist,

so unusual that a book was written about her story

that could have been lifted from the pages of a Hollywood screenplay.

During the occupation, Phyllis learnt to speak German

and formed a friendship with one of the soldiers, medical field officer Werner Rang.

ACCORDION MUSIC

When Sark was liberated,

Werner was sent to a prisoner of war camp in England,

but they kept in touch by letter and love blossomed.

When Werner was eventually released, he took the bold and controversial step of proposing.

Oh, ja!

Of course, I did the worst possible thing, to even contemplate marrying a German.

I rang my father and he said, "If that's all you have to tell me, that you're going to marry a German,

"you needn't have phoned and you needn't come home."

And me being me said, "Very well, I won't!"

That was that.

BOTH LAUGH

Despite her father's reticence, the wedding went ahead and with time the family rift healed.

The happy couple has lived on Sark ever since.

We've been married, what, 64 years?

-64 years, yeah.

-64 years of happiness.

Yeah.

In all due respect, I was very grateful that Hitler sent me here.

-And...

-We're the only people who've got something to thank him for!

The couple ran a successful small jewellery business for four decades.

And Werner also ran the island's volunteer ambulance service for nearly 30 years.

Today, he's one of Sark's most respected members of the community,

which surprisingly led him to share a joke with none other than the British monarch.

She said to me, "Are you a Sarkee?"

I said, "No, madam, I'm not."

"Where do you come from?" I said, "I came here with the occupation forces."

And she told me that Brigadier Snow was here. "He liberated the island, come and meet him?"

So I met Brigadier Snow. He said to me, "I liberated the island."

I said, "Yes, I know that, but you didn't make a good job of it, you left one behind!"

BOTH LAUGH

And the Queen was laughing her head off. She said, "Did we?"

"Did we?" Ja.

The Pensioners return the warm Sark hospitality with a parting gift to the local schoolchildren.

Out of this world. Lovely day.

Fantastic, mate.

The people are lovely. My first visit.

I shall come again one day.

Finally, they begin their long journey back home.

ALL: Bye!

Up at the Methodist chapel, Karen Le Mouton, the lay minister, should be resting her broken toe.

But far from it.

Karen, a bit of a surprise, cos you seem to be walking around.

Yes. It's pretty amazing, really. It's quite a story to tell.

So what happened?

Well, I just had this picture in my head of a hand, and don't ask me how but I knew it was Jesus' hand,

coming down and my hand kind of reaching out.

It was just the two hands.

But then the words. There wasn't somebody saying the words out loud or anything,

but just these words formed in my head.

"Come walk with me."

So I pushed myself up with all my weight on my left leg and I just kept thinking,

"Is this you, God, saying this to me?

"Because if I get up at the end of this and put my weight on my foot,

"I'm going to be screaming the house down and I don't know if I'd do myself more damage."

So I took a step, and I carried on walking,

and was thinking, "I haven't got any pain!

"I can move! I can walk! I can put my weight on it!"

And I haven't stopped walking since.

You hear about these things happening to other people

and I never expected anything like that.

But, you know this is where I think,

"Maybe my expectations of our great and wonderful God are perhaps too low."

And that He doesn't change, He is a God of miracles.

Her amazing recovery is timely.

Hi, Lorraine. I wanted to confirm some of the arrangements for the President coming over.

The President in question is Leo Osborn, the most senior figure in the Methodist Church.

In a few days' time, he'll be arriving on Sark

and Karen has to make sure his visit goes like clockwork,

but there's still a lot to do.

Is that OK about the carriage ride at 1.30?

Because Sark is one of just a small handful of places in the developed world where there are no cars,

the horses and carriages that clip-clop around the lanes define the island's distinctive character.

Helping to keep the tradition alive is Julie Jackson.

She's been spending every day in training with new horse Ronaldo.

When he's ready, Ron will join the other horses taking hotel guests on carriage rides around the island.

Training him requires a special talent which, in Julie's case, comes from years of experience.

Well, I'm 55, from Severn.

Pony Club, jumping, racing, but not actually racing,

actually breaking the horses to do it.

Someone's got to build them up over logs to the big fences you see in the Grand National, for instance.

I mean, they don't just do it.

