hourdel, cayeux and ault

SOUTH OF THE SOMME is where we find these two-and-a-bit somewhat overlooked lights. We almost overlooked them ourselves.

In a chilly easter, between school and university terms, we took a week's holiday in St Valery-sur-Somme, a wonderful little place right on the mouth of the Somme estuary, with lots of estuarine features, not least that of a metre gauge railway with steam locomotives running right round to the northern side at Crotoy. We took a ride on it, not appreciating at the time that one of the distinctive vestibule carriages in use came from Le Petit Train, the long since closed metre gauge railway that ran through Sablet. Our accommodation In St Valery, was a bit spartan, a bit rickety even, (one might call it 'period') the weather rather cold and dank, but we certainly had a memorable time there. And on one of our expeditions we went south along the coast and discovered Hourdel (a very minor light without a lantern so maybe not a true lighthouse?), Cayeux (with its lighthouse at Brighton), and Ault (with its lighthouse betwixt the strand and the cliffs). Also Le Tréport with its fine harbour and cliffs, and Mers-les-Bains with its amazing sea front villas.

Jean Benoît Héron's rendition of Phare d'Ault features here, the postcard version.

So, walking out of St Valery along the coast one comes first to Le Hourdel. JBH doesn't bother with this little chap, I think we might have to put it down to a slightly over-engineered harbour light. Nice fan light though, and architect designed too! A company called Cahon et Barrère got the contract and made it out of concrete.  It replaced a victim of the unpleasantness, has white and green aspects, occults three times every twelve seconds.

The Phare d'Ault is a substantial looking edifice in Ault, unsurprisingly, made of reinforced concrete and brick, but rather difficult to get a proper view of due to surrounding buildings and a rash of Accès Interdit notices.  Architect designed aussi! Did we go up it? No chance. It went into service in 1951 after being put out by retreating French forces in 1940. Georges Martin is the architect. Note that it has three galleries! It occults from its 28 metre high tower, three times every twelve seconds, white or red depending where you are at.  Huelse has a postcard view of the original lighthouse, a sturdy brick tower. 

Between the two above lighthouses we have Cayeux, not really in Cayeux proper but in Brighton, another small seaside type of place just north of stylish Cayeux. It boasts a modest but friendly little 1951 tower with two galleries designed by the company that originated Le Hourdel, but stone built this time I think. There was lighthouses here since the 1770s: Huelse's postcard view shows the 1835 lighthouse, a 27 metre (89 ft) tower centred on a single storey keeper's house, destroyed by German troops in 1944. The current tower doesn't look like a honeypot for visitors exactly. I forgot to mention that it shows a red flash every five seconds and is 32 metres tall which is 105 feet if you prefer.

And finally here below is the harbour entrance at Tréport. With a harbour light. Not a lighthouse.

All these are covered in more detail and with a choice of photos in The Lighthouse Directory, from whence cometh the Huelse postcards links.

Illustrations by Jean Benoît Héron, snaps by me.