Walk on May 15th

Brittany Walks is organising a walk on the Saints' Shore Way on Wednesday, May 15th, starting from the Chapelle Ste-Barbe at Toul-an-Hery (between Locquirec and St-Efflam) at 2pm. The route follows coast and country paths with spectacular sea views and Roman baths to admire on the way. All welcome, 4 euros.

Spring walking

Time to think about getting out on the trail and welcoming some warmer weather. The cliffs of Trédrez near Locquémeau offer wonderful views and undulating paths to get those muscles going... The most challenging section near Beg ar Forn has a short diversion to avoid a vertiginous section, but mostly the path runs about half way between cliff-top and the water with a few rocky scrambles. Not the route for an afternoon stroll, but a great walk!

Saint Pol

Saint Pol was one of the founding saints of Brittany. He came from the monastery at Llanwit Major in Wales and made his first stop on the island of Ouessant, where the town is still called Lampaul (holy place of Pol). He may have gone there deliberately to challenge a major centre of paganism. Once on the mainland his journey eastwards is echoed in names like Lampaul-Ploudalmezeau and Lampaul-Guimiliau.
Arriving near the current day St-Pol-de-Léon he was given land on the Ile de Batz by the local lord and there performed his famous feat of leading a dragon (using his bishop's stole) to the cliff edge and commanding it to dive to destruction into the sea. In the cathedral and elsewhere in St-Pol-de-Léon today, look out for many representations of St-Pol and/or his dragon. But you won't find any sign of a cliff at the Serpent's Hole on the Ile de Batz!

The end of the road...

The Saints' Shore Way finishes in lovely Lannion, and if you want to get the real pilgrimage effect, how about a last climb up the 142 steps to the church at Brélevenez? It's worth it just for views over the town!
The church was possibly a Templar foundation originally.

Guidebook

Thanks to those who have enquired about the guidebook for the Saints' Shore Way. It is finished and going to print shortly. You can pre-order on www.amazon.co.uk or from www.reddogbooks.com. It will also be on sale in tourist offices and bookshops along the way.
Plenty of time to organise a week of fabulous walking in Brittany and see these Roman baths on the route at Hogolo.

What's this?

Here's an unusual and very striking sight to be found along the Saints' Shore Way. But what is it?

Cornwall - The Saints' Way Walking Festival

Discover the Saints Way in Cornwall!

Walking festival in Cornwall - four day break to walk the Saints Walk with a guide and accommodation package from 15-18 April, or just join in for the two day walk (16/17th). For details, see www.saints.fowey.com

The idea for the Saints Shore Way in Brittany came from the Saints Way in Cornwall, envisaging the arrival of holy men during the Dark Ages after they sailed from places like Fowey across the Channel. The Saints Way is a 41km walk from Padstow on the north coast of Cornwall to Fowey in the south with much of interest related to Cornish religious and economic heritage along the way, as well as beautiful scenery.

SSW - good in January!

Great day out on the Saints' Shore Way even in this wet January. After a quick visit to the little parish close at Locquemeau, we went to the beautiful beach at Poul Rodou (hoping to eat at the famous Caplan & Co café/bookshop there, but it'sonly open at weekends in January) and then to Moulin de la Rive, one of Locquirec's nine beaches, where you can see some of the oldest rocks in France - formed two billion years ago!

Guidebook - available March

Themes

Preparation of the Saints' Shore Way text is coming to the final stages. In addition to good walking maps, direcitons and points of interest, the intital section of the book outlines major themes connecting Brittany and Britain. The Age of Saints is the starting point, as on walking this coast we can easily imagine those monks and their followers in their little boats landing on what was (and still is in part) a wild and lonely shore so many centuries ago.
In medieval times, long-standing commercial connections (as least since the neolithic period) came to a peak with the cloth trade, especially in the Breton areas of Léon and Trégor covered by the Saints' Shore Way route. Large and small ports alike were involved in the export of high-quality linen produced in the interior. Morlaix was the major hub, with hundred of merchants in the town involved in buying and selling material.
A less positive link highlights the rivalry of British and Breton corsairs who patrolled the Channel and other shipping routes in the hope of intercepting enemy trading vessels and seizing their cargoes. The subsequent struggle for naval dominance between England and France in the 18th and 19th centuries is well-known. The Bretons, renowned for their maritime skills, have always produced a large proportion of sailors for the French navy.
In WWII a more rewarding partnership led to large numbers of people being transferred both ways across the Channel,  with intelligence agents going into Brittany and civilian and military refugees coming out to safety, often often taken to the ports of Cornwall and Devon. Ernest Sibiril, one of the most famous heroes who risked his life many times to take passengers to England is honoured today in his home town of Carantec on the Saints' Shore Way route. The family boat-building business is still in operation and The Requin (The Shark), the boat he finally escaped in when under threat of arrrest, is in the museum there.
These are just a few of the many fascinating links which have bound Brittany and Britain for good or ill in historical times.