Le Sentier des Fonds
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Starting from the fountain at Peuplingues town hall, the circuit follows the GRP 120 "Tour du Boulonnais" route along the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel, passes through the Bellevue area on an old Roman road, then loops back along dirt paths to a final stony section before returning to Peuplingues.
©Timothé Lovergne The Leulène Path
The Chemin de Leulène constitutes the oldest trace left by man in Peuplingues and in other towns and villages of the region. A true umbilical cord of the Haut-Calaisis, the Ardresis and the Audomarois for nearly 2,000 years, it has witnessed the history of our region from the arrival of the Celts, from whom it originates, until the beginning of the Renaissance.
It is recognized by the Archaeological Service of Nord-Pas-de-Calais as a sensitive archaeological zone. Its ancient route, created by the Celts between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, was later improved by the Romans to create a highway. The Leulène road passes through Haute Leulingue (Saint-Tricat), Hames-Boucres, Guînes, etc. Its spelling varies depending on the town, such as Loeulène or Leulingue. The meaning of the word is thought to come from "Leuchten," a Germanic dialect from the Saxon period, meaning "the lamp-makers' path"—understandable, since the local population long used peat from the marshes near this road for heating.
©Nohcab La Beussingue
Today, the Beussingue, a veritable gateway to the Channel Tunnel, takes its name from the period of Saxon occupation (4th and 8th centuries), like many place names in the region. Originally, it was called Bissengehem, meaning "domain of the descendants of Bissen." In the Middle Ages, it was part of the village of Vieux Coquelles. A large portion of its land belonged to the Count of Guînes, Baldwin I the Magnificent, who granted it as a fief to the Abbey of Andres around 1804; another part belonged to the Abbey of Licques.
La Beussingue returned to Peuplingues around 1648, following a reward given by King Louis XIV to Adrien Lamiable, the squire of Peuplingues. The "Grande Beussingue" farm also served as a coaching inn between Calais and Wissant. More recently, it witnessed the massive construction of the Channel Tunnel, serving as an entry and exit point for numerous trains traveling through the railway tunnels. Today, the farm houses an orchard where visitors can pick seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as a stable.
©getlink at the heart of the strait's geological history
At La Beussingue, you're walking on one of the sites that encapsulates the geological history of the area. Around 40 million years ago, a tectonic movement uplifted the region by several tens of meters, forming a vast chalk ridge that once connected France and England. This natural bridge held until 450,000 years ago, when a massive flood breached it, creating the strait and the white cliffs visible today a few kilometers from here. Cape Blanc-Nez and on the fossil cliff of Sangatte. Beneath your feet, at a greater depth, a particular stratum of this same chalk, the blue chalk of the Cenomanian, provided the stability and impermeability necessary for the tunnel to be bored up to its Franco-British junction of December 1, 1990. The Transmanche Geopark presents the tunnel as the symbol of a lasting reconnection between the two countries, four hundred and fifty thousand years after their separation.
Discover the Transmanche Geopark
©Nohcab 
