By Carol Garrington
L'Ancresse Bay, the old part of St Peter Port, the west coast is another favourite place... So much has changed over the years since I grew up in Guernsey, but of course all these places will stay the same thank goodness.
The picture of the daisies reminds me of warm summer days walking around the lanes in St Peter Port and seeing these growing out of nowhere on granite walls.
After the National Trust launched its bucket list of 50 Things children should do before they turn 11¾, we noticed that a lot of the must-do activities on the list have been the favourite past-times for children in Guernsey for decades! So, we got nostalgic and asked our lovely Facebook fans what their favourite childhood memories of Guernsey holidays were; the response was overwhelming!
From rock pooling to picking locally grown food to eat, the things that these now fully-grown adults enjoyed as children, can still be enjoyed by children visiting Guernsey today:
Caroline Le Page
'Walking along the cliff paths to spend the day at Petit Bôt; going to the sand racing at Vazon; watching the Hill Climb Race in town; watching the Battle of Flowers; attending all the Parish shows; walking through the lanes; picking tomatoes and peppers; seeing the beautiful island each time we were in the plane landing or taking off.'
Diane Holstrom
'I was nine years old, back in 1964, the first time my Mom brought me from Chicago to her Guernsey homeland. My list of favorites is endless, and exists to this day still. When I was nine, along with tide pools, cliff paths and boat rides to Herm, a few favorites were peanut butter sandwiches on the beach and walking down the Pollet all by myself to buy a KitKat bar!'
Tim Carré
'Climbing through and exploring the WW2 German bunkers around L'Ancresse, finding golf balls with my grandpa, riding my bike through the lanes, making a sledge for the snow, family trips to Herm and Sark, playing on the Vale beaches with my friends, running over the rocks, catching eels in the golf course water holes... Great place for kids to grow up!'
Sarah Wilson
'Playing and swimming on Ladies Bay, rock pooling, looking for golf balls on L'Ancresse with my cousins, riding my bike on car free roads, the Water Lanes, the smell of tomatoes and the sight of the greenhouses full. Trips to Sark and riding on the horse and carts. They were happy carefree days...'
John Roberts
'Finding a quiet corner in rocks off L'Ancresse and dangling a string with hook and shell-bait hoping for a 'big one' to come along; galloping through bracken and racing my cousin Barry back for tea, including Guernsey Gâche ... where did all the years go?'
Share your childhood memories of Guernsey by emailing us at love@loveguernsey.net
From exploring history and culture to, to enjoying the relaxed pace of life and beautiful sandy beaches. Check out our video of holidaymakers sharing their tips and ideas for a holiday in Guernsey:
Don't forget to share yours by emailing us at: love@loveguernsey.net!
We met Cheryl at one of VisitGuernsey’s exhibitions in the UK when she entered a competition to win a Guernsey teddy. She won the competition and the teddy was hers, she even gave it a good Guernsey name ‘Corbet’ after the VisitGuernsey team member she met.
A few weeks later, we received a lovely thank you letter from her along with a photograph of Corbet. We couldn’t resist sharing the letter and photograph with our fellow Guernsey lovers which will no doubt put a smile on your face:
“Thank you for the Guernsey teddy. Is a teddy important? It must be – I still have one of mine – over 50 years old and made by my aunt. I have nothing at all left from this time other than Bodger and a handful of faded photographs.
"Teddies are a marker of time and always have a story attached: your first friend perhaps, your first love. And so Corbet has been given with love to my partner’s son who is expecting (or more precisely, his wife is) his first child: their time-marker, their baby’s first love.”
Here at VisitGuernsey we feel sorry for our beautiful Guernsey Golden Goats; they don’t get nearly as much love as Guernsey cows do. In an attempt to rectify the situation, we’re bringing you our top four reasons why you should love these adorable golden haired beauties as much as we do!
Goat bones dating all the way back to 2000BC have been found in Guernsey making them a part of Guernsey heritage.
They have a docile nature which also makes them good household pets.
Peter and Mandy Girard keep a small herd in St Peters where you can try their delicious produce.
Their fine bone structure and golden blond fur have secured their status as the bombshells of the goat world.
By the Woodfields from Sunderland
Excellent tourist information, we got the best out of the Island courtesy of the Ormer bus card on day journeys and visited Sark and Herm.
An excellent holiday with excellent weather!
By anon
1. Everyone is so friendly - both locals and other holiday makers
2. It's very relaxing
3. The weather is better than at home too!
By Per Cessle from Sweden
I love....
The clean town
The beautiful beaches
That the weather is not too hot which is nice
And the information centre is lovely, with friendly staff
By the Griffths from Shropshire
We had a very nice stay in Guernsey - we tried a nice local ale (Liberation Ale) in the Albion House Tavern in St Peter Port. We visited the Folk Museum in Sausmarez Park which included the history of Guernsey tomato producing.
We visited the Shipwreck Museum in Fort Grey which is very interesting, and afterwards we went to the Guernsey Pearl for a cream tea.
Then we went to Herm Island and walked around the Island coast path via Puffin Bay - very picturesque. The ferry to Herm Island is very pleasant and convenient - we enjoyed it greatly. And also the buses on Guernsey are very good!
By the Wappmannsbergers from Germany
We're on our seventh stay on the Island, it's nice, quiet and we hope Guernsey will not build big buildings and disturb its nice, lovely landscape!
The people are very friendly, helpful and going by bus is easy and not expensive. The beaches are all very clean, the cliff paths beautiful and well prepared. I think we will come again!
