A 4-page article about cycling in Alderney has been published in the magazine Cycle Active (article attached), the same journalist has also written a piece for the Yorkshire Post which was appeared in the newspaper on Monday, 30^th January 2012.

Please click on the following link to view the article:

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/outdoors/travel/channel_change_1_4188911

Freelance journalist Paul Kirkwood visited Alderney in August 2011, courtesy of Visit Alderney.  Not only did Mr Kirkwood write the two articles but he also created the cycle route that is now featured on the centre page map of the Alderney brochure and will soon feature on the Alderney Map.

Following on from the success of our previous online brochures, a new version of the publishing software now allows iPad users to also view our online brochure.  You can now also search the Alderney Online Brochure to find and bookmark your favourite hotel, guesthouse, campsite or event, as well as send that specific page on to family and friends.

And the happiest girl in Alderney at the moment has to be Holly Webster who was the clear winner of our annual front-cover competition. Holly's winning image was voted for by VisitAlderney’s Facebook fans and visitors to the island via an online survey,  and now features on the front page of the Alderney brochure; we bet she can't wait to get hold of the hard copy when it’s delivered.

Click the picture and link to the online version of the Alderney 2012 brochure:

Fans of VisitAlderney on Facebook and visitors to the island have chosen the photograph that will appear on the front cover of the 2012 Alderney brochure. The winning photograph competed for votes against ten other shortlisted images. Of the 396 people who voted, the winning image received 35% (140) of the public’s votes. The lucky winner, Holly Webster, entered her photograph of a scenic view of Fort Quesnard with a clear azure blue sea in the foreground. She will receive two return tickets to the UK courtesy of Aurigny Air Services, the official sponsors of the competition and will have her image displayed on the front cover of the 2012 Alderney Brochure.

Holly Webster (18 years) is currently on a gap year, but is still pursuing her interests in photography.  Holly said “I was so pleased to find out that I had won the competition. I have just finished an Art and Design course at Guernsey College of Further Education and am looking into going to University to study a degree in Photojournalism. Winning the competition was a great step forward for me and to have my photo on the cover for visitors to see is fantastic. I also have my own website and blog and this is great publicity for me and for getting my work out there.”

Joanna Parmentier, Marketing Manager for VisitAlderney said “Once again it has been a great competition and we are delighted with the results.  The standard of photos entered were very high and it would have been a tough decision to make, had it been left entirely to us.  We are extremely pleased with the number of entrants which were double those of last year, from 90 entries in 2010 to 173 this year”.

A panel of judges were selected; its members were made up from our website design agency, creative consultants and our brochure designer.  The entries were narrowed down to ten shortlisted images and these were taken to the public vote. An online survey was emailed to the Alderney brochure mailing list of in excess of 14,000 and the winning photo was selected.

Joanna Parmentier, Marketing Manager for VisitAlderney said “It is always a difficult task selecting the front cover photo for the brochure, so, what better way of choosing it than a competition. Not only does it allow our Facebook fans to show off their beautiful images of Alderney, but it also gets the island’s residents and visitors involved.  A big thank you to all who entered; there are some beautiful shots of our island and many thanks to those who took the time to vote.  The interest in the competition has been great and has exceeded our expectations.”

The British Air Racing Champion for 2011 was decided on the 24^th and 25^th September, when the last in a series of eight races staged around Britain, took place in Alderney.  The event, sponsored by Aurigny Air Services and the States of Alderney attracted pilots from Britain, Ireland, France and as far afield as Palma, Majorca, who took to the air for two handicap races in an attempt to become the British Air Racing Champion for 2011.

After two gripping days of racing the 2011 British Air Racing Champion title was awarded to a husband and wife duo Mr and Mrs Boot from the Isle of Man.  The pilot, Geoffrey Boot and his wife Suzie who was navigating stole the race in their Siai Machetti SF260 which reached speeds of 203 mph during the races.

Geoffrey Boot said, "We have been air racing for twenty years, and it is quite an accolade to win the British Air Racing Championship for the first time, especially with the season finishing in such a wonderful place as Alderney.  This is the 2^nd time winning the European Championship, the previous time being in 2000.  We are absolutely thrilled to have won it again and it was all down to the last race here.”

The flying couple also won five other awards and took home a selection of trophies, cups and plates. 

