Noonday gun fired for the first time this year
A SURE sign of summer being just around the corner are daffodils in the fields, the clocks going forward – and the noonday gun starting its daily firing at Castle Cornet.
But it did not feel much like summer yesterday as a small crowd gathered in windy and wet conditions to see and hear the cannon begin its 2022 activity.
This was the first time in two years that the traditional gun on the Curtain Battery had been used, with work on the castle for the last two summers meaning that the keepers had to use the smaller Number Two gun.
It was also the first time that castle keeper David Malledent had been involved in the Curtain Battery ceremony.
He took up the post last year and so was responsible, along with long-serving keeper Shaun Marsh, for the firing from the secondary position.
While most of the ceremony was the same, there were a few changes needed to the timing and so the two keepers had done a few practice runs leading up to the big day yesterday.
The gun and its emplacement have also been spruced up by Mr Marsh thanks to a pressure washer, after which it was time to polish the brass and the shoes and give the uniforms a brush.
As usual for the noon ceremony, the keepers wore the uniform of the Guernsey Royal Light Infantry from around 1880, although Mr Marsh said that on other occasions they don different uniforms, such as the RGLI khaki from the First World War for Remembrance Sunday as well as RAF, Navy, Army and Force 135 on other dates.
In recent years a special guest has had the privilege of firing the maiden shot of the season, but this year it was down to Mr Marsh to do the honours.
There will be two 21-gun salutes later this year, on Liberation Day and for the Platinum Jubilee.
. There will be lots of people in military uniform at Castle Cornet this weekend, for the Military History Company's HistoryFest between 10am and 5pm each day. Normal castle admission fees apply.
