Corinne Gourgeonnet is an enthusiastic bordermarker-devotee. She spent some days around new year near Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. How great was her surprise that the landlord of her B&B told her that he had a bordermarker in his garden! He had found it at his premises when he bought it. The previous owner was apparently a collector of strange items, found or otherwise acquired. Let’s show Corinne’s pictures of this strange item:
This is definitely an esfr-bordermarker but of a type never seen before. Perhaps it was once made to replace the bm171 at the border-ridge 11km SE. But there we find a much more massive marker:
Where can you find this marker? The address is
Maison Laia
14 Route d’Ascarat
64220 Uhart-Cize
And this is a map of the premises of the B&B and where the bm is located:
Interesting. The question then arises, what are the legalities involved in moving a marker? In the US, the unauthorized removal of a marker of a political boundary is unlawful–quite apart from the question of theft of public property, and arguably irrespective of having been in an incorrect location. The official survey monuments are usually well fixed in the terrain. However, those easily removed sometimes prove irresistable as a souvenir… I used to take friends to the point where the boundary between the states of Oregon and California (theoretically 42 degrees North latitude, though with some practical deviations) leaves dry land and goes into the Pacific. The last marker before the high-tide line was in a small patch of woods, and consisted of a beautiful cast brass disc, maybe 5 cm. in diameter, set in cement, around which the root of an oak tree had grown.. To my great sorrow, on my last visit about 15 years ago, someone had hacked the whole thing out of the tree root and removed it.
Removing a boundary marker here in the UK is also unlawful but many difficulties apply.. ownership/responsibility for the marker is often very unclear. They are often in out-of-the-way spots where removal can be discreetly done. And often, boundaries change .. a marker no longer in use can become a target for “collectors”
The best defence is to dig them in deep and make them heavy!