The Chalk-Banks of Le Quesne and the Mont D'arguël

ARGUEL D 195E Mont d’Arguel Sénarpont D LE QUESNE D 21 le Lige 1 r © S. Rannou © S. Liomer N 0 50 100m Starting at: Le Quesne The Chalk-banks of Le Quesne Cemetery D Starting Point Protect the natural environment and the Mont d’Arguël Wooded areas Le Quesne Church To help with the conservation of the rich natural habitats of this fragile site, please: Time: 30 mins Pasturelands . Always use the marked trails Le Quesne, 9km A walk in the wooded countryside, . Keep gates and stiles closed from Hornoy-le-Bourg, around an old hill fort watched over, from the . Respect the fauna and flora Chalk-banks 34km from Abbeville, shadows, by the Virgin Mary. Distance: 1,5km . Take your litter away with you 40km from Amiens . Always keep dogs on leads Urbanised areas This trail is maintained by the Communauté de Communes du Sud Ouest Amiénois Route: moderate Sign posts Route continues Wrong direction Change of direction For more information: • Tourist Offices: Poix de Picardie : 03 22 41 06 05 Airaines : 03 22 29 34 07 Abbeville 0 250 500 m • Somme Tourist Board: Spring www.somme-tourisme.com Péronne www.somme-nature.com Amiens This leaflet was created by Hornoy-le-Bourg Summer the Somme County Council Le Quesne 43, rue de la République - 80026 Amiens cedex 1 Autumn 03 22 71 80 80 www.somme.fr Winter Managers of the site: Walk Exploring the natural sites Summer 2012 Summer Updates and printing: imp. Cg80 - Translation: C. Carnel - - Carnel C. Translation: - Cg80 imp. and printing: Updates Written by: Ombeline CHIVE - Design: L’Agence par A Propos A Propos par L’Agence Design: - CHIVE Ombeline by: Written 20 © C. Bazin © C. The Chalk-banks of Le Quesne find an information panel telling the history of the chalk-banks Preservation of the site and village. Continue along the In order to restore and reinforce the and the Mont d’Arguël trail to the left to return to the authenticity and the natural richness hill fort and continue for about of such a site, the Conservatoire The River Liger, flowing at the bottom of the wooded valley towards the River Bresle, is twenty metres until you come to d’Espaces Naturels de Picardie and the municipality of Le Quesne initiated a dominated on the right bank by a steep slope. One of these hillsides, overlooking the village steps on the left. Follow the edge © D. Frimin / Conservatoire / Conservatoire Frimin © D. d’espaces naturels de Picardie project to re-conquer the chalk-banks. of Le Quesne, culminates at the top in an old hill fort: the Mont d’Arguël, protecting its village Bats: Through winter the cavity at Le Quesne hosts of the woods and admire on After extensive clearance work to return perched on the hillsides. This is a walk offering splendid panoramic views over the valley. a colony of bats essentially composed of the Greater your left, amidst the grasslands, the area to grasslands, grazing was Mouse-eared Bat: a species which is in decline in Europe. The Greater Mouse-eared Bat is the only two levels of earth marking the then reintroduced to the site in 1994 in European bat to hunt its prey on ground-level (ground emplacement of the ramparts of partnership with a local farmer. A walk in the Liger Valley strong and unpleasant smell. beetles, dung beetles, crickets, earwigs and spiders, Michel Doinel, After a short climb of a rather You might also recognise Carline etc.) It hunts in open areas, above cut grasslands the ancient fortress extending Mayor of Le Quesne and pasturelands surrounded by hedges. down from the hill fort. A cavity airy nature, the chalk-banks Thistle, or the rare and delicate The Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels de Picardie “Even though of Le Quesne offer remarkable Dark Red Helleborine: this wild and the municipality are working together for the where bats hibernate can be they were very preservation of the bats. 26 individuals were counted found about ten metres downhill important during views over the village of Le orchid flowers in May-June; in 2011. the time of Quesne and the Liger Valley. later in the season you might see from the trail. motte and bailey the violet flowers of the Chiltern Twenty metres later, you will A little further down, the © M. Doinel © M. castles, and Guided tour Gentian. Continue the climb to find steps on the left that will under the reign of Louis XIV, the cleared space at the exit of the To reach the site, turn right the right and follow the hairpin Rannou © S. chalk-banks and viewpoint from the take you up to the hill fort of woods opens onto great views Mont d’Arguël were for a long time along the path climbing up bend of the trail which will take the Mont d’Arguël, where a over the village of Le Quesne. abandoned and disappeared under alongside the cemetery; you will you into a copse. Calvary was erected in 1861. Continue following the crest of A little bit of history the trees and undergrowth. Through then arrive at the information Here, you can gaze over the the hillside until the stile. The This headland, perched on the management of the hillsides the panel presenting the site. Take Liger Valley. If you look carefully descent to the tight bend on the summit of a steep hillside of nearly site now attracts many visitors, 165 metres, made the site a strategic the steps; as you do you will as you walk you may see the right is quite steep; it will bring cyclists and locals for its panoramic see the pasturelands along the position. Used as an encampment by views over the Liger Valley, between Bee Orchid. Walking around you to the foot of the hillside. riverside. Be careful, the passage Caesar’s legions, the site became a Normandy and Picardie.” the hill fort continue to the left, Follow alongside the gardens of fortified village from the 10th century. along the slope is quite narrow following alongside the gardens Le Quesne to reach - just after In 1402, during the Hundred Year War, About the site and the fences are electrified. At of Arguël. Once you have the sanctuary dedicated to the the French destroyed the fort, which the summit of the trail you will returned to the first plateau, take Virgin Mary on the right - the was dominated by the English at that > Proprietor: Municipalities of find an array of wild orchids, the path to the right through time. A leper colony was established Le Quesne and Arguël / Conservatoire Top © D. d’espaces naturels de Picardie end of the walk. such as the Lizard Orchid: the the woods until the end of the in the north-west of the village until > Size: 2,6ha Berger’s Clouded Yellow: This butterfly is fond of the beginning of the 18th century. scientific name, Himantoglossum sunny, fallow land, open habitats or stony, dry land trail. Turn right to return to > Maintenance partners: high in altitude. On the underside, the male is coloured In June 1940, the hillside became - Conservatoire d’Espaces Naturels hircinum derives, in part, from a fluorescent green while the female is white; the the village of Arguël and climb once more - a theatre of terrible battle; de Picardie the Latin for ‘goat-like’ referring apex of the forewing is black and rounded in shape, the mount’s impasse to reach a soldiers of the 19th Chasseurs à Pied speckled with lighter markings and one black dot. The > Financial partners: Europe, to the fact that this whitish upperside of both the male and female is yellow, with porch on your right taking you Battalion lost their lives here. Regional Council, County Council coloured plant gives off a rather the female having lighter forewings. back to the site. You will also .

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