La Cotte de St Brelade is a Paleolithic site of early habitation in St Brelade, Jersey. Cotte means "cave" in Jèrriais; the cave is also known as Lé Creux ès Fées.Neanderthal man once lived here around 250,000 years ago - the earliest record we have of the occupation of the Channel Islands by an intelligent species. At that time, with sea levels slightly below those at present, Jersey was part of Normandy, a peninsula jutting out from the coast. It was not until after the last Ice Age that the sea eroded the coastline, separating first Guernsey, then Jersey and finally the Ecréhous from the mainland.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Henry B Wimbush was one of Raphael Tuck's most prolific artists, but despite his very high postcard output, he remains a shadowy figure, only briefly chronicled in art dictionaries and reference works. Although he first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1888, he was not famous as a painter, and his work was not very well known.

CHANNEL ISLANDS: A group of islands, on the S. side of the English Channel, 10 m. W. of coast of France and 80 m. S. of coast of England. The principal members of the group are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark. Geographically connected with France, they have been politically attached to England since the Conquest, and are now all that remain to it of the dukedom of Normandy. The land is parcelled out among a great number of small proprietors, and is carefully cultivated. The language is nearly the same as the old Norman French, but English is taught in all the parochial schools.