Sark, 1890: Out of season
From The Star of 11th December 1890, an extract from 'The Channel Islands out of Season,' an article reprinted from the Manchester City News.
One day we visited Serk, distant an hour by steamer. The attractions of the place are many and the number of people who come to ruralize in the summer months is considerable. The air is said to be finer than that of Guernsey, and many of the natives leave their comfortable homes for some small cottage in Serk, where they can enjoy freedom from the hustle and bustle of St Peter Port. Certainly there could hardly be a healthier situation than on this fertile table-land 300 feet above sea-level, and presenting a variety of scenery hardly found elsewhere in such a small compass. Should you have an objection to look on the melancholy ocean, you will observe that most of the cottages are built where there is little or no sea view - an unexpected feature in an island little more than a mile broad. The French element predominates among the 600 natives, who combine fishing and agriculture with the happiest results, and we might mention that they are fishers of tourists, who have been heard to complain loudly of being sharked. Paterfamilias would find a grand opening for a thrifty holiday here, for his brood, instead of forgetting the French so painfully acquired at school, would add to their store daily. The cliff scenery round the island is wonderful. The colouring of the water surpasses description; we have seen nothing to equal it on the shores of the much-vaunted Mediterranean.
See also Serk, by the Reverend Nehemiah Curnock, from the Methodist Recorder, reprinted in the Star, December 16 and 18, 1890.