As they waited for a piping hot bâchin (pan) of the farmhouse delicacy to cool so it could be spooned into jars, they were entertained with traditional Jersey music, watched the final of the National Trust’s conker contest and shopped at a Genuine Jersey farm and craft market.
The event had begun on Thursday morning, when the first volunteers assembled in the pressoir (cider barn) to begin a day and a half of peeling and chopping apples.
In the end it took more than 50 hours from the first apple to the sealing of the last jar, and during that time about 500 people visited The Elms.
Event organiser Donna Le Marrec said the annual event showed that the National Trust did far more than protecting the Island’s built heritage.
‘Black butter making provides an insight into a way of Island life that has been largely lost since the days when it was made every year on most farms,’ she said.
‘It also shows that the National Trust is not just about preserving buildings – it is also about keeping alive old customs and traditions,’ she said.