Both Alderney races involved six laps of a 100 mile circuit that follows the island’s south coast to Fort Raz, across to Fort Albert and the Breakwater, the island of Burhou, around the Les Casquets lighthouse and then due east back to the airport.

Ralph Burridge, Race Event Coordinator said “That really was a cracking weekend”. So said Peter Earp, the event co-ordinator of the Royal Aero Club Racing Team, a sentiment with which I whole-heartedly agree. The weather was ideal for racing, with light winds and good visibility. Apart from being the venue of the final race at which both the British and the European Championships are decided, by having the largest number of aircraft racing than at any other venue during the season, the racing community gave Alderney another ‘feather in its cap.”

Pete Cunningham of Aurigny Air Services said “Thank you all for coming, you always seem to bring great weather with you.  We look forward to seeing you next year, when Aurigny will continue to sponsor this event.”

The final part of the Channel Island Way Podcast series has now been released. Part 6 includes Alderney where we complete the circuit of the island before chatting with Joanna Parmentier about island life and some of the key moments it has played in history.

The Channel Island Way is a walking guide published in 2011 by Coast Media which links all the perimeter walks around the Channel Islands into one, 100 mile route. We were sponsored by visitguernsey.com to walk sections of the route and produce a series of podcasts about the walks, the islands and some of the people we met on route.

The 6 part audio series contains interviews with key people and we share our thoughts on terrain, equipment and accommodation. It was a lightweight backpacking trip for us and the book proved to be an invaluable guide.

All six Podcasts are available below at The Outdoors Station

The Alderney part on Part 6 begins at 14 minutes into the podcast.

The Channel Island Way - Pt6 Alderney

The complete series podcasts 1-6

A video show-casing the beautiful islands of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Get an idea of what an island hoping holiday can offer within the close but diverse islands of Alderney, Guernsey, Sark & Herm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nmg2FgASTQ

The Channel Island Way is a walking guide published in 2011 by Coast Media which links all the perimeter walks around the Channel Islands into one, 110 mile route. We were sponsored by visitguernsey to walk sections of the route and produce a series of audio podcasts about the walks, the islands and some of the people we met on route. This video will give you an idea of our journey as we travel to Guernsey initially, before landing on Herm. A day later, we took the ferries to Sark, for another 2 days coastal walking. Once we return to Guernsey, we walk the East, South and West coasts and then spend a day on Alderney before returning to Guernsey for an afternoon on the water and heading home. The 6 part audio series contains interviews with key people and we share our thoughts on terrain, equipment and accommodation. It was a lightweight backpacking trip for us and the book proved to be an invaluable guide. For more information about these and over 300 other podcasts please visit The Outdoors Station.

Due to the fantastic success of last year’s Front Cover Brochure Competition, Visit Alderney is running the competition again this year.  The winner will not only have their photo of Alderney featured on the front cover of the 2012 Alderney Tourism Brochure but will also win 2 free flights from the UK to Alderney (or vice versa) provided by Aurigny Airlines Services, the official sponsors of the competition. 

The competition starts today, 19th July 2011 and competitors have until the end of September (30th) to submit their entries before they are put to the public vote.  This year the competition is being rolled out through the Visit Alderney website and Flickr gallery as well as Facebook, in order to reach a wider audience.

Joanna Parmentier, Marketing Manager, States of Alderney said “The competition was so successful last year that we had a number of entrants asking us to run it again this year.  It is a great way to get Alderney residents and visitors involved in marketing Alderney, and is a welcomed help in selecting the front cover image for the brochure which is always a difficult task.  Last year’s winning shot was taken by Helene Matthews and is featured as the front cover of the current 2011 brochure, and also the two runner-up images were used as full page spreads within the brochure.”

She continued “This year Aurigny.com has kindly agreed to sponsor the competition by providing two free flights to or from the UK direct or via Guernsey. Also the competition will be promoted in their En Voyage Magazine, on their Facebook page and website.”

Aurigny managing director Malcolm Hart added: “We are delighted to be involved in this competition. Alderney is such a picturesque island we have no doubt that there will be a wealth of fantastic images from which to choose – the difficulty will surely be finding just one that sums up all that makes it so great.”

