04/08/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

However, over recent years, events such as the Alderney Festival

Events are held throughout the Islands to honour those who

The curtain comes down on the Commonwealth Games,

but what do the Islands need to do end a 20 year medal drought?

we are in the Northern Ireland as this year's Alderney week gets

underway. The thousands of Channel Islanders

who lost their lives in World War People across the Islands are being

asked to switch off all but one light at home tonight to

remember those who fought. In Guernsey

the lights will be switched off In St Peter Port the church bell was

rung throughout the day in honour At the going down of the sun, and in

the morning, we will remember them. I think it is good for

this evening for a ceremony and parade to remember

the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War.

We'll have more for you on the Jersey World War One commemorations

Jersey is giving ?120,000 to help those affected by the violence

Hundreds have been killed and thousands injured in Israel

and the Gaza strip since violence escalated in July.

The Jersey Overseas Aid Commission has approved

a ?30,000 grant to each of the four charities Christian Aid, the British

Many athletes from Guernsey and Jersey have of made their way

home today after the Commonwealth Games came to a close last night.

Almost 80 athletes from the Channel Islands competed in the

Glasgow Games, some for the first time, others for the last time.

Sadly, no medals are being brought home, but what do the Islands need

to do to break the medal drought that's lasted for over 20 years?

Spectators filled the streets of Glasgow for one of the last events

of the Commonwealth Games, the men's Road race.

Two cyclists from Jersey and six from Guernsey were competing among

the 140 strong race. It was a technically difficult course for the

riders but the heavy raid mean it `` that the heavy rain made it worse.

Slippery conditions caused many cyclists to crash including James

McLauchlan from Guernsey. By the ninth lap there was only one Channel

Islander left but it made it harder to compete. He also did not finish

the roads. I was trying to petition myself well but it is hard when you

are a small nation and you have other teams who are riding well and

you have several guys from each nation and you get pushed to the

back. Being a single Guernsey person up there it is pretty tough holding

your own. There was also disappointment on the netball court,

Serena Guthrie was playing for England and they lost by just one

point in the last two seconds of their semifinal match against New

Zealand. Then they placed Jamaica in the bronze medal play`off and it was

a close game but Jamaica won the match. Although disappointed not to

win a medal, Serena Guthrie was pleased to be part of team England.

It is a massive honour. Every athlete here will be flying their

flag for where they come from and where they have grown up so I am

just proud to be able to do it for Jersey. With no medals for any of

the Channel Islander is, does more need to be done before the next

Commonwealth Games? Every Games we see the level of competition

increase and improve. We obviously look at that with the qualification

standards that were set and we will review this for 2018 and we are

where we will have to increase our standards again. As team jersey, if

we can improve the preparation of the athletes and improve their

lifestyle and their whole attitude to sport then perhaps we will get

athletes that are better and stronger and better organised as a

lot of those things may give us better results.

As the Commonwealth Games close, preparations begin for the next one

in 2018. Will Jersey and Guernsey be able to bring a medal of any colour

back from Australia's Gold Coast? Jersey's Under 19 cricket

team have been promoted to The Island side won all four of

their matches against runners`up the Netherlands, Denmark, Guernsey and

Italy in ICC Europe Division Two. As well as promotion to

ICC Europe Division One, Jersey now also have the opportunity to qualify

for the Under`19 Cricket World Cup. Well done to them. You are watching

the BBC in Channel Islands. I had in Spotlight with Justin tonight:

We hear the story of the gardener of Heligan, and how his disappearance

eventually played a part in the gardens themselves being lost.

Stating for that and David will have the weather forecast for the week

ahead as well. `` stay tuned for that.

Now, it's a total of eight days, with over 130 events, This year's

This year's theme is Treasure Island and our Alderney reporter David Earl

It's the first Monday in August and that means it's Cavalcade Day

The theme this year is Treasure Island, harking back to

For many, this year's parade was the best ever.

The star of the show, as always, is Miss Alderney, with 16`year old

Emma Etheridge taking over the role from her elder sister, Maria.

And Emma was joined by a pageant queen from a sister island,

as Miss Jersey Battle Of Flowers, Taye Park, came along for the ride.

