Priaulx Library preserves 170 years of pictures

Tim Hunter,BBC News, Guernseyand
Connor Belford,BBC News, Guernsey
News imageBBC A hand in a pink glove holding a photographBBC
The images are being digitised by the Priaulx Library to preserve them

The Priaulx Library in Guernsey is documenting and preserving more than 1,000 photos of local history.

Formed of donated family collections and photos from La Société Guernesiaise the oldest photo is believed to have been taken in 1845.

The images show the development of St Peter Port Harbour and significant island events like the departure of the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry in World War One.

Library assistant Kirstie Prevel said: "It's quite a fascinating thing. You can spend hours just looking at them!"

News imageKirstie Prevel opening a box of photographs
Kirstie Prevel took on the process of identifying, cleaning, and packaging the images to be preserved

She said the donated photos had been stored in different ways so they were being repackaged to help preserve them.

The photos have also been catalogued and digitised.

Once completed, the Priaulx Library will hold an exhibition to showcase the photos and the images will be uploaded to their online portfolio.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [email protected].


More from the BBC