L'itinéraire de randonnée historique et de mémoire : histoire et patrimoine V1 en vallées de l'Yères et de la Bresle

The hiking circuit : tourism, memory and environment

The historical and memorial hiking route

                The hiking circuit revolves around 21 V1 flying bomb launching bases spread across the Community of Communes Interregional of Aumale - Blangy-sur-Bresle territory. This itinerary, freely accessible throughout the year, is lined with various mediation supports and fixtures designed to inform visitors during their hike.

To enrich the hiker experience, a mobile application available for free on the App Store and Google Play platforms has been initiated. It contain additional information about the launching sites and offer the visitor a privileged look at this time through the testimonies of several contemporary residents of these events (the construction of bases, the flying bomb tests and shots, the bombings, the launching sites in the post-war period, etc.).

In addition to this free access to the year, guided tours organized by the Community of Communes Interregional Aumale - Blangy-sur-Bresle are provided on certain dates. In the context of annual events or commemorations (such as the European Heritage Days or the 8 th May commemorations), the hiking circuit is highlighted.

The historical and memorial hiking route was inaugurated on the 15 th June 2019, symbolic date because it is the 75 th anniversary of the first shots of V1.

Itineraire V1 [English SUBTITLE]

The environmental part of the project

                The hiking route around the remains of the V1 launching bases has an important environmental dimension. Such a project can not succeed without participate to the environmental balance of the territory, the enhancement is also to protect the huge biodiversity of the forest of Eu and the valleys of Bresle and Yères.

The majority of the bases is in full nature, some in forest or in wooded areas, others near fields and pastures. It was essential for the Community of Communes Interregional Aumale - Blangy-sur-Bresle to limit as much as possible the impact of the fixtures for the local fauna. All precautions are therefore taken to prevent the different structures of the launching bases are now a threat in their habitat natural, they were previously inaccessible for most animals (because partially buried underground or hindered by vegetation). This is also the case for the various mediation supports that are installed on certain sites. Several measures have been taken : slats have been set up where animals may be stranded, protections have been deployed to avoid harm to amphibians, etc.

A partnership for the preservation of protected natural species within V1 sites in the forest of Eu has also been concluded between the Community of Communes and the "Groupe Mammologique Normand". This association aims to ensure the conservation and protection of bats, an animal of which all species are protected at national and European level. First of all, that consists of conducting the work outside the hibernation period, as some bats find refuge in the concreted buildings of the V1 sites. Then, once the work is finished, it is a question of guaranteeing them a protected habitat thanks to the installation of grids with the standards recommended in order to prohibit any intrusion in the buildings.