Guernsey in 1974 – Part 2

Guernsey in 1974 – Part 2

This is an extract from Peter Haining’s guide book of 1974, which is as much interest today for the historian as to the tourist, as many of the places and industries described in his book have long vanished. Please do not take it as a current guide.

More of the Introduction

The island is a bustling place most of the time—Sunday being the exception as has been mentioned earlier—but it is still possible to “get away from it all’”’ walking through the pleasant valleys in the interior or on the more exposed (though definitely more bracing) northern commons. Trying to suggest routes for walks is an almost impossible task for Guernsey. The only answer is to go where you please—and because of the size of the island you will never be far from a bus stop (the island’s bus service is certainly one of the most regular, efficient and well organised in the British Isles) and in any case it is never very difficult to find the coast.

There are more activities being provided for the younger visitors to Guernsey—though the authorities are still very wary about allowing any entertainment that might attract “hippies and layabouts”’, to quote one State official. The gradual change of attitude may have come about because of a visit by The Beatles in 1964. The four Liverpool lads were impressed with the island but said not enough was being done for teenagers. Obviously any attempts to over-commercialise the island will be resisted, but the climate of change is growing. This is particularly noticeable through the number of folk and beat clubs springing up, plus the “‘pop” music boat trips and increased facilities for water ski-ing, surfing, underwater swimming and sports of all kinds.

 Incorrect Year. The Beatles actually played their historic Guernsey concerts on 8 August 1963. They performed two shows in a single night at the Candie Gardens Pavilion in St. Peter Port before returning to Jersey. They never returned to perform in 1964. However, the quote about their impression is highly consistent with 1960s British youth culture commentary.

 In the early 1970s, Guernsey's conservative government (the States of Guernsey) was deeply protective of its image as a respectable, family-friendly, upper-middle-class holiday resort. The influx of long-haired youth, "beatniks," and hitchhikers across Europe terrified local hoteliers and officials, who actively used local vagrancy and housing laws to discourage bohemian "layabouts" from loitering around St. Peter Port.

The late 1960s and 1970s saw a massive boom in Guernsey's youth-centric nightlife. Venues like The Savoy Hotel (hosting rock gigs) and the Fermain Tavern became legendary local hubs. This era also birthed Guernsey's modern surfing and scuba diving scenes along the west coast.

Today, rather than banning youth entertainment, Guernsey hosts major annual events like the Vale Earth Fair (the longest-running music festival in the Channel Islands) and SarkFest on the neighboring island, specifically designed to draw alternative crowds, artists, and live music fans.

Shopping facilities always play an important part on any female visitor’s agenda and Guernsey (St. Peter Port in particular) can boast some extremely good shops, stocking goods from the United Kingdom (most of them cheaper) and from the Continent (many of them unobtainable in Britain). Half day closing on the island is Thursday, by the way.

In 1974, Guernsey legally enforced "half-day closing" on Thursdays, shutting down St. Peter Port to give shop workers time off. Today, this practice is a thing of the past. High street retailers, local boutiques, and major supermarkets keep regular hours all week long, with many offering late-night shopping on Thursdays or opening on Sundays.

As far as traditional foods are concerned the only surviving morsel on Guernsey is the ‘‘Gache’’, a fruit cake which is still sold in certain small tea shops.

Guernsey Gâche (a rich fruit bread baked with raisins, sultanas, and mixed peel) was never limited to a few tea shops. Today, it is widely mass-produced, sold in every local supermarket, and heavily exported to tourists.

The island waters also produce a particularly large breed of crab which are served at many restaurants with local lobsters, crawfish and prawns as an alternative. Fish of all kinds are common, and even tropical species like the torpedo ray and sun fish find their way into the Channel Islands area. Small octopi are not unknown, either, and local fishermen can frequently be seen hunting for them in the rock pools at low tide. They may not be to everybody’s taste, but some Guernsey men and women consider them the finest of all sea foods!

Recently local commercial fishing fleets reported an unprecedented "octopus bloom". Warming sea temperatures caused a massive explosion of common octopuses in local waters.The Culinary War: Far from being a niche taste like in 1974, local chefs at Le Nautique and other island restaurants adapted their menus to showcase local octopus. This boom is actually a double-edged sword: the booming octopus population is so hungry that they are raiding local pots and eating the island's famous crabs and lobsters before fishermen can harvest them!

Finally, a word about going to live on Guernsey. Because of the demand for land and houses, the States of Guernsey have put into operation a system which safeguards a reasonable amount of priority for islanders. The Cadastre Office of the States judge the amenities of every house and then put a rateable value on it from £1 to £100. All properties with a figure of under £80 are then declared “‘for islanders only”. Anyone seeking a house, however, will find that Guernsey estate agents invariably advertise houses for sale whether or not they are open to mainland buyers. The average price of a house open to outsiders is around £20,000. If this sounds particularly high it should be measured against the amenities of the island which have already been mentioned. Further information about settling on the island can be obtained from the Tourist Office,

Guernsey's two-tier housing market, originally established by the 1974 Housing Control Law to prioritize islanders through rateable value thresholds, remains strictly enforced today. While a 1974 guidebook estimated open-market property prices at £20,000, modern valuations have surged significantly alongside updated population management and tax frameworks.