December

Television channels try to make a splash at Christmas. Thus, Jersey has dominated the festive schedules not once but twice. It was the month in which long-running BBC detective drama Bergerac came to an end after more than a decade on air, with its final episode being a cornerstone of the BBC boxing day schedule; and it was also the month in which ITV broadcast a drama filmed at Hamptonne, starring Keeley Hawes.

It’s been a month of high drama in other ways, too, with a motorist killed on a Jersey Railway level crossing, a man on a ladder being shot in the buttocks, and Jersey and her neighbours being shaken by a strong earthquake, which sent locals running for their lives.

Jersey and Guernsey’s newspapers agreed to merge in the hope of sharing ongoing costs and the States of Jersey bought Springfield Stadium after the site was put up for sale and it looked, for a while, like it might have been developed for housing. Thus, it was saved for the future enjoyment of everyone on the island.

Jersey Airways was founded and, after years of invasions and disagreements, Britain asked the International Court for a definitive ruling on who owned Minquiers. The court ruled in Jersey’s favour. Many years later, when Jersey was finally awarded its own flag, it could finally hoist it above the reef and claim the rocks as its own sovereign property.