The end of the road.....

In it's hey day Guernsey was a thriving growing community with tomatoes and flowers being sold locally and exported. My grandfather was a grower as was my father-in-law.

The "Guernsey Tom" dominated the island's growing industry throughout the 20th Century, with special tomato trains laid on at Southampton and Weymouth during peak periods to cope with the influx. Guernsey became a "glass island", with 7% of its total surface area under green house by 1950. By the 1970s hundreds of acres of glasshouses were dedicated to tomato growing, with nine million trays per annum exported.


Wicker baskets used to transport tomatoes were reused by growers
Sadly, increased competition from Dutch producers and changes in the British railway system eventually made the export of the tomato less profitable, and Guernsey growers were forced to diversify. This was a very difficult time for the growers and much money was lost as a result. That is why today there are so many derelict sites. Houses cannot be built here as it's classed as horticultural land. It's expensive to demolish a greenhouse so they are left to fall down. There are still quite a number of flowers grown and exported but it's not the buzzing industry it was all those years ago. Very sad! These greenhouses are just at the top of our lane and there is a wondeful crop of blackberries here each year!