Author Archives: Eef Berns

About Eef Berns

Since 2000 I'm on a quest for the bordermarkers in the Pyrenees. My project is to find & photograph & document them all. And to connect them with a long-distance trail: the Grande Randonnée Pyrénéenne des Bornes Frontières About me: I was born in 1957, work as a psychiatrice nurse and live in Eindhoven in the Netherlands..

The very first bordermarkers

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Besides the more than 700 numbered bordermarkers between France and Spain, there are many intermediate markers in all kinds of shape. The indefatigable Jacques Koleck once again found new intermediate bordermarkers in the Basque country and I’m impatiently awaiting his pictures. But thanks to him I can already show you these old postcards, found on the internet. They show the international bridge between Hendaye and Irún.
First an overview on this postcard:

What you hardly can see, are the two posts in the middle of the bridge.


But this postcard shows them very clear. They must be the two posts with both arms of Spain and France which are mentioned in article 26 of the Bayonne treaty of 1856. As such they are the very first bordermarkers mentioned in the treaty!
Jacques adds: “they have disappeared on the renewed bridge (which however has plaques with the ancient province-names) but similar posts can now be seen on the pedestrian bridge next to it.”

Ancient bordermarker decaptivated

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In automn last year I got this message from Lucien Thomas: the mediaval bordermarker besides bm036 has disappeared. That is to say: it was simply (and shamelessly) sawn from its base. See this article from the “Journal Sud-Ouest”:

Jacques Koleck sent me a picture of the current situation:

We can see what’s left over: the base. What also strikes: the famous table (see this webpage) has received an upgrade. The wooden logs have been replaced by stone banks which much have been done in 2011/2012.

Old postcards with bordermarkers

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I was surprised by a collection of old postcards – emailed by Cayetano from Girona – with mainly the bordermarkers 574 and 575 on it. I will show you two of them.

We see bm574 and 575 on this peaceful scene. Bm574 was many years later replaced to the left to enlarge the space for the border-traffic. On its original place we now find a plaque with “bis” on it. See this webpage

And this one must be bm577

New update of “The bordermarkers of the Pyrenees”

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I’m proud to announce a new update with a new series of GRPdesBF-stages from bm410 to 427.

And there are many more additions: check the update-log.

Bordermarkers in border-tunnels

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Across the Pyrenees, there are a few cross-border tunnels:


– underneath Col de Somport there are two of them: the derelict train-tunnel (in use from 1928 to 1970) and – parallel of it – the modern tunnel of 2003
– underneath Col de Bielsa: the tunnel Aragnouet-Bielsa, opened in 1976
– underneath Col de Perthus: two railway-tubes for the high-speed line Perpignan-Barcelona, opened in 2010.
They all have bordermarkers at the borderline and typically at both sides of the tube. Let’s show what we got.

The somport-tunnel (the new one), these pictures were supplied by Charles Darrieu.
Interesting: the old railway-tunnel should also have bordermarkers, they might resemble the ones in the Bielsa-tunnel. The railway-tunnel is now in use as an emergency-tunnel for the new one.

The Bielsa-tunnel, these pictures were recently found by Jacques Koleck in the Archives of Dax. They are from Jean Sermet himself and are part of a file named “Démarcation frontalière des Hautes Pyrénées – Province de HUESCA” rédigé par Jean SERMET”from 1989 (archive-reference “Jean Sermet  Archives Départementales des Hautes Pyrénées – cote F 398”). The installment of the plaques even involved a binational treaty. And see this account of Jean Sermet of the whole process. Charles Darrieu also has pictures of these markers (and the documents).

Finally, the Perthus-tunnel also has got his share of bordermarkers, two for each tube. Serge Poncet retrieved these pictures from the tunnel-company.

New website on the bordermarkers of the Pyrenees

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Cayetano (living in Girona, Spain) started in 2013 to search and photograph the esfr-bordermarkers between the province of Girona and France (bm427-602). Starting from the east, he has covered until now bm601 up to bm528. We can read that on his recently published spanish website www.mojonesdelospirineos.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cayetono refuses to use a gps-device to find the markers. He prefers maps, delimitation-proceedings and information/pictures from other sources. I can appreciate his approach, that’s how I started and found most of the bordermarkers.

I like his website a lot. Apart from the pictures of the bordermarkers he provides
– the original (delimitation-)treaties in Spanish (!)
– a dictionary of related terms
– some curiosities
– and he is – very modern – connected with Facebook, Twitter etcetera

A stairway to heaven

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One of my most remarkable finds was bm531 in the Eastern Pyrenees, found on april 19th 2007. We had just met near Hostal de la Muga a local (Jean Iglesias) who happened to know the bordermarkers surprisingly well in this area. He told something about an ‘escalier’ (stairway) to reach one of the bordermarkers. I didn’t understand it until I reached the spot where bm531 was supposed to be. I saw a ladder lying at the foot of large boulder and then made the connection. I used the ladder to climb to the top of the boulder where bm531 is engraved, being invisible from the ground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cayetano from Girona sent me this recent picture of the ladder. When comparing it to my pictures, it’s the same ladder. According to Cayetano, it’s still in sufficient shape to climb it. And on Alain Laridon’s website we can read how this ladder was constructed on the spot itself by Jean Iglesias.

But do you really need the ladder? It seems so if you look at the pictures but the answer is: NO.
On the right side of the boulder you can also climb easily and safely to the top, that’s what I’ve been told by Charles Darrieu and Jacques Koleck.

And about Cayetano: he’s the ‘new kid on the block’, living in Girona he wants to find each and every bordermarkers on the Girona-border with France (= bm427-602). More about his project and website later on.

 

Jean and Simone announcing their book

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Jean Hirschinger and his partner Simone Hondelatte have since 2010 searched and photographed the bordermarkers of the Basque country: no. 1 to 262. Jean is an experienced walker and used to be the vice-president of the “Fédération Européenne de Randonnée Pédestre”

They will publish their pictures and information on itineraries, maps, details in a marvellous and inspiring lay-out. I was thrilled to see the brochure of their book and immediately ordered a copy. Well, look and judge for yourself:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to enlarge the brochure. Prices and how to order: it’s all in the brochure.

Gps-project in the western Pyrenees

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I came across two Spanish newspaper-articles (this one and this one)  on a project in mid 2013 to establish with a gps the exact coordinates of the bordermarkers 1-272 and the borderline in between them. The same project should already have been undertaken at the Catalonian border with France (bm333-602).
As we know, the position of the borderline and bordermarkers and their representation on maps is not always clear and unambiguous. I have made my own list of Cartographic errors & omissions on this page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this picture we can see how the measurement is undertaken with professional = highly accurate gps-devices. Ordinary gps-devices (like the one I use) loose their accurateness significantly in wooded and tilted places. That makes one possessive: where can I get these super-precise GPS-data? And very important: what did they do with the bordermarkers which have disappeared: bm236, 255 and 271bis?
By the way: my own coordinates of all bordermarkers are downloadable on this page.

Paint and support for bm545 and 546

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Serge Poncet sent me some pictures in november 2013 of the maintenance work on bm545 and 546. The vandalized bm545 was neatly painted over in white. Bm546 – hanging dangerously at the steep roadside – got a sturdy fundament. Bravo for honoring these historic monuments. I’m curious who are the ‘actors’ and which are the rules in this proces of surveying and deciding and implementation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What we know is that each year a bordermarker-survey is done near Coustouges, involving the communicipalities at both side of the border. I found this picture in the newspaper “l’Independant” of 19 june 2013. Jean Iglesias is still ‘alive and kicking’ as the guide of the party.