Facebook photo historian reaches end of memory lane

Monday 22 January 2018

When one islander started trying to tell Jersey’s story to his daughters, little did he realise his efforts would end in a nostalgia-filled Facebook group with a cult following of over 1,000 people.

But now Tony Bertrand says he’s reached the end of memory lane after running out of photos to post, and recollections of the island's past to share on his page, ‘Tony King’s Jersey Nostalgia’.

Tony started the group just over a year ago but closed it down last night after announcing that "it had run its course."

Nonetheless, he has decided to leave the group dormant to allow the 1,440 members to browse through the pictures whenever they feel nostalgic.

It all started a few years ago, when Tony decided to put together a book about Jersey's old days for his daughters. He explained: "The idea for my site, 'Tony King’s Jersey Nostalgia', came about because of two books I wrote called 'Jersey in Temps Passé volume one and two'. I had basically written these books - illustrated, of course - to leave to my daughters to look back on and see a Jersey that was quickly disappearing.

"I lent a copy to someone on Facebook and this person thought it was brilliant and that I had to publish it. I thought it was too late in life to do this so I opted for making nice covers for them then, took the master copy to a printer in town and asked them to copy and bind them. I thought they looked really good."

While Tony only had 10 copies done to start, they quickly sold out. "I should have had a few hundred done had I known how well they would sell on Facebook," he said. A second volume came soon after, but as sales slowed down - and with Tony "having a bit of trouble" with the photocopies - he decided to stop them altogether.

Pictured: In a year, Tony has shared hundreds of photographs of Jersey's old days on his Facebook group. (Tony King's Jersey Nostalgia)

Not wanting to let all the photos go to waste and after being banned from a Facebook group "for reasons that he never found out about", Tony decided to start his own own: 'Tony King's Jersey Nostalgia' was born. It wasn't all about sharing photos for Tony, but also about the tidbits he shared with his loyal following. "Writing is something I have a passion for," he admits. 

Islanders quickly started joining the group and it wasn't long before some even started sharing their own nostalgic photographs, asking others for information on where they were taken or what shop used to be where. Many also praised Tony for his work and the time he dedicated to the group. "When I hear comments like 'Tony you bring the pictures to life with your writing' and others saying my site should be in schools as it is like a history book, or just people in general saying how much they enjoy it and how much they had learnt about the island that they didn’t know, I have to admit it makes me feel good," he explains.

However, Tony recently made the very difficult decision to close down the group. In a post to all members, he wrote: "After giving it quite a lot of thought, I have decided to close the site down in a couple of weeks time, so there is a wealth of photos on here, photos which took me a long time to collect, and now you can save them to your pc in around an hour maybe, there is a lot lol. Sorry to new people who have just joined but I feel it has run its course. I have just a few more pics to put up then that is it for me, I just have not got it in me anymore to keep searching for more pictures, the effort I have put into this people wouldn't believe, but thanks everyone and hope you have enjoyed." 

Pictured: The first traffic through the tunnel when it opened on 25 February 1970. (Tony King's Jersey Nostalgia)

While Tony said his decision was final, many tried to convince him to leave the group open so that they could continue to browse through its wealth of pictures and memories. Zena Pearce commented: "You don't have to close it down, you can transfer it to someone else that can keep it going, not everyone can download all the photos or has the storage space so it would be a shame to loose everything and all the hard work you have put in." 

Others simply thanked him for his work. Paul Matthews wrote: "I have enjoyed your page immensely and I am sorry to hear you will be ending it. Thanks for all the time and effort you have put in over the years, without you all of this would have been lost."  

In the end, Tony decided to simply leave the group dormant, starting from last night - exactly a year after he first opened it. He explained he didn't want to hand it over as "there is no one close enough to me on [the Facebook group] that I would leave what I think is a treasure to, and basically I want it to stay the way I leave it.", 

Pictured: A colorised picture of West Park.

He added: "The site has been so popular, more than I ever dreamed it would be but unfortunately it has to end because I have run out of photos and things to say. Though there may be more photos, I have put the best on this site, and I think I have covered everything about Jersey that I can think of. From 21 January, this site will become dormant, which means members can still browse the site but will not be able to post. My thanks to each and everyone of the members who have made this such a success, God bless."

While the group is now frozen in time, Tony has promised he will still be on Facebook. Anybody who might want to join the group can get in touch and request to be added. As for Tony, he won't be giving up on delving into the island's rich history. Inspired by other books he's written, he says that another site about singers and groups and even film stars of the 50s and 60s might be in store.

QUIZ: How well do you know Jersey?