The Day of the Outing

The Day of the Outing: A Glimpse into Guernsey, circa 1901

It was the summer of 1901, just months after the death of Queen Victoria, and change was in the air. Yet on the sunlit cobbled streets of St. Peter Port, life moved at a charmingly unhurried pace. The photograph you see here captures one such moment — a rare day off, a social outing, and a treasured tradition.

The group in this image is the staff and families of Le Marchant & Sons, a prominent grocer and provisioner located at the bottom of Cornet Street. Every August, the owner, Mr. Charles Le Marchant, organized an annual charabanc excursion for his workers — a full day of leisure, laughter, and relief from the grind of shop life.

The outing began with much ceremony. The horse-drawn wagonette, freshly polished, was decorated with ribbons and greenery. The men dressed in their Sunday best — bowler hats, boaters, and waistcoats gleaming. The women wore lace-trimmed blouses and wide-brimmed hats adorned with feathers and flowers. Even the children were allowed to skip school, some still clutching their penny sweets as they posed for the photograph.

Their destination? Moulin Huet Bay — a favoured picnic spot immortalized by Renoir just two decades earlier. The ride would take them through the lanes of the Hauteville and past the countryside of St. Martin. Along the way, they would sing popular tunes, share baskets of sandwiches and ginger beer, and perhaps even stop for a game of rounders in the fields.

In this moment, captured forever in sepia and now gently brought to life in colour, the image is more than a simple group photo. It’s a celebration of working-class pride, of Guernsey’s close-knit community, and of a disappearing way of life at the dawn of the 20th century.

Many of these faces are now lost to time, but if you walk the same street today, you’ll feel the echoes of their laughter and the quiet rhythm of island life that endures.