Around Bealcourt

Bealcourt is a small village just in the department of the Somme, in fact the house is located on the boundary between Somme and Pas de Calais.  The nearest town is Auxi-le-Chateau which is 5-10 minutes away. The house is at the edge of the village which has a bar tabac (La Repose) which is 5-10 minute walk away and perhaps 30 houses. Bealcourt and the next village, Beauvoir-Wavans ajoin and Beauvoir also has a brasserie and a cycle hire shop. Auxi has two supermarkets, a decent number of restaurants cafe's and bars, boulangerie, patisseries, boucherie and a good range of other shops. Also nearby is Maizicourt where there is a Chateau and gardens open to the public. Most shops are open 9.15-12.15 and 2.30 to 6 or 7.00 - the Intermarche is sometime open on Sunday morning but not every week - we haven't worked the logic of how or why out yet. Bealcourt is part of the area around Bernaville which has a set of local web sites about the villages that make it up. More details on places nearby are here.

To the south-east is the nearest large town of Doullens which has many more shops, restaurants and bars, it takes about 12 minutes in a car to get to Doullens. To the north of Auxi is the larger town of Hesdin (pronounced "aiddan") which is a nice market town famous for being where the Maigrait TV series was filmed. Hesdin is the main town in the La Sept Vallees area which is popular as a walking and cycling area. The River Authie, which the house is on, forms one of the main valleys whilst Hesdin itself is on the Conche which is the next Valley parallel to the Authie. Further up the Conche valley (to the north east) is the walled town of Montreuil-sur-mer though nowadays Montreuil is some miles from the sea!  Not far from Montreuil is the Giant Labyrinth of the Seven Valleys one of the largest mazes in France.

Much larger towns are Abbeville to the south and Arras to the east. Within half an hour of Bealcourt is the coast (Cote d'Opal.) including Le Touquet, Berck-sur-plage and St Valery.  There are a range of golf courses on the coast and closer courses are at Grand Laviers just north of Abbeville (Abbeville Golf Club Route du Val - 80132 GRAND LAVIERS Tel / Fax : +33 (0)3 22 24 98 58 E-mail : abbeville.golfclub@wanadoo.fr ), at Nampont near Flexicourt (where the Authie valley is crossed by the N1) and near Arras. Fishing is also popular and subject to checking on permits is possible in the river Authie at the back of the house.

The area has been at the centre of major historical battles for hundereds of years. These include The Battle of the Somme, in the 1st world war and during The Hundred Years war the Battle of Crecy and Agincourt (Azincourt). Azincourt is a few miles north of Hesdin, see the Azincourt medieval site for more details and Crecy is just a few miles south on the road down to Abbeville.

Contact details and local events are also at the Auxi Tourist Information site.

As we get to know the area better we'll add more information and particularly details on restaurants and bars  - any suggestions welcome.  May 2004

More information on Bealcourt and surroundings.

Shopping. Auxi has Intermarche and Aldi superpmarkets. The Intermarche is signed on the road in from Beauvoir-Wavans, follow the signs and take the 2nd turning on the left indicated, turn left at the end of this road  and the Intermarche is on the left after about 300m. When last checked, opening hours were: Monday to Friday 09h00 to 12h15 - 14h15 à 19h15. Saturday 09:00-19:15. The Intermarche has a petrol station but like many in France this is manned during shopping hours only which DO NOT include Sunday's. The petrol station is open much longer hours but can be used only if you have a French credit card (or Carte Bancaire) - though whether they work with newer British "Chip & PIN" cards is not known.  There is also an Aldi supermarket the other side of the town.  The shops are quite good in Auxi and there is plenty of parking in the streets and in small parking areas. Doullens probably has a wider range of shops and Hesdin is also well worth exploring.

Theme Parks. Near Le Touquet is the Bagatelle theme park and the Aqualud water leisure park.

Riding. There are riding stables nearby at Bonnieres - details still to be checked.

Maps. IGN the equivalent of Ordnance Survey produce a number of maps of the area. Two TOP 100 (1:100,000) maps 01 - Abbeville-Calais and 03 - Rouen- Abbeville cover the area. The latter only just has Bealcourt on it. There are four detailed maps (Serie Blue 1:25,000) cover the area with Bealcourt inconventiently just at the point the join. 2206 E (Hesdin) covers Auxi and Hesdin, 2307 O (Beauval) covers Bealcourt. There is also a Michelin Local map 301 Pas-de-Calais, Somme at 1:150,000.

As we get to know the area better we'll add more information and particularly details on restaurants and bars  - any suggestions welcome.  June 2004

Home     Local Links     Back to top of page    Auxi

Dyslexia Home