Constance Brown MBE - St. Brelades Bay, Jersey, Channel Islands
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member dtrebilc
N 49° 11.058 W 002° 11.564
30U E 558827 N 5448256
This commemorative stone records the fact that Constance Brown saved 22 people from drowning in St. Brelades Bay over a period of time that she lived nearby.
Waymark Code: WMWMWC
Location: Jersey
Date Posted: 09/19/2017
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member bluesnote
Views: 2

The stone is embedded in the wall at the side of a narrow track that leads to a slipway for launching boats.

It is near to where she used to run a cafe and also near to where she lived.

Sadly these days large refuse bins from the nearby cafe are left for collection and somewhat obscure the stone and its contents.

The online newsletter for St. Brelades Bay has the following article about her and her life.
"The story of Constance Brown MBE
by Tony Bellows

THERE can be treacherous currents in St Brelade's Bay which can sweep in and catch the unwary. Today we have trusty RNLI lifeguards keeping a sharp eye out for swimmers in trouble. Before the days of paid lifeguards, one resident of St Brelade's Bay saved many lives. This is her story.

Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1904, Constance Brown came to Jersey in 1919 with her parents. After her father died in 1929, she and her mother built and ran Brown's Cafe in St Brelade's Bay, on the site of the recently closed Zanzibar restaurant. After 1945, she moved to 'Mimosa', a small bungalow next door.

Her first sea rescue was in August 1926 and her last in August 1958. Between those years she rescued or helped to rescue at least 30 people in St Brelade's Bay. She was a founder member of the Jersey Lifeguard Club set up in 1953, and also received the bronze medallion of the Royal Life Saving Society and a qualifying certificate of the Surf Lifesaving Association of Australia. In 1967, in recognition of her voluntary lifesaving work over 40 years she received an MBE.

It was over the years at her cafe, looking out into the bay, that she grew to recognise a dangerous sea on the incoming spring tides, as the current swept around the rocks on the Ouaisne side of St Brelade.

"I can smell and hear a wicked sea, I have been down and warned people on the beach not to bathe. The currents are always changing and the strong pull takes people onto the rocks or out to sea" she said in an interview in 1967.

Sometimes she entered the water fully clothed, and she was also injured during one rescue when her back was ripped on rocks as she was pulled by a lifeline. On three consecutive afternoons in one summer she personally rescued a total of four people and on another occasion, she rescued four at one time.

But she was also active in campaigning for the placing of lifesaving equipment on Jersey's beaches, for the organisation of voluntary beach patrols and, eventually, the establishment of a professional beach guard service, and this legacy endures today, making the beach safer for swimmers. "We proved the need for the paid lifeguards and they do a very good job in the bay" she said." link
Website with more information on either the memorial or the person(s) it is dedicated to: [Web Link]

Location: Not listed

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