Vraicking

Why are Jersey’s slipways so uneven?

…to stop your horse and cart from slipping as they pull a heavy load of vraic off the beach, of course!

The Island’s slipways were originally built in each parish principally to allow access to the shore to gather vraic (seaweed), and to launch a small boat. The granite setts (stones) were traditionally laid at a raked angle to provide a firmer footing for people and to prevent cartwheels and hooves from slipping.

Outside of harbours, they weren’t constructed until the threat of French invasion had passed as they would have been an ideal landing point for troops. A handful of slipways are shown on the 1849 Godfray map, but most date from the mid-19th century to the early Edwardian period.

Find out more on the Historic Environment Record.

These amazing images from the Jersey Evening Post Photo Archive show vraic being gathered from beaches around the Island by farmers to be put on their Jersey Royals crop as fertiliser. See more images from the JEP collection, held at Jersey Archive here.

• “Trempé comme un vrai”, which in English means “as soaked as a seaweed”.
• “Trempé comme un vraitcheux” (as soaked as a vraicker)
• “Raide comme un tangon” (as stiff as an oarweed stem)
• “Cratchi comme du vrai d’caûchie”, which means “to boast a lot”. It’s a play on words – “cratchi” can mean crack/ crackle or boast. The literal translation of this diton is “to crackle like (dried) vraic on the quayside”.
• “I’ y’en veint comme vrai au pliein”, which means “there’s a lot”. The literal translation is that “it’s coming in like vraic at high tide”.
• “Du vrégeais d’Avri est sîngne dé rude temps” (broken up vraic in April is a sign of bad weather).
• “Clioutchi comme des coues dé j’va”, which means “to slap like horses’ tails”. This alludes to the slapping of vraic.
• “I’ faudra l’boulement d’Mai pouor nouos ram’ner un mio dé vrai” (it will need the billows of May to bring us some vraic).

The traditional nickname for people from Grouville and St Clement is “Les Enfeuntchis” (smoky ones) as the custom of burning vraic for ash fertiliser along the coasts meant that farmers coming from those parishes into Town for the markets retained the smoky smell on their clothes from having passed the fires. However, “Enfeuntchi” (smoked up) has a double meaning as if your head is full of smoke, you were regarded as a dimwit.

It’s the time of year when farmers were legally able to cut vraic (seaweed) from the beach – but collection could not begin until a vraic marker, lé mèr, was uncovered by the sea.

In the past, vraic collectors would follow the tide out with their carts and patiently wait for the markers and their day’s harvest to be revealed by the falling tide.

Have you ever spotted one of these markers while out on the beach?…

Please make sure you explore Jersey’s intertidal zone safely – always check tide times, charge your phone and tell a friend where you’re going.