A Mite which did, 1934

24th August 2015
Wee Mite, Guernsey Press 1933, Priaulx Library collection.
'The evolution of an aeroplane designed, built and flown in the Channel Islands.' A cutting from the magazine Flying, January 3, 1934, written by local journalist and aviation enthusiast, Basil C de Guérin, in his Scrapbook 1919-1934, p. 91, in the Library. The photograph, from the Guernsey Press, shows the aeroplane ready for a test flight on Vazon in September 1933, with its designer and builder C W Noel at the controls. The Library has just received a very interesting donation from a descendant of Harry Kaines, who was one of the builders of the Wee Mite. The scrapbook contains cuttings and several fine photographs. The plane eventually crashed and was written off; its story is told by Bill Green in his autobiography, Guernsey Green.

Teddy Zabiela tells of his days with the Spurs

11th August 2015
Spurs program 1948, Priaulx Library collection
From the Star, July 11 1944 & July 13 1944. By 'Linesman.' The beginnings of Guernsey's link with Tottenham Hotspur. The 1948 match program is from the Library's collection. Ted Zabiela ran the White Hart Hotel (which he must have named after White Hart Lane); his 'proudest moment was in 1946 when he procured for the Spurs the signature of Len Duquemin, the centre-forward who was to bring such honour to the island by his brilliant record both as a player and as a sportsman of the highest order (Guernsey Evening Press, February 5 1960).' Islander Len Duquemin was Spurs' leading goalscorer that year.

Century-old island business closing

5th August 2015
Collenette's shoe shop 1969, Priaulx Library collection
Businesses come and go in the world of high-speed commerce, but the 'Closing Down Sale' notice in the window of a long-established island concern always involves a little nostalgia, a little sadness, for someone. So it is with the shoe business of A W Collenette and Son, one of the Town shops which islanders have come to take for granted. From the Guernsey Press, c. 1969. [Scrapbook No 24, Staff F, p. 153.]

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