Dismayed where my beautiful island has gone
I am writing this in dismay at where my beautiful island has gone. We have seen many changes to life over the years. Are they all for the better? When I was young, we had an innocent childhood, living on vineries in lovely old Guernsey cottages. We helped mum and dad pick and eat and trim and steam with those lovely hot boilers. Our reward was eating beautiful red yummy tomatoes. No more, sadly.
We had lovely Sunday school picnics with streamers coming out of the lorries. No more, sadly. We danced around the Maypole and had lovely fairs on L’Ancresse. No more, sadly.
We went to the beach, always sunny weather. Not so much now, sadly. We went on the beautiful Sarnia or Caesarea for £8 return. No more, all gone.
We had our photos taken by the Waller lady. No more. We had proper Guernsey milkshakes at the market and fresh fruit, veg, fish and meat. Sadly, no more.
The Odeon and the Gaumont picture shows with ice cream sellers are no more.
The Salvation Army band on Pembroke on Sundays are no more. School days where we sat at our desk with ruler, pencil, rubber and inkwell are sadly no more. Fishing at the harbours with chicken and chips from Chicken Platter. No more.
Hot bread on Sundays from Island Wide is no more. No more Warry’s, Maison Carre or Le Noury. Tears. No more Guernsey shops, sadly.
No more loyalty to workers, you’re dropped like a stone. No more loyalty to old age pensioners. £5,000 a month to rent a room in a home. Yuck. No more doctors sitting on your bed and reading your Beano. No more St John’s caravan outside Town Church in December. No more little schools, the bigger the better. No more putting plasters on children, let them bleed to death, sadly. No more Baa Baa Black Sheep. Rainbow Sheep now.
What is the normal way of life is computers, mobile phones, WhatsApp. Subjecting our children to all sorts of evil ways like indecent images of children, paedophiles, videos of killings and just a slap on the wrist for it.
Don’t forget the vandals, robbers, attackers. Just another slap on the wrist. Oh and when all this happens to you, you are just ignored.
Not us, but them.
Can’t all these things be banned like all the good things that we’ve lost over the years? Or is this way of life better than what we had. Please answer me. Take care and remember our old Guernsey. A La Perchoine!
MARILYN PENNEY