Sillon de Talbert
10 Sep 2010 3 Comments
in Brittany, The River Tags: high tide, Sillon de Talbert
Today saw one of the highest tides this year. Rather than try and record this in different places along the Peninsula, l decided to focus in on the Sillon de Talbert.
Sillon de Talbert
The Sillon de Talbert is a natural 3 km long thin tongue of sand, pebbles and shingle unique in Europe. It is located at the tip of our peninsula between the estuaries of the Jaudy and Trieux rivers next to Ile de Brehat. The Sillon is possibly as much as 100,000 years old. It results from two converging tidal currents and from some strong North-westerly swells. Its shape is constantly changing in response to the waves, swells and currents as documented by ancient maps. The Sillon de Talbert is an important reserve of flora and fauna. At low tide, it is possible to walk the length of the peninsula. At the end, there is an archipelago of islands and rocks called “Archipel d’Ollone,” which is also known as the Talbert Islands (Iles de Talbert) by local people. At very high tides, some sections of the Sillon may be overtopped by waves, as it was today. The Sillon was damaged by locals mining stones for construction until 1928 and by the German Army, which used its stones for the construction of the Atlantic wall during World War II, in particular the Ile Blanche bunker system in 1943. The system remains fragile, and is now a conservation zone. The currents are treacherous even in good weather conditions which is another reason why l have never owned a boat here!
There has been a lot of conservation work on the Sillon and these wood fences mark the areas where vegetation is trying to get a foothold which will ultimately slow down the rate of erosion.
It was a beautiful morning with a warm September sun. I was the only person to venture so far out on the Sillon at first so l managed to get some shots without any other people in them.
It felt really exciting being so far out with the sea on both sides of you. There was still another half hour before high tide so l didn’t know how far it would actually come and if l would be cut off.
Turnstones
The flocks of Turnstones made the most of the high water mark and were having a feeding extravaganza. It was great watching them all take off and fly in unison to a new patch. They didn’t seem too bothered by me. I suppose they have got use to people walking along this spit.
At this point l wasn’t too sure whether l should beat a hasty retreat or just keep going to the other side. I decided to keep going!
The Sillon had been breached just as it reached high tide. A few more people followed me and we stood and watched the waters flow over the spit with the crash of the waves on the Northern edge keeping us on guard.
It was a special moment which didn’t last long for within 10 or 15 minutes the tide turned and the waters retreated.
According to my book of tides there is another big one next month and then we have to wait to next year. I love this area. You can really feel you are walking into the sea on a high tide. I will walk it to the very end on a low tide and take some photographs for comparison.
