From the dairy farm to the monastery at Le Quayreux and Ecoplegenêt

(S/E) Leave the car park by taking the “Ruban vert” (see the section “During the walk or nearby”) heading east.
Pass under the Mothe bridge, over which the road from Melle to Beaussais runs.
Further on, continue straight ahead when you come to the small road leading from La Roche to La Girardière or La Maison Neuve.

(1) Shortly after crossing the Virelebanc stream via a bridge, turn left onto a slightly uphill farm track.
It leads out onto a small road at a place called Pré Nouveau. Turn left onto the road and follow it to the hamlet of Le Quaireux. Walk right through this hamlet and follow the road as it heads north-west, going downhill to cross a small valley before climbing again.

(2) At the crossroads, turn left and then immediately right onto a tree-lined track (not shown on the IGN map).
This track takes you quite quickly to the hamlet known as La Poinière.

(3) As you emerge from the track, turn right onto the small road known as ‘la Poinière’. At the next junction, turn left. Leave the farm track leading to Javarzay on your left.

(4) A little further on, turn left onto a farm track heading south-west and continue straight on until you reach the D737.

(5) Cross it with the utmost caution (this is a busy road between Melle and Beaussais) and carry on along the road opposite. Turn right onto the first farm track, which is grassy.
It leads onto a track suitable for vehicles, which you follow northwards by turning right.

(6) Turn left onto the first farm track. At the next junction, turn left onto a grassy farm track that winds its way towards the hamlet of Eclopegenêt. As you reach the houses, the track gives way to a road.
Carry on to the junction with the road coming from Vitré. Turn left (a sharp bend) and continue along the road. This narrow, quiet road climbs between two embankments: take care on the wide right-hand bend (poor visibility). Continue along the road until you reach a Y-junction.

(7) Take the road on the right and leave it immediately to take a path opposite just as the road bends to the right and heads downhill.
The track passes below some houses, then winds its way up the hillside and emerges at a crossroads.

(8) Cross the junction and continue straight ahead along a road which almost immediately turns into a farm track. This track descends towards the bottom of a valley through which the “Ruban Vert” runs.
When you reach it, cross over and take the path on the left which runs alongside the ‘Ruban Vert’ at the edge of the woods before veering away from it and crossing fields.
Carry on straight ahead, staying on level ground alongside the Ruban Vert. The track eventually leads to a road coming from La Métairie aux Moines, where you’ll find the car park marking the end of this walk (S/E).

The car park is situated below the dairy farm of La Métairie aux Moines, in the immediate vicinity of the Ruban Vert. There are grassy verges on either side of the small road leading to this point. Please ensure you do not park in front of the fire hydrant on the site.

This walk across varied terrain requires suitable footwear. Furthermore, as this unmarked route presents no particular difficulty, you should follow the directions in the description and on the map.

Walk completed by the author of this guide on 20 November 2017.

The old railway line from Niort to Ruffec

The 19th century saw the birth and development of the railway. Right up until the eve of the First World War, France was criss-crossed by a dense network of railway lines (400 km of track in 1840, 19,600 km in 1875 and 39,400 km in 1913).

In 1853, the railway network required the addition of cross-country lines, notably to link Nantes to Limoges via Niort. South-east of Niort, several routes were under consideration. Finally, in 1879, it was decided to build a line linking Niort to Ruffec via Melle. The line was inaugurated on 1 March 1885. In addition to freight trains, three passenger trains ran on this line each day; these were extremely busy during the fairs in Niort and Melle and during the pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary at Celles-sur-Belle.
In 1940, the train enabled refugees from the Ardennes to find refuge in Melle.
However, the rapid growth of road traffic signalled the end of this line. The last section still in operation for freight traffic between Niort and Melle was closed in January 1991. Fortunately, the 15-kilometre stretch between Tauché and Melle was purchased by the local authorities and converted into a rural walking trail: the Ruban Vert, which was inaugurated on 18 September 1999.

Melle station was once a hub of economic activity. As well as being on the SNCF Niort–Ruffec line, it was also the starting point of the TDS (Tramway des Deux-Sèvres) line, which linked Melle to Parthenay via Lezay, La Mothe-Saint-Héray and Saint-Maixent-l’Ecole. The vast majority of this secondary railway network disappeared in the 1930s. However, a 3-kilometre section of the former TDS line remained in operation until 1975 between the station and the factories in Melle, to supply them.
The station notably featured a large covered shed for unloading wagons, eight marshalling tracks… and a water tank (fed by a pump from the River Béronne, situated below) for refuelling the locomotives in the steam era.