I have for many years been a collector of old photographs of the Channel Islands and in particular those from the earliest years of the art. I used such a photograph of steamships in St Helier harbour from Fort Regent as the background to my Manifesto when I stood for Deputy in 2008. Here it is:
Below is a photograph by the photographer Ouless which dates from about 1870. It shows Mount Bingham and is detail of a view looking at La Colette from the Dicq. All locations are within St Helier (well, just).
What can be seen is a house that is no longer there. It is situated at the base of Mount Bingham on land that is probably now incorporated into the gardens. Here is the photograph from which the detail comes. The rocks in the middle ground are where the sea swimming pool is now located. This is the view Victor Hugo would have had as he sat upon the rock know as "le rocher des proscrits".
The house across the road from the now demolished building in the photo would be where T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) stayed as a child, so presumably that would also be how the seafront looked for him.
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