Alderney Week is a big show and a big effort for a small island.

In fact, organisers claim it is the Channel Islands' largest annual

It already encompasses 100 different events spread across eight days, and

this year a new planning team is on board inject even more new ideas.

I do not think I will miss it too much. I will still be associated

with it and busy behind`the`scenes but I will not be as busy officially

and it is great, it is a lovely year to bow out on because I really feel

that I am in my comfort zone and for once in my life I am not the only

person on the island wearing an eye patch so it is great fun for me.

Dating back to 1948, Alderney Week has always dominated

However, over recent years, events such as the Alderney Festival

of Performing Arts and the the Alderney wildlife Festival have

Emma Odoli is one of the new Alderney Week team members.

There is a lot to organise and I am learning that this year with the

current team having done an amazing job for such a long time. I am

learning how to pull every thing together, all the volunteers that

you have two thank Emma Pullen, so we have a lot of challenges and we

will overcome the man be fine and every year they pull it off

brilliantly. Whatever the future holds

for Alderney Week, organisers say the floats and family fun

of Cavalcade Day are here to stay. Loving the weeks in Alderney today!

It was lovely weather as you saw there but what will it be like for

the rest of the week and the rest of the islands? Here is the forecast.

Good evening. We start with a look at the chart for 100 years ago today

when low pressure was taking charge of the weather across the British

Isles and northern parts of Europe. They had a pretty good summer,

similar to what we have seen but it all changed, not only did the

political climate change but the weather changed as well. On this day

particularly through the day we had much more of the breeze and some

outbreaks of rain. Rain is also in the forecast for us. We expect some

showery rain later on this week and some overnight tomorrow and into

Wednesday. It will be mostly dry with some sunshine and potential for

outbreaks of rain overnight. A lot happening with quite a big area of

low pressure developing to the south of agreement. The whole driving

force of the weather changes with a westerly flow developing as we move

through the week. Showers dotted around with a night and we keep the

area of high pressure across northern France but eventually we

lose it and we see a more active weather system come through fairly

swiftly in the small hours of Wednesday. Tonight it will be mostly

dry and the temperatures will drop down to 14 or 15, 16 around the

coast. More clout developed by Dawn and tomorrow is not a bad day. We

may see patchy cloud coming and going in the morning and generating

showers but one chick comes through there will be sunny spells in the

afternoon and temperatures getting up to about 19 or 20 as the top

figure. In the evening more to show. Here is the outlook. As we head

through this week it will be cooler and more unsettled and by Friday the

potential for more persistent rain. That is all for me. Have a good

evening. Thank you very much. That is it for

now and I will have your headlines at 8pm tonight and especially

extended bulletin at 10:25pm. Back to Justin Melck who is at Plymouth

Hoe. Back now to

our World War one commemorations. This is one of the centrepieces of

the regional commemorations for the 100th anniversary. We will talk more

later but what is planned but I am joined by Todd Gray to reflect on

the events of 100 years ago. Across the world millions of lives were

lost but is it possible to narrow it down and ask how many lives were

lost from here? The roll of honour gives almost 12,000 for Devon,

mostly men. And just for one county that is a colossal figure. What sort

of proportion is that? It is about 3% and the reason this war was so

important is that the numbers were so high that everybody knew someone,

and it came home to you. You mentioned one end, not a

straightforward with the men going out because they were women on the

front line? Lots of men and hospitals were seen with wounds, so

the war came back to Devon. You had women going on the front line, one

Belgian aristocrat, who was an Exeter girdle, remarries and becomes

a great headline on the Western front. `` heroine. It was such a

horrific war and was described and hoped to be the war to end all wars,

but what changed if anything? There was a different sensibility and an

idea about war that permeated the 1940s. The first thing that happens

is the economy collapses with high inflation and low employment. Loads

of women without husbands. Widows and women who never married because

they feel unsafes died. Going into the Second World War, people

remembered what happened. The two world war is really need to

be studied together. I know you are involved in the leading tonight,

with the famous phrase about the lamps going out all over Europe, but

thank you for joining us. All this we'll be marking this 100th

