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A photographic and video record of the many pebble towers lining Guernsey's sea walls will be created so that they can be "seen and remembered" in the years to come.
Families have been building pebble and rock towers, which have come to represent the 'Guernsey Together' spirit, around the island's coastline during their permitted hours of lockdown exercise.
Agriculture, Countryside & Land Management Service said last week that it would be removing towers that are deemed to be dangerous or unstable.
However, they have "agreed to pause" their removal of towers while a collection of photos and videos is compiled.
. #PebbleTowers #guernseytogether pic.twitter.com/HxgN8ZRkcu
— Boley Smillie (@BoleySmillie) June 3, 2020
Pictured: Islanders have started using the #PebbleTowers hashtag.
The Education, Sport & Culture Committee and the Guernsey Arts Commission are working in partnership to create a photographic and video record of the towers so they can be seen and remembered in the future.
“We have been going out to take pictures of the pebble towers around the island," said Russ Fossey, Head of Arts Development at the Arts Commission.
"Some had already started to return to the sea naturally, but that was part of the story as well. The towers are something islanders started and built though, and so we need their help in documenting them.
Pictured: One of the pebble towers captured by Monika Drabot from the Arts Commission.
"If anyone has any pictures they can share with us of the pebble stacks, then please send them in via social media. On top of that, if anyone helped build some of the towers, we would really like to interview them for the collection.”
ESC President Matt Fallaize said the pebble towers "have become symbolic of the way the people of Guernsey have faced the difficult challenges of the past few months."
"We did not want memories of the towers to be lost. They are part of our social history and in the future they will have special meaning for lots of people," he said.
Pictured: ESC and the Arts Commission are working together on the social history project.
"We are delighted to be working with the Arts Commission to get an extensive record of the towers in all their shapes and sizes and in as many locations as possible. The people of Guernsey spontaneously and creatively built these towers and we are hoping they can now help us record them by sending us their pictures.”
People can share their images on social media using the hashtag #PebbleTowers and people who built towers can contact the Arts Commission by emailing russ.fossey@gov.gg if they would like to be interviewed or to send a video explaining how and why you built a tower.
Pictured top: Deputy Matt Fallaize and Russ Fossey.
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