North Regatta trophies provide fascinating glimpse of the past

The North Regatta was a massive northern celebration based on the island's maritime heritage combining a lot of fun for families and was an eagerly-anticipated part of the summer calendar.

It had its roots in the 1900s and became a big family day out in the 1960s and 1970s with land and sea events, plus boat events, fancy dress, greasy pole, truck pulling and a funfair. It also had tug of war, which started local interest in the sport and even led to the Guernsey Tug of War Association being formed.

The regatta also gave birth to "Nautocross" in 1969, when 11 road cars were raced on the seabed at St Sampson's Harbour at low tide, an event that later led to the creation of the Guernsey Autocross Club.

Trophies
All this nostalgia came to light after newer members of the North Regatta Association decided to collect up more than 30 trophies and cups that were competed for at the height of the regatta's popularity.

These are set to be handed over to the two douzaines later this month and decisions will be taken about how and when to display them, because not all the trophies are in the best of condition.

They do, however, represent a huge amount of island history and heritage and association member Chris Thompson and his colleagues have painstakingly collected all the names of winners on all the surviving trophies and recorded them digitally for the future. 

 The details are a fascinating reminder of some of the old companies that existed and supported the regatta plus some well known stalwarts of the regatta.

So what happened to such a great day out in the north? Sadly it came to an end when the marina was created in the harbour, which stopped so much of the harbour-based activities from taking place.

There will be a further update when it's been decided how best to display the old trophies. 

• A formal hand-over of the trophies to the douzaines has been arranged for 7pm on 27 May and parishioners are welcome to attend.