And there's got to be some brave soul sat on the back... Or idiot!

And I was one of 'em, and I did that till I was in me 40s, really.

I lived in Cyprus for 15 years. I had a carriage business of my own there with seven horses.

And then I left Cyprus two years ago.

And here I am!

Already horse and trainer have formed a close bond.

Who's a beautiful boy?!

Yeah! Mwah!

We love you, don't we?

As Ron settles down for the night, Julie heads back to her hotel digs.

Sark is famed for its tranquillity, and after-hours entertainment is limited.

Tonight, however, Julie has decided to shatter the peace

to show off another of her special talents.

One she's keeping strictly secret for now.

And that is as far as you go.

See you later!

Over on the other side of the island, on what must be

one of the most idyllic sheep farms anywhere on the planet,

shepherd David Scott is checking on his flock.

Shadowed by his favourite pet lamb, Persil.

Let's have a look at this lot.

Keeping the newborns warm in this unseasonably cold wet weather requires some canny thinking.

If you just pop it down in the bedding

and put a bit of straw over it

and then you can sit the ones that are looking a bit chilly on the top.

And David is celebrating another newborn.

His wife, Estelle, has also given birth.

Mother and daughter are now back home to find an outpouring of well wishing from the island.

It's their first child together and they've named her Robin.

How are you feeling?

OK, I think.

Everyone asks me, "How are you doing?" And I think, "I'm good."

I'm buoyed along on happiness and adrenaline at this stage.

Sark has no hospital, so if an expectant mother goes into labour on the island,

she'll normally be rushed to nearby Guernsey on a high-speed ambulance boat.

So that was the plan, but we actually didn't do any of that because she was late.

So then, when you get to day 12, overdue by 12 days,

standard practice is to be induced, or at least it is on Guernsey.

So it all became very organised in the fact that we booked ourselves in to be induced,

so we got the morning ferry.

Didn't need the ambulance boat cos I wasn't in labour,

and it was just like going to Guernsey for the day, except we were going there to have a baby.

Yeah, it's all gone lovely, really.

-What was her weight?

-Seven pounds.

But Baby was very amenable and she didn't come early, which was good.

Cos if she'd come bang early, she would have come in the thick of all of the eweing.

There was a time where... I think there were four days

where you had about 64 ewes that were going to give birth

and if she'd come then, then I think...

-That would have been a bit...

-I think you would have been here.

You would have been here and I would have been in Guernsey.

-So you timed it very well?

-Well, she timed it very well.

Yeah, she timed it very well.

Having a baby in-between all the lambs has certainly add to the workload a bit.

Little angel.

She is when she's asleep. Oh!

-BABY GURGLES

-OK.

But David can't stop for long.

He has other newborns that need his attention.

Who wants milk?

You want milk. Hang on. You want milk.

There we go.

How do you share it out evenly?

By eye!

The old shepherd way.

Yeah, usually Estelle gives us a hand with the bottle feeding,

but obviously this year, I've had to do it on my own.

There we go. You can have some as well.

Over at her room at the hotel, horse trainer Julie Jackson is getting ready to amaze everyone.

The islanders see her around Sark every day in her wax coat and wellies,

but tonight they're in for a surprise.

SHE SIGHS

This is what you call a mini dress, mister!

Hair looks all right, doesn't it?

I went downstairs before for some tea. I said, "What's it look like?"

They all went, "Great!"

And then I went like this and leaned on the wall, like I was in me wellies with me hat on.

And they said, "Don't do that!"

They've had me practising sitting down going... Crossing me legs!

Because before, I sat there with them open!

It's just bad habit, when you're not used to it.

Some people there were 20 and the same size as I am.

So you might as well make the most of it before your face really goes!

It feels a bit different from walking down in your wellies.

Down at the Bel Air Inn, one of two pubs on Sark,

the islanders are about to discover Julie's hidden talent.

# Diamonds are forever

# They are all I need to please me

# They can stimulate and tease me

# They won't leave in the night

# I've no fear that they might desert me... #

As an unattached woman with a voice like this, Julie's already attracting a few admirers.

# Diamonds never... #

What she doesn't yet know is that she won't be single for long.

# Oh...

# They lustre on... #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE