Guernsey Holidays – Specialties

Guernseys

Boatmen, tourists, shopkeepers – everybody wears them, even in the best restaurants in lieu of shirt and tie. Guernseys (never ‘guernsey sweaters’) were almost certainly developed by the stocking trade which flourished here in the Middle Ages. Knitted without seams, they are virtually wind, spray and snag-proof. Years ago every parish had its own pattern of stitches, given names like ‘Iadders’, ‘rope’, and ‘ripples of the sea’. Guernseys are available from most fashionable stores all around the islands, but best to buy from shops selling sailing equipment or other utilitarian gear – better quality, more choice and cheaper, too.

Milk-cans

Lovely hand-made copper cans. The original version came from Normandy in 980AD with the monks who also brought the “Froment du Leon”, ancestor of the famous Guernsey cow. The cans are almost spherical in shape, with a cylindrical neck, designed to use the minimum quantity of metal and hold the maximum of milk.

Water lanes

Rugged, picturesque lanes leading to the shore, with a stream running down the centre. The cool water produces ferns of great beauty, as well as nourishing a local plant known as ‘stinkin’ onions’. Best known water lanes at Moulin Huet and Petit Bot.

Vraic-gathering

Seaweed provides a cheap fertilizer known locally as vraic (pronounced ‘wrack’). Gathered by farmers and stacked so rain washes out salt, the drying piles smell like iodine. Common around coasts. Old photos show horse-drawn carts for the gathering; now modern farm equipment is used.

Day trips to France

Condor operate a hydrofoil service to St Malo. Several other travel agencies do excursion trips too.