Hédé and Bécherel: The Eleven Locks and the First Book Town in France
Brittany, France
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225
XP
+100 France
= 325 total
1 day
Hédé and Bécherel: The Eleven Locks and the First Book Town in France
225 + 100 XP
At Hédé-Bazouges the Ille-et-Rance canal climbs 27 m in 2 km through a staircase of eleven locks about 200 m apart, crossing between the Rance and Vilaine watersheds, with the Maison du Canal in the lock house of la Magdeleine at the middle of the flight and the ruins of an 11th- and 14th-century castle above the town. A few kilometres west, Bécherel — a Petite Cité de caractère whose granite houses were built on flax and hemp, and which spun the finest thread in Brittany — held its first book fair at Easter 1989 and filled up with booksellers in the years after, on the model of Redu in Belgium. Beside it the Château de Caradeuc stands in 37 hectares laid out by Édouard André in 1898, reckoned the largest park in Brittany.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Walk the towpath up all eleven locks, 200 to 300 m apart, and add up the 27 m the canal climbs in 2 km to get over the watershed between the Rance and the Vilaine — then find the buildings along the bank that went with it: the lock-keepers' houses and the stabling for the horses that hauled the challands before motorised barges came
2
of 4
In the Maison du Canal, in the lock house of la Magdeleine halfway up the flight, work out from the models where the water comes from: the locks are fed by rigoles running down off the ponds above, one of them piped, which are themselves filled by a web of ditches and small rivers
3
of 4
Buy a secondhand book in Bécherel, then look at the shop you bought it in: these are the granite houses of a town that grew rich on flax and hemp and spun what was called the finest thread in Brittany, before Napoleon's blockade and cotton killed the trade. Start at the Maison du Livre et du Tourisme for the town's story, and finish in the jardin du Thabor at the top, where the view runs to Dol-de-Bretagne, Dinan and Combourg
4
of 4
Walk up into Hédé's old walled town to the ruins of its 11th- and 14th-century castle, and trace where Duke Francis II's defences ran: in 1464 he ordered the town enclosed, but they settled for ditches along the south and east only, the rock escarpment and the castle being thought enough on the other two sides
Walk the towpath up all eleven locks, 200 to 300 m apart, and add up the 27 m the canal climbs in 2 km to get over the watershed between the Rance and the Vilaine — then find the buildings along the bank that went with it: the lock-keepers' houses and the stabling for the horses that hauled the challands before motorised barges came
In the Maison du Canal, in the lock house of la Magdeleine halfway up the flight, work out from the models where the water comes from: the locks are fed by rigoles running down off the ponds above, one of them piped, which are themselves filled by a web of ditches and small rivers
Buy a secondhand book in Bécherel, then look at the shop you bought it in: these are the granite houses of a town that grew rich on flax and hemp and spun what was called the finest thread in Brittany, before Napoleon's blockade and cotton killed the trade. Start at the Maison du Livre et du Tourisme for the town's story, and finish in the jardin du Thabor at the top, where the view runs to Dol-de-Bretagne, Dinan and Combourg
Walk up into Hédé's old walled town to the ruins of its 11th- and 14th-century castle, and trace where Duke Francis II's defences ran: in 1464 he ordered the town enclosed, but they settled for ditches along the south and east only, the rock escarpment and the castle being thought enough on the other two sides
Before you go
The park of Caradeuc is worth adding if you are here in high summer, but it opens to individuals only from 11 July to 30 August, 12 h to 18 h, plus the weekends of 6–7 June and 19–20 September, with guided tours by the owner at 14 h 30 and 16 h 30; 7 € full price, free under 15. Boats only work the eleven locks in spring and summer, outside the maintenance closures and the periods when the feeder ponds are being refilled, so out of season the flight is a dry staircase — still worth the walk. The Maison du Canal keeps small seasonal hours; check before driving out to La Madeleine. Bécherel's bookshops are individually run and many shut one or two days midweek and over lunch, so a Tuesday morning can find the town closed.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
225 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
325 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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