A visit to the tiny island of Sark in the English Channel felt like stepping back to the 1950s, with no cars, winding lanes and horse-drawn carriages. The island, between England and France, is often called the jewel of the Channel Islands.
Saskia Rowlands and her mother visited during a stay in nearby Guernsey. They took a choppy ferry crossing from Guernsey to Sark's small harbour. A tractor-drawn carriage called the 'toast rack' carried them up the steep hill into the village.
No cars allowed by law
Private cars have never been allowed on Sark and are banned by law. The only motorised vehicles permitted are tractors for farming, deliveries and transporting visitors, plus a tractor-pulled ambulance. The island's 500 residents and visitors get around by bicycle, on foot or by horse and cart.
They hired two mountain bikes from Avenue Cycles. The island is 3.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide, so it's possible to explore it in a day. The tracks are rocky, but that adds to Sark's charm.
La Coupée and Sark Henge
Their first stop was La Coupée, a narrow strip of land connecting Big Sark and Little Sark. The dramatic isthmus is formed from sedimentary rock and now has railings for safety. Until 1900, there were no barriers, and on windy days schoolchildren would reportedly crawl across on hands and knees. Repairs meant they could only walk halfway, but the view of bright blue sea and crashing waves was breathtaking.
They also visited Sark Henge, a modern stone circle built in 2015. It has nine standing stones aligned with local landmarks or the sun, marking solstices and equinoxes.
Local food and shopping
They bought lunch at Sark's only supermarket, which stocks Waitrose products. They picked up freshly caught Sark crab, lemon, cress and crackers, and ate on a bench near Sark's gold Royal Mail post box. The café Sark Yard looked ideal for coffee or lunch when open.
They stopped at Caragh Chocolates, a stone cottage chocolate shop that began as owner Caragh's hobby in 1989 and is now internationally acclaimed. The chocolates use cream from Sark cows, and the café overlooks a garden. They had Earl Grey tea and chocolates.
Their final stop was Lorraine's Pottery and Silver Studio, run by local artisan Lorraine Nicolle, selling hand-thrown stoneware and silver trinkets and offering pottery lessons.
After returning the bikes, they walked down to the harbour for the ferry back to Guernsey. Rowlands said Sark felt like a storybook, and its magic will never leave them.