Anniversary in our series World War 1 At Home, in partnership

with Imperial War Museums. Tonight we hear the story

of the gardener of Heligan, and how his disappearance eventually

played a part in I've been to meet historian

Peter Lavis who's rediscovering the stories of the families who

worked there at the time. 100 years ago, the peace and

tranquillity of life in the gardens of Heligan was shattered by the

outbreak of war. This was one of 23 gardeners who worked on the land and

left to join the Navy. Many were called up even before the

declaration. There was a prearranged signal with the town crier marching

on to the peer and ringing the bell. That was the signal for the men to

put on their uniforms. By 1917, the gardeners at Heligan numbered just

eight. It is not often there's a poignancy about a toilet but here,

the gardeners who went off to war wrote their names on the wall of

this outside toilet, and as far as we know this is the only toilet that

is designated as a living memorial to those who served in the First

World War, by the Imperial War Museum. 48 left town that day and

channels was among them. He actually went to work on a trawler in the

First World War. Something like 500 trawlers from around the coast of

the United Kingdom used to supplement ships. Many were fitted

with small guns and about half of them went out hunting submarines.

Some went out minesweeping. Was that how he spent the rest of the war? We

also know he was either windowed or endurance and he went back to

hospital, and one morning, he got up as usual and got ready and walked

out of the main gates and disappeared and was never seen

around here again. The Navy had no idea of what happened to him and he

was notified as a disaster and his wife was accordingly contacted. ``

deserter. His wife and three children were stuck here with no

income and the family reputation was ruined. The family were vilified.

And the stigma of that legacy is still felt by his granddaughter. She

always felt there was shame. I do not think she ever got over it and

stayed like that for all of her life. She loved him so much and

could not say anything about him. I think it broke her heart. She could

never speak about him without crying. She could never speak about

her husband. From the day he disappeared until the day she died,

she wore a black and she and the three children lived with their

shame until this gold ring restored the reputation. The ring engraved

with his initials helped identify his remains, discovered in woods

near the hospital. His body was brought home for burial. They took

him off the deserter's West and gave her a pension, but more importantly

she got the family reputation back. He was no longer listed as a

deserter. Even more poignantly, she was home in Cornwall again. The

family all knew what this meant. When they did find him, it gives

closure of some sort. At least she had a grave to visit and knew where

it was. How does it feel talking about him now? I could cry actually.

The losses of the great war were too great for many to be and as well as

changing the lives of this family fodder, it signalled a big change at

Heligan as well. They all said he could not live with the ghost of the

place because so many of the team perished. We can't race to that

moment in time the beginning of the decline of Heligan. So the one

gardener was eventually found and if he was to return today he would see

the garden is looking much as the dead 100 years ago, but the loss of

so many lead to the gardens themselves eventually being lost.

Tonight in communities across the region, people will be

playing their part commemorating the outbreak of the First World War,

by dimming their lights, leaving just one candle burning.

There will be church services taking place all over the South West,

including at Exeter and Truro Cathedrals.

In Camelford there will be an open air vigil, with community singing.

In North Devon a special walk is being held to

Service personnel from St Mawgen will be joining the community of

St Columb Major in an act of commemoration.

Our reporter Philippa Mina has been to find out more.

Later tonight, service personnel from here at RAF Saint Morgan will

join and Navy service people as well as members of the public. They will

carry 57 candles, one for each serviceman who lost his life in the

conflict. I am joined by the station commander. How do you feel about

tonight's Memorial and why are you taking part? We are honoured to be a

part of it. It is about remembering the beginning of a war and once we

have about a hundred people going up with 57 lives lost, and it is

remembering those brothers, husbands, sons who gave the ultimate

sacrifice. but I would not have liked to have

been in the trenches. We will be live tonight from 10:30 p.m.. And we

would like to see with live coverage of events here on

The Hoe and across the South West. But tonight is not just about

remembering the start of the war. It's also a chance to reflect

on the next four years and how We've got factory boys and butchers'

apprentices and office clerks Don't stop moving!

If you go back you'll die!