La Thiérache – Rocroi Plateau – Sormonne Valley - Office de ...

◆ School Museum - C3
Housed in the old classroom in the village of L’Echelle is a school museum that recreates the
atmosphere of a good old country school with equipment from bygone days to show visitors
what schools were like in the last century – blackboard, abaci, teacher’s desk, school
desks with their porcelain inkwells, glass-fronted cupboards etc.
Visitors can flick through old exercise books, school books etc.
In this setting, certain people wanted to relive or discover the atmosphere of the famous
"qualifying examination". On several occasions, other visitors nostalgically wrote with dip pens
and purple ink on "school" paper.
In addition to visits, other initiatives allow visitors to think back to the old days and appreciate
the changes made between then and now.
Musée de l’École d’Hier
1st floor of the castle - 08150 L’ECHELLE
Information:
Tel. +33(0) 324 330 299 or +33(0) 324 358 022
Email: musecoledhier@orange.fr
◆ Priory workshops - A2
A small museum illustrating the life and work
of Father Bonaventure Fieuillien.
Exhibition of the Father’s work.
Les Ateliers du Prieuré
24, rue de l’Europe - 08230 REGNIOWEZ
Information:
Tel. +33(0) 324 541 478
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Nugget ofNature
North-West Ardennes is a land of contrasts, unusual for the three
geomorphological units for which the Ardennes are famous -
the Pre-Ardennes peaks (Thiérache), the Pre-Ardennes depression
(Sormonne Valley) and Ardenne (Rocroi Plateau).
The Rocroi Plateau
To the north-east of the area is the vast Rocroi Plateau carpeted with
woodland and dotted with clearings large and small in which villages
and hamlets have been built. It covers an area stretching from the
Belgian border to a line between Signy-le-Petit and Renwez. The average
altitude is approximately 350 metres but is much lower to the
south and west. The geological nature of the subsoil makes crop
growing difficult. The Rocroi Plateau has various ecological locations
including the “rièzes”, peat bogs with particularly interesting flora and
fauna.
Thiérache Ardennaise
To the south-west of the area is the eastern edge of the vast natural
region of "Thiérache” which stretches over the départements of Aisne,
Nord and Ardennes and juts into Belgium. This is an area of rolling
hills and dales. The highest point is the Butte de Marlemont (292
metres). Thiérache Ardennaise is nicknamed "Little Normandy"
because of its hedgerows, pastures and stock breeding. Numerous
rivers rise in this area e.g. the Audry, Aube and Serre.
Sormonne Valley
The Sormonne Valley is a corridor filled with meadows and fields of
crops. It lies between the Pre-Ardennes peaks in the south and the
uplands of Ardennes in the north. In fact, it corresponds to the
Pre-Ardennes depression. It is wide upstream from Laval-Morency and
downstream from Sormonne, but becomes narrower and rugged
around the town of Chatelet-sur-Sormonne. The River Sormonne
flows diagonally through the area in a north-west to south-east
direction before joining the River Meuse in Charleville-Mézières.
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