Low carbon, zero cost geography fieldwork
in Brittany, France
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@Sustainable: low carbon option
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@Zero cost overseas field course
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@Geography fieldwork
A voyage to Brittany, France
Our second-year field course to Brittany, in north western France, provides Plymouth geography students with a zero cost, low carbon, overseas residential field course option.
Geography fieldwork provides an opportunity for students to develop essential skills, apply theories, and test concepts within the real-world environment. For thousands of years Brittany, along with Wales, Ireland, Scotland, parts of southwest England and Northern Spain have shared a Celtic connection. Today, this field course explores the area through human, physical and environmental geography perspectives.
Students get the chance to design and research a group project during the field trip. This involves data collection and analysis in the field. Topics include measuring and assessing river pollution or beach plastics; evaluating sustainable transport schemes; or exploring the value of street art to Brittany’s culture and tourism, among others.
Famed for its seafood, maritime culture, and stunning towns and cities, Brittany is a peninsula in the most westerly territory of France. Geographically, it is a land of contrasts and famous for its dramatic headlands, the pattern of small fields and forests in coastal areas and the undulating plateaux and mountainous wastes of the interior. Until the early twentieth century, the remoteness of Brittany meant it was peripheral to the rest of the country both linguistically and economically, gaining a separate identity with a distinctive language, costumes and customs. Economically, agriculture, tourism and maritime industries are vitally important. The region’s remarkable physical, cultural and economic diversity offers a great deal to interest geographers.
We travel by Brittany Ferries, direct from Plymouth to Roscoff and spend up to a week exploring the rivers, coasts, uplands and settlements. The stunning medieval town of Morlaix forms our base, as we draw on staff expertise to investigate the unique characteristics of the surrounding area. Coastal erosion, geomorphology, vegetal response to wildfires, community resilience, demographic changes and economic adaptation are just some of the possible topics staff may explore in the field.
Bon Voyage!
By travel distance Plymouth is closer to France than to Bristol. We take advantage of taking the ferry from Plymouth, ‘Britain’s Ocean City’, to Roscoff. We explore the historic links between the Devon city and Brittany. After disembarking from the overnight ferry crossing we travel to Morlaix.
Overview of Brittany
The modern administrative area of Brittany occupies most of the north west peninsula of France and comprises the four Départements of Finistère, Côtes d’Amor, Morbihan and Ille-et-Vilaine, with its capital located towards its eastern boundary at Rennes. Brittany has an area of 28,320 square km and its indented coastline, at about 1,200 km, is some one-third of France. Indeed, before the region was called Brittany, the area was known as Armorique because ‘Are-Mori’ meant ‘land of the sea’.
Carantec
Our base in Morlaix
Morlaix
The estuary town of Morlaix is believed to have existed since Roman times. A prosperous fishing and port town, it became the focus of a power struggle between the Counts of Leon and the Dukes of Brittany, eventually becoming part of Brittany towards the end of the C13th. The town continued to prosper in following centuries and was a centre for the linen trade and later the development of a large tobacco factory. Over the centuries, Morlaix was also caught up in the long-running conflicts between England and France (including the 100 Years War), as well as more recent conflicts including being bombed by the British during the Second World War.
Huelgoat
Huelgoat is a popular tourist destination. It has an impressive natural setting among the vestiges of the ancient forest that once covered inland Brittany. Huelgoat sits adjacent to a lake created between the 16th and 18th centuries, designed to supply water to local silver-lead mines by means of a 3 km (1.9 mi) leat or canal.
As a tourist site, Huelgoat contains several curious geological features including Le Chaos de Rochers (The Chaos of Rocks); La Tremblante (Trembling Rock); and Le Champignon (The Mushroom). These features all lend a sense of mystery and etherealness to Huelgoat, which has fed into associations with folklore and Arthurian legend. The forest contains the remnants of a Gaullish hill-fort entiled Le Camp d’Artus (Arthur’s Camp) – referring to legend that the fort was once a residence of King Arthur.
Huelgoat: Celtic legend meets geological formation
Carantec
Carantec
The town of Carantec on the North Brittany coast provides an emblematic example of the transformation from rural industries to tourism, having been originally a settlement with an economy based on fishing, ship-building and seaweed harvesting, and where life was harsh, dangerous and often punctuated by death and tragedy at sea. By the 1920s, however, it had become an exclusive and fashionable seaside resort, promoted as a spa town and visited by writers, painters and celebrities. Although its tourism heyday has now faded, the town remains a popular destination based on its outdoor activities and tranquil residential environment. While the total number of local residents is about 3,000 people, the population swells to 15,000 during the peak summer months, creating opportunities and challenges for the economic, social and environmental well-being of the town.
“Brittany has many links with Devon and Cornwall, particularly the importance of agriculture, the maritime economy, and demographic patterns. But students are also often surprised at how different Brittany is in terms of the languages spoken, settlement patterns, and landscape. A week spent exploring beaches, rivers, hamlets and cities, allows students to learn and practice different research methods in order to gain a deeper understanding of the destination”.
Geography explores the relationships between people, places and the environment.
Our geography degrees make the most of geography’s strengths in tackling head on the biggest global challenges we face. You learn from expert, accessible, supportive staff who are skilled researchers in their field. Plymouth is the ideal setting as a vibrant urban environment surrounded by iconic rural and coastal landscapes.
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