Fouilloux Route

Park in the Parc des Fontaines car park.

(S/E) Leave the car park and walk along Rue Walter Piron for about 50 metres towards the village (south-east). Turn left into the closed-off lane known as Pré du Bourg, which runs alongside two sports fields on your left before skirting round the school on your right (see the ‘During the walk’ section). Head for the junction of the Chemin des Écoliers and the Chemin des Pruneliers.

(1) Turn left onto Chemin des Pruneliers, taking the cycle path shared with pedestrians on the right-hand side of the road, from which it is separated by a barrier and a small hedge. At the next roundabout, take the path that runs along the right-hand side of Rue Barbara. At the next junction, turn left onto Rue des Tilleuls and follow it along the pavement on the right-hand side of the road. Continue to the D126 road, turn right onto it and follow it for about 50 metres until you reach the entrance to a car park.

(2) Cross the road to take the access path to this car park. Then continue straight on to the right along the path to enter the Bois de Fouilloux, in the Chênes Ronds area. At the junction of four paths, take the left-hand path to reach a junction near the edge of the woods. There, turn left again and, at the next junction, turn right (a sharp bend). The path is now in the Bois du Petit Fouilloux. Carry on straight ahead until you are walking alongside a small pond.

(3) Turn right onto a path between two ponds and head back to the right along the opposite bank of the small pond. At the junction, about forty metres past the pond, take the path on the left until you reach a T-junction. Then turn right onto the path that winds its way to the south-western edge of the woods. At the next crossroads on the left, take the left-hand path towards the Route de l’Epinay. When you reach the Route de l’Epinay, turn right and follow it carefully until you reach the junction with a road on the left at the corner of a large pond.

(4) Turn left towards the hamlet of Le Flageolet. The road moves away from the pond just before the hamlet. Continue carefully along the road until you reach the hamlet of La Perrière, where there is a car scrapyard at the crossroads. Take the left-hand road and immediately turn onto the track on the right, which heads south, downhill towards a small, widening valley through which an intermittent stream flows. The track crosses the stream, then runs alongside it for a short while before veering away from it.

(5) At the crossroads, turn right onto the path that climbs straight up the hill towards the D126 road, which it joins below the high-voltage power line.

(6) Cross the D126 road with care and continue straight ahead along the Chemin de la Bellangearderie, which initially runs alongside the high-voltage power line before veering off to the right towards the west. Take the first path on the right, lined with hedges, which heads north-west. Follow this path until it joins a north-south farm track. You will reach a four-way junction here.

(7) From there, head right for about twenty metres before turning onto the path on the left leading towards the village. The path comes out onto Rue du Vivier. Turn right onto this street and continue to Rue du Petit Anjou.

(8) Cross it carefully and go round the post office on the right via the Square des Marronniers, then turn left to go behind the town hall (see the ‘During the walk’ section). Turn left again at the information boards to take a narrow alleyway and return to Rue du Petit Anjou, admiring the town hall and its square as you pass.

Head off to the right and then turn left into Rue du Point du Jour, taking in the view of the church as you go (see the ‘During the walk’ section). Follow Rue du Point du Jour until it branches off into Rue du Vivier on the left. When Rue du Vivier turns left at a right angle, take the path opposite – which you took earlier in the opposite direction – to return to the crossroads.

(7) Turn right onto the wide path, running north-south, and follow it straight on. Cross straight across the Chemin de la Moinerie. You will then reach the crossroads at the hamlet of La Bellangearderie, where there is a pond.

(9) Turn slightly to the right. Continue straight on until you reach a three-way junction in the path. Take the right-hand path heading north-west, which joins a road at the hamlet known as La Maison Neuve. Cross Rue du Point du Jour and continue straight ahead along Rue de l’Oliveraie, taking care.

(10) Just before the area known as l’Oliveraie, take the path on the right immediately after a small pond. A little further on, at the junction where two paths flank a small lake in the Parc des Fontaines, take the second path on the right, which runs to the north of the lake. After the lake, turn left to return to the car park at the Parc des Fontaines (S/E).

- The car park is located at the Parc des Fontaines. Other parking options are available next to the Post Office and the Town Hall (near the point (8)).
- This walk across varied terrain requires suitable footwear.
- This walk is signposted in purple along almost the entire route. It follows almost the entire ‘À la découverte de Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux’ heritage trail, which is the result of a project undertaken during their term of office by the town’s Children’s Town Council (CME), in partnership with Robert Audouin, former mayor and author of the book *Un village dans les bois*.
- This route is the subject of a ‘randofiche’ entitled *Circuit du Fouilloux*, published by the French Hiking Federation (FFrandonnée 2018). In addition, it is advisable to follow the instructions in the route description and on the map, whilst paying close attention to the landscape. The waypoints, with their GPS coordinates and the distance from the starting point, serve as aids for walkers exploring the route for the first time.

Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux
- The Parc des Fontaines was created in 2005, at the same time as the neighbourhood of the same name. Over 5 hectares of wooded meadows have been landscaped between the village centre, the sports grounds, the main road and the hamlet of
L’Oliveraie, whilst preserving the old hedgerows. A pond was dug, leaving an island in the middle. It collects rainwater from part of the village. A small canal runs through a wetland planted with willows; not far from there grow bamboo plants, some of which can exceed 10 metres in height in their native countries (Asia or America). Depending on the variety, the stems or culms are yellow, yellow-green, green or black in colour and vary in thickness. As these bamboos are all stolon-forming, it was necessary to carry out a root-capping operation in the spring of 2019 to limit their spread. The soil excavated when the pond was dug was used to build a wide embankment that shields the area from road noise. The undulating terrain forms a cyclocross course. Marked trails lead to the hamlet of L’Oliveraie and beyond.
Did you know? Over 150 trees of around ten different species were planted by the schoolchildren, who have, in a sense, become their sponsors and guardians: they watered them and monitored their early growth. Source: Robert Audoin, deputy mayor and mayor of Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux from 1989 to 2008, and Georges Goujon, municipal councillor and deputy mayor from 1989 to 2014.
- The school: until 1838, there was no school in Saint-Martin. The first school was probably located in a house in the village. It was a fee-paying school. Only four girls and four boys attended it, as parents of modest means needed their children to work alongside them.
In 1843, a local education committee was set up, comprising the mayor, three councillors and the parish priest. The Municipal Council appointed a lay teacher. In 1851, the Council had to raise taxes to pay the teacher’s salary, as the contributions from parents were insufficient. In 1863, the school moved into new premises, on the site of the present-day library. With the Jules Ferry laws (1881–1882), schooling became compulsory, secular and free. The town hall sought assistance from the Prefect to equip and develop its school. The number of pupils increased (100 pupils in 1885).
Several headteachers followed one another, then couples of teachers.
The school then occupied various buildings in the commune until 1982, when the school complex was built on its current site.
Did you know?
Pierre Ménard, a miller and^{the first} mayor of the commune of Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux from 1800 to 1832, gave his name to the village school.
- The cemetery
The cemetery has been at its current location since 1848. Previously, it was situated near the church. In 1920, the Town Council decided to erect the War Memorial, a modest and conventional monument 3 metres high, pyramid-shaped and carved from white limestone. Carved on its façade are: at the top, a cross in relief, adorned with a feather; lower down, in the centre, a War Cross, encircled by a frieze of laurels; and below that, on a slate plaque, the traditional inscription: ‘To the sons of Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux, who died for France, in tribute to the soldiers who fell at the front’; on either side, two further slate plaques bear the names of those from the parish who died or went missing during the two world wars (1914–1918 and 1939–1945).
Did you know?
Between 1914 and 1918, 23 children from Saint-Martin lost their lives: if we compare this figure to the population recorded in 2020 (1,700 inhabitants), it is equivalent to the town having lost more than 50 men aged between 20 and 40 in the war: a heavy and painful toll! The youngest was called Eugène Lambert; he was 20 years old
The woodland
Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux: this is the ‘fouilloux’, the leafy, sparsely wooded area that had not been fully cleared – in other words, ‘the Wood’ – which belonged to the Serrant estate from the Middle Ages until the early^{20th century}. In 1924, it was sold for hunting purposes. Since 1997, the local council has owned these 89 hectares, which are divided between the Chênes Ronds woods to the west and the Petit Fouilloux woods to the east. A large pond was dug there in 1974, and divided into two in the early 1980s. This deciduous woodland, populated mainly by oaks and hornbeams, is classified as a Sensitive Natural Area (ENS) and provides a habitat for numerous plant and animal species.
Did you know?
Traces of the Petit Anjou railway line, which served Saint-Martin on the Saint-Jean-de-Linières–Beaupréau route opened in 1910, can still be seen in the woodland. Operations on the line were suspended in July 1944 following the bombing that destroyed the Alleud Bridge near La Possonnière, and the entire Petit Anjou network closed in 1948. The ‘Amis du Petit Anjou’ association, based at the site of the former La Roche station in Saint-Jean-de-Linières, is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Petit Anjou and creating a living museum dedicated to it.
Source: *Un village dans les bois*, a collection of articles published in the local newsletter and written between 1989 and 2019 by Robert AUDOIN, mayor of Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux from 1995 to 2008. Website of the Association des Amis du Petit Anjou
