The Lime Tree Avenue in Lignereuil

Avesnes-le-Comte: car park in front of the cemetery on the D8.

(S/E) Walk along the cemetery towards Avesnes. Turn left into Rue de l'Égalité, then left again into Rue Maclou. After about 50 metres, turn right to leave the cemetery via the GR®121.
After about 700 metres, you will find a small lane on the right.

(1) Take the small lane (Ruelle Marie), which leads to Rue de la Poste. Follow it for about ten metres to the right to find and follow a new small lane on the left. When you reach the water tower, turn right to join Rue du Château d'Eau.

(2) Follow it to the left to reach Grand Rue. Cross over and take Rue Charlemagne Brocq opposite. Ignore the street coming from the right and reach a T-junction.

(3) Turn left, then immediately right onto Rue des Corons. You will come to another T-junction where you turn left (Rue des Aubépines). After about 150 metres, take the path on the right which further on turns left at a right angle and comes to a crossroads. Take the right path opposite which leads to the D8.

(4) Follow it carefully on the left for about 400 metres to reach a crossroads. Then turn right to leave the D8 (phew!). You will soon reach a fork.

(5) Take the path on the right, which is the GRP® de l'Artois, and follow it for a while. When you reach the D80, follow it to the left for about 200 metres before taking a good path (lined with trees that we knew when they were very small) on the right. Ignore a path on the right and then pass under the power line. Immediately afterwards, the path turns left to follow the line and reach a T-junction.

(6) Turn right and reach the D75 (rubbish tip on the left). Leave the GRP® here. Cross it to take the small road opposite. 100 m further on, take the beautiful path on the left. Ignore the path on the left and further on, turn left and join Rue Corroyer.

(7) Follow it to the left until you reach the D75. Follow it to the right for about 50 metres before turning left to pass in front of the castle entrance. At the crossroads, cross the D75 and follow Rue de Liencourt opposite. After 50 metres, turn right. At the end of the street, turn left.

(7) Take the left branch and, after a right-angle turn, you will reach Rue de Liencourt. Join the GRP®. Cross it and take Rue Verte opposite (slightly to the left), which leads to Rue de l'Église.
Turn right and then left with the street to reach a T-junction.

(8) Turn left onto Rue de Sus-Saint-Léger. After 500 metres, turn right onto the small road. After 200 metres, turn left onto a well-surfaced farm track, heading towards a wind turbine. After the wind turbine, ignore a track on the left and then another on the right (see practical information). Continue in the same direction to take an unpaved path that descends into Fay-Saint-Pierre (a pretty puddle that you go around via the field on the left). The path then becomes paved again and climbs up to an inverted Y-junction.

(9) Take a sharp right turn to arrive facing the woods. Then turn left, ignore the first crossroads and continue to the second.

(10) Turn right to cross the Bois de l'Hêtraie. A nice descent, a good climb, then the plateau to reach the D339. Cross it carefully and take the pretty path opposite. At the T-junction, turn right and stay on the street to arrive in front of the castle: a beautiful square and a beautiful driveway, all that's missing are a few benches!

(11) After a possible return trip to the gate of the Château du Cauroy, continue straight ahead on Rue du Calvaire. Turn left into the second street (signposted "accès livraisons" [delivery access]). Join the D339 opposite a chapel, cross it carefully and take the small road opposite. Walk along a wooded plot, then a field, and reach a path that branches off to the left.

(12) Turn left to follow the edge of the Bois du Tabayard and reach the D339. Cross it and follow the path opposite. Stay on the edge of the path that goes left and reaches a crossroads.

(13) Turn right and descend towards Berlencourt-le-Cauroy. At the crossroads, turn right onto the D79. When it turns right, continue straight on into Rue de la Solette. It climbs gently and reaches a fork. Take the left-hand lane (tarmac) and reach the D79E1 near Denier.

(14) Follow it to the left and you will soon reach a fork. Turn left towards the village and you will arrive in front of the war memorial on the left (containers on the right).

(15) Turn right towards the farm and you will immediately find a very pretty path descending to the right. Join a wide path and follow it to the left. After 300 m, you will reach a fork that is not very visible.

(16) Do not take the wide path that climbs to the left, but take the GRP®, a grassy path slightly hidden on the right. In this area, if you are climbing, you have taken the wrong path!
The path, which is a bit muddy in places, eventually improves and reaches a crossroads. Continue straight ahead and after a left-right turn, you will reach a T-junction. Turn left and you will immediately reach the D81.

(17) Follow it to the right. After about 200 metres, you will come to a crossroads. Leave the D 81 and turn left. This is a straight path that leads to an oratory (a covered shelter where you can picnic). Then turn left to join the D77. This is the start of the Allée des Tilleuls: turn right to follow the D77, taking the beautiful path along the trees on the right. Pass in front of the water tower-keep and shortly afterwards, you will reach a wide path that branches off to the right.

(18) Take this path towards the woods (take a quick look back to get a better view of the tower). Ignore a path on the right and, just before the edge of the woods, take a grassy path on the left to reach a crossroads.

(19) Turn right and join the D78. Cross it and take the path opposite, a very grassy path that joins the D78E1. Follow it to the right to reach a crossroads. (It is also possible to reach the (20) by crossing the football field, which avoids a section of tarmac)

(20) Turn left, ignore a path on the right, and stay on the right path towards Avesnes, where you will eventually see the church tower. Shortly after passing under the power line, the path turns left and leads to a square.

(21) Leave the GRP®. Take the path on the right. After 200 metres, turn left, still on the path, and you will reach a housing estate.

(22) Take the street on the left. At the T-junction, turn right onto Rue des Pommiers to reach the D8. Follow it on the left to reach the cemetery, walking for a good while in the grass, away from the road.
Reach the car park (S/E).

The walk is long, but not particularly difficult. The paths were fine when I checked the route after the first rains of November 2022.

After the point (8), you can save 5 km by taking the path on the right just after the wind turbine. At the T-junction, turn left and join the Chemin d'Abbeville. When you reach a crossroads, turn left to reach the point (12) and rejoin the route by turning right.

I had to change the route in Lignereuil because the lord of the manor (whom I thought was extinct) no longer tolerates people walking on the path that passes in front of his noble residence!

Good equipment is, of course, strongly recommended.

You are almost always on GR® or GRP® trails, but I don't pay much attention to them and cannot say whether they are properly marked.

Grand-Rullecourt Castle

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...

Château du Cauroy (11)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...

Lignereuil Castle

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...

Allée des Tilleuls (up to (18))

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...