Fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society can now visit the places described in the book following a specially designed Google Map.
The award-winning novel is set on the Island of Guernsey which was occupied by Nazi German forces between 1940-1945 and although the story is fiction, the places are real.
Available on http://bit.ly/cy3VVr, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Google Map features more than 30 locations described in the book, and provides interesting facts – including:
- The tiny church where “every inch of which is a mosaic of broken china and smashed pottery” is the Little Chapel, possibly the smallest chapel in the world. Work started in 1914 and it is work of art and a labour of love, beautifully decorated with seashells, pebbles and colourful pieces of broken china.
- “Filled with soldiers” when the story of the book took place, the North Esplanade is the St Peter Port front. At the Northern end near the Weighbridge used to be a large gun emplacement, sat in the window of the pub now called the White Hart. Diners gazing out onto the roundabout and the Weighbridge clock tower are probably unaware that the semi circular window is actually a German gun emplacement!
- La Grande Havre, where Peter lives, is Guernsey’s largest natural harbour with five sandy bays and shallow and calm waters. It is the western end of what was known as the Braye du Valle: the island was originally separated from this point through to the Bridge with the Northern Island, being known as the Clos du Valle.
- Many local place names used to make reference to the landowners, the geography or the industry that happened in that area. Mr Eben Ramsey's address at Les Pommiers is no exception, referring to cider making which was a big industry in the 18th to 19th century.
- Grange Lodge Hotel, where all Jews reported to, was built as a private house around 1815 and stayed in the same hands until purchased by the Mansell family in the 1930s. From this time it was run as a hotel except a five-year break during the German Occupation (1940-1945), when it was used as the headquarters for the German Feld Kommandant.
- There may have been “temporary jobs” at the Quarry – but which one? The North of the island had over 300 stone quarries: one is still working but most are now filled in or used as water storage.
- Despite being mentioned in the book, there appears never to have been a St Brioc School in Guernsey. However, there is a hidden chapel ruin in the south west of the island, on a hill covered in gorse and ferns.
- Candie Gardens (where “everything changed - carnival to nightmare”) is a St Peter Port hidden green space and contains the Guernsey Museum and the Priaulx Library, the perfect place to spend hours looking, experiencing and reading about Guernsey’s history.
- Corbiere, where you could see “the fishing boats come in”, is along the south coast cliffs of Guernsey: once indeed used for fishing (and smuggling!), nowadays it is mainly visited by small day boats.
- The Crown Hotel was having a new roof according to the book – today it is no longer a hotel but a British pub, The Ship & Crown in the heart of St Peter Port.
- According to the book “Guernsey is very beautiful in all its variety - fields, woods, hedgerows, dells, manors, dolmens…” Dehus Dolmen is a European megalithic marvel and one of the best preserved burial chambers in Europe.
- The St Andrew’s Animal Shelter Site, where animals were taken to into trucks and then put to sleep, is today the site of the Guernsey Animal Shelter, a long standing Guernsey charity.
- The High Street and Le Pollet at St Peter Port, where shop windows were “sparklingly clean and beginning to fill up with new goods” are still today Guernsey’s central shopping districts.
- Hitler was “fanatical about fortifying” the Channel Islands, ordering from anti-tank walls on the beaches to miles and miles of underground tunnels and a huge underground hospital. Fort Saumarez is an example of the island’s massive fortifications, while the German Underground Hospital is open today as a visitor attraction.
- The clifftops near La Bouvée, where “Sir Ambrose owned a home”, offer the backdrop for some stunning walks, while many scenic Guernsey cliff paths start from Rue des Fontenelles or from St Peter Port to Fermain Bay, all mentioned in the book.
In addition to The Guernsey Literary and Peel Pie Society, which has already received more than 25,000 views, VisitGuernsey has produced a selection of thematic Google Maps about the island (including the Official VisitGuernsey Map and Guernsey Folklore), with two more under development (Guernsey Accommodation and Guernsey Bus Routes).
View Guernsey Folklore in a larger map
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