The Last Trees - (Location 1)

Please note - this piece is based on two locations.

Opening with the sound of metal being hammered into wood, this album track, The Last Trees doesn’t reference one particular place but several.

Along with the ominous concrete observation towers that the occupying Germans built around Guernsey during WWII, there were also at least five lookout positions hidden in pine trees around the island that I’m aware of, although it seems likely that there were more than this. Metal rungs were hammered directly into the tree’s trunks to form ladders.

As far as I know only two trees now remain with rungs visible, in La Rue de la Vrangue and the Rue a Fresnes - that one doesn’t look like it’s going to last much longer. Both are on private land, but easily visible from the road. Two other trees now felled that I believe had similar rungs and lookouts posts were at Crossways and near the Chainhouse, I’ve also read that the large pine that still stands on Les Frieteaux used to have rungs but they were removed some time ago.

I don’t pretend to be an expert in all this, so feel free to message me with any more info on these relics or corrections on my understanding of their history.

Ironically there were also wooden lookout towers built during the occupation to look like trees! These are all long gone now of course.