To enter the competition, simply email your 2 chosen photos of Alderney to competition@visitalderney.com before the closing date of Friday 30th September 2011.  For more information and the rules and regulations for the competition please go to - visitalderney.com/competition/ or facebook.com/visitalderney

Our brochure front cover photo competition is back, where we are asking you to submit your favourite photos of Alderney, where the winning image will be used for the front cover 2012 Alderney Brochure.

Full details are coming soon; in the meantime though check out last year's entries on our Flickr page.

Brochure competition entries  2011

Terms & Conditions

Last year’s winning image

The Alderney Men’s Open Golf Championship got into full swing on Saturday, 4^th June 2011, with 94 competitors teeing off in the hope of winning the prestigious Coursemaker Cup on Alderney’s challenging 9-hole golf course. This year the highly successful annual golf competition attracted golfers from the UK and the other Channel Islands, with the majority visiting from Guernsey. 

The competition, sponsored by Aurigny Air Services, was won by Guernsey’s Dave Goupillot (13 handicap) scoring a total of 131.  This was the first time that Mr Goupillot had won the Alderney Men’s Open Golf Championship, having won his place in an charity auction organised by Specsavers. The Managing Director of Aurigny, Malcolm Hart, had donated one of his guest positions for auction and Mr Goupillot was the lucky bidder to win a golfing weekend in Alderney including flights, accommodation, all hospitality and free entry into the competition.  You could say that Mr Goupillot is on a lucky streak!

Mr Goupillot said “What a weekend! Thank you to all members of the Alderney Golf Club and all who entered.  I can’t believe what has happened here it’s been a great weekend.  I would like to say a big thank you to everyone, including all catering staff, the hospitality has been amazing, and the whole event has been really well organised.  I have entered the Alderney Open four times before, but not for twelve years and this is the first time that I have ever won anything.  At the start of the day I was the last to qualify and 10 off of the lead, I am just lost for words.” 

Second place was won by Alderney’s John Adamson who was one of the youngest contestants in the competition with a score of 134, followed in third place by Alderney’s James Maxwell who also scored 134.

The prizes were presented by Aurigny Air Services Managing Director Malcolm Hart who said “Firstly I would like to make big thank you to Tyrone McCormack the Vice Captain of the Alderney Golf Club and the rest of the committee for all of their hard work in organising a fantastic competition and secondly I would like thanks all those players from off island who travelled to Alderney specifically to take part in this event, with the general doom and gloom of the economic climate, it is a much needed boost, not only for the lsland, but also for the Alderney Golf Club and your support is greatly appreciated by all.”

He continued “Aurigny are proud to support this event because Aurigny is an Alderney company with strong local roots and by sponsoring the Golf Open it puts us at the heart of the community, which is exactly where we want to be.  This was the ninth year that Aurigny have sponsored this event and we look forward to sponsoring it again next year, making it ten consecutive years .”

Tyrone McCormack the Vice Captain of the Alderney Golf Club said “The Alderney Golf Club welcomes all visiting players and is thankful for their continued support.  It is great to see so many visit from away some of whom, come back every year to take part.  I would like to say a big thank you to our sponsors Aurigny.”

Since the completion of the development of the commercial quay the harbour has seen a significant increase in the size and number of vessels that have been operating into Alderney. This Monday, 23^rd May the cruise ship ‘Island Sky’ will be returning to the island and it is planned that she will be able to come alongside Alderney’s new and improved commercial quay, making her the largest ship to have ever been berthed in Braye Harbour.  The ship will arrive at 14:00 and will stay alongside the quay until she departs at 17:00.

On Saturday, 14th May 2011 Braye Harbour was particularly busy with the arrival of the passenger ferry ‘Victor Hugo’, the Navy ship ‘HMS Ledbury’ and the cruise ship ‘Ocean Nova’. And again on Tuesday, 17^th May 2011 the harbour handled four ships; the general cargo vessels ‘Isis’ and ‘Huelin Endeavour’, the cruise ship ‘Island Sky,’ and the bulk fuel tanker ‘Sarnia Cherie’.

Steve Shaw Alderney Harbour Master said “The redevelopment of the commercial quay has allowed the opportunity to berth larger ships.  The Island Sky at 90 metres by 16 metres will be the largest ship to have ever been berthed in Braye Harbour.”

He continued “This clearly gives an opportunity for other small cruise ships to be berthed alongside the quay and will hopefully create a window of opportunity for us to increase this business and thereby significantly contribute towards tourism on the island”.