Chagos Islands Dispatch: 'Why would I miss West Norwood?'

The sand on the Chagos Islands is impossibly white, and the turquoise waters are the clearest I’ve ever seen. Antoine Lemaitre, a 67-year-old grandfather, is sitting in a deckchair, his toes dipped in the oh-so-soft sand, gazing out to the crystal-clear Indian Ocean stretched out in front of him. Which is when I ask him the obvious question: “Do you miss Burnley?” Mr Lemaitre smiles his great big gap-toothed endearing smile, and replies: “Why would I miss Burnley? Of course not.” Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/27/my-72-hour-ocean-odyssey-to-meet-the-chagos-islanders/ ► Sign up to the Telegraph's free new daily newsletter, From the Editor, bringing you the latest news, features and analysis from the Telegraph newsroom: https://telegraph.co.uk/customer/secure/newsletter/from-the-editor/ ► Get the latest headlines: UK (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/), US (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ and https://www.youtube.com/telegraph are websites of The Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.