- The Town Hall
This building, constructed in the^16th or^17th century, housed the vicarage. During the French Revolution, the former vicarage was sold as national property. In 1819, the local council bought back the central section, and parish priests continued to live there until 1979. The last resident parish priest, Bouchereau, then vacated the presbytery, which, following renovation work, became the town hall in 1984.
In 2007, the local council purchased the west wing, which was completely rebuilt from 2011 onwards. The central farmhouse and the small wing were also renovated. The new town hall was inaugurated in January 2012.
Did you know?
Pierre Ménard,^{the first} mayor of Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux, was born in 1750 in Saint-Georges-sur-Loire. He came to live in Saint-Martin ten years later with his parents, who settled at the Moulin de la Fenêtre. He was a miller. He could read and write. In 1789, he signed the ‘Cahier de doléances’ and took part in the election of representatives of the Third Estate to the Estates-General. He became mayor in 1800 and remained in office until his death in 1832. The school in Saint-Martin is named after him.
Source: *Un village dans les bois* (A Village in the Woods), a collection of articles published in the local newsletter and written between 1989 and 2019 by Robert Audouin, mayor of Saint-Martin-du-Fouilloux from 1995 to 2008.
The church
The church, built in the Middle Ages, is of Romanesque architecture with a spired bell tower. Its façade was restored in 1706. In 1791, the Revolution abolished the parish of Le Petit Paris, whose church was demolished in 1823; its stones were then used to extend the church at Saint-Martin. Fifty years later, an enterprising parish priest, Arsène Bourrigault, sought to rebuild it. The local council was not opposed to the idea but did not wish to use municipal funds. In 1876, the parish priest launched a public fundraising campaign, which enabled work to begin but not to be completed. As relations with the local council had deteriorated, it was not until the arrival of a new parish priest, Gustave Bachelier, that tensions eased. Construction was finally completed in 1913.
- And the clock?
In 1957, the town council voted to install a public clock that would chime on the hour. In 1993, a resolution was passed to electrify the clock and to introduce an automatic chiming system for the hours and the Angelus. Only for special ceremonies is it necessary to press a button. The clock’s old mechanism is on display in the town hall’s entrance hall.
Did you know?
In 1903, Madame Rousseau-Colin, the granddaughter and niece of former mayors of Saint-Martin, bequeathed 10,000 francs (approximately €40,000) to the local council to complete the church.
- The town hall-school, now the parish house.
This building, construction of which began in 1862, stands on the site of the cemetery, which was moved to Rue de la Liberté in 1848. It was built to house the school on the ground floor and the town hall on the first floor. The large classroom was divided in two when legislation required the local council to have a separate girls’ school from the boys’ school. In the 1950s, as the school had become too small, it moved out of the building; the town hall took over the ground floor and fitted out accommodation for the teachers on the first floor. In 1984, following an exchange with the Bishop’s Office, the town hall moved to the former vicarage on Rue du Petit Anjou. The building became the parish centre and now shares its rooms with the library and the music school. Renovated in 2016 and incorporated into the Espace Simone Veil, it provides more space for the library, which has been refurbished internally.
Did you know?
An initial plan in 1858 envisaged two entrance porches – one for girls and one for boys – on either side of the main building, but the cost was deemed too high by the town council, which ultimately decided against these annexes.
- Rue Walter Pyron
On 4 August 1944, 21-year-old American Lieutenant Walter S. Pyron was tasked with destroying a fuel depot near Angers. Once the bombing run was complete, four aircraft attacked a Post Office van at a place known as l’Oliveraie. During this operation, Walter Pyron’s aircraft struck a tree and hurtled towards the first houses in the village of Saint-Martin. It crossed the track linking the village to the Angers–Nantes road and came to rest on an embankment, where it burst into flames. The pilot was ejected. Residents of Folios, including the mayor, Mr Pelourdeau, went to the scene and discovered his lifeless body. They used his parachute to carry him to an annexe of the town hall. A collection was organised to cover the funeral expenses. During the ceremony, despite the German presence, a veteran of the First World War, Mr Cossard from Savennières, pinned his military medal onto the shroud as a tribute to the young lieutenant. On 29 April 1945, six Americans came to exhume their comrade with a view to repatriating him. He now rests at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.
Did you know?
Remains of his aircraft, a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, are preserved at the Espace Air Passion museum in Marcé.
Source