A taste of history at Le Viaer Marchi

The event, organised by the National Trust and sponsored by the Co-op, is a celebration of Sarnian craftsmanship and heritage and is now in its 38th year.

A schedule of family -orientated entertainment as well as food and wares from over 50 stallholders, and good weather, drew in hundreds of visitors from early in the evening.

Some stalls offered a mix of the authentic and edible, such as the Victorian-era Guernsey butter stand.

‘I’ve been working at the butter stall for as long as I can remember,’ said Jenny Naftel, 14.

‘These are original butter pats, you spread the butter onto it and press it down and into a cabbage leaf. That is how they would have served it in the past, to keep it cold. Then you can use the cabbage leaf to make soup.

‘My family own a farm and so we milk the cows and send the milk to the dairy, who make it into butter for us.

‘I love it here, I think it’s really great to show people what it used to be like,’ she said.

The Guernsey Beekeepers’ Association had a popular stall selling honey, figs and mead. Beekeeper Stephen Hayes had taught himself the art of skep making, an early beehive made of straw, by referring to an old textbook.

‘I’ve been doing it for 30 years only for the show, it has taken me three years to finish one of these.

‘I collect all the grass myself,’ he said.

One of many dressed up in Victorian costume, Anne Le Noury, said it was a good chance to see old friends at the show.

‘We are part of the Guernsey dancers and we perform every year, I think everybody likes seeing people they don’t see from one year to the next.

‘These outfits would have been found in France. The men’s outfits especially, with the white trousers, were worn by the very posh,’ she said.

One of the more unusual displays was a spread of household appliances dating from 1910 to the 1960s.

Peter Brehaut explained they belonged to his friend Lloyd Robilliard, who shows some of his collected items every year.

‘There’s everything from the old hoover to a washing machine.

‘People like the nostalgia, saying: “we used to have one of those”.’ he said.

The show raised money for the National Trust of Guernsey, which preserves and promotes natural areas and buildings of historical interest on the island.