Starting on the flat west coast, this demanding yet picturesque route soon climbs steeply, making its way between the farms and fields, which characterise this part of Guernsey.

Attractive old farmhouses built with local granite contrast strangely with the stark remnants of the German Occupation found along the way. Soon after gaining the summit of this route St Saviour’s church appears on the skyline. After a pause at the Coach House Art Gallery, continue through the leafy lanes and heads of valleys. The way then enters La Rue de Quanteraine, a small area rich in beauty, where the Silbe Nature reserve has a pure tranquillity that demands sampling. The route suddenly plunges down the floor of the valley and the site of Le Moulin de Quanteraine where the magical whisper of water can be heard as it powers the water wheel. This was the last functioning water mill in Guernsey, closed in the mid 1930’s, and carefully restored in 1990.

A tortuous climb brings the route to the former site of another mill (windmill this time), on a bluff between the valleys, providing uninterrupted sea views from Lihou Island to the Hanois lighthouse. In 1996 the Hanois boasted a first and a last, being the last manned offshore rock lighthouse in British waters and the first to be powered by solar power. Further descents and a steady climb through charming valleys lead to an open hillside, where keen eyes will spot La Longue Pierre, a Neolithic menhir, the significance of which can only be pondered.

The final half mile returns to sea level where the land was probably marshes a couple of hundred years ago.