Proud parish searches for answers
Robert Hall
BBC News
Searches are continuing on Jersey at a former children's home on where remains were found and where the mood among locals remains sombre.
On a small patch of grass in front of the former Haut De La Garenne children's home lie two bunches of scarlet flowers.
They have been placed at the foot of a granite memorial to a group of islanders who fell during World War I; in this case, all were past residents of the children's home.
A similar memorial hangs on the wall of nearby Gouray Parish Church; residents here in the Eastern Parish of St Martin recall the children walking down the steep tracks to attend services, or to sing in the church choir.
The link between this community and Haut De La Garenne stretches back far further than the period now under investigation by the police.
Many here knew children who were taken into care, and there's widespread shock that anyone who cared for them might have betrayed that trust.
But now parents taking a new generation of island children to school, or cutting through country lanes to shop, squeeze past satellite vans, TV cameras and photographers encamped outside the granite buildings they know so well.
Honorary Police, Jersey's parish-based volunteer force, have been drawn from all over the island to man the fluttering tapes which seal off familiar footpaths, and shield the forensic teams from public view.
They too simply cannot understand how the abuse outlined by their full-time colleagues could have passed unnoticed over such a long period.
Those who live among a patchwork of tiny fields and hedgerows are rightly proud of their parish. A short stroll away, the great walls of Gorey Castle, built on a granite outcrop above a pretty harbour provide, one of Jersey's most familiar panoramas.
From here, local boats can make the short journey to the Ecrehos reefs, or even the French port of Carteret.
But now the community finds itself in an uncomfortable media spotlight, and unable to find the answers that it seeks.
On Tuesday evening parishioners will gather in Gouray Church for a special service and alongside them will be Jersey's Lieutenant-Governor. They will try to picture the children of Haut De La Garenne, and will pray for any who suffered.
On the hill that rises behind the church, the archaeologists and search dogs work on.
In Jersey's capital, St Helier, ministers have pledged to do everything they can to ensure any failings in the island's childcare are exposed.
They, like the people of St Martin, are determined that the young residents of Haut De La Garenne must not be forgotten.