The Passavant tile works route

Park in the Étang Neuf car park – Restaurant le Chalet du Lac (71 Grande Rue, Passavant-la-Rochère).

(S/E) From Le Chalet du Lac, take the D7 back down to the village of Passavant-la-Rochère.

(1) When you reach the fire station and the post office, turn left and walk behind the former Monchanin tile works (multi-purpose hall). Then continue to the right to head down to the centre of the village.

(2) Turn left onto the Grande Rue (D50), leaving the Rue de Vougecourt on your right, then take the second right, the Rue du Pateux. Continue to the right (Rue du Bourg), passing the church and the tower of the old castle. Take Rue de la Tour on your left and continue to the cemetery (the former site of the now-defunct Andon tile works).

(3) Head down the road on the left, which then becomes Chemin de la Nava, for 1.4 km. At the junction at the end of the road, you’ll see a tile works nestled in the woodland on your right.

(4) Turn left onto the wide track which leads out onto the D7. Turn right and follow this road as far as the bridge over the old railway line. Pass under this bridge, then walk past a former nightclub (which burnt down in 2013) and continue for a few more metres alongside the Canal de l’Est.

(5) Turn right, then right again, and follow the old railway line for 1.1 km. When you reach the old barrier, continue along the road to the right to join Rue de la Grande Fontaine in the village of Passavant (on your right, the remains of the Tuilerie Pourchot, which closed in 1982). Turn left.

(6) Then cross the D50 to the left and immediately turn right into Rue Mafioli. Turn left into Rue Saint-Antoine and continue until you reach a small chapel. Then follow the narrow path leading down to the left and pass under the viaduct

(7) Take the D50 to the right for 70 metres, then go back under the viaduct towards the pond. Pass in front of the ‘Forge en bas’ (site of the former Boileau-Mercier tile works and its manor house) and continue for 300 metres.

(8) At the crossroads, turn left and walk past the Upper Forge, then turn left to walk alongside the pond and return to the car park where you started (S/E).

Some sections are very wet when it rains; please wear suitable footwear

Cristallerie Verrerie la Rochère – rue de la Verrerie 70210 Passavant-la-Rochère – www.larochere.com

Fountains and wash houses in the village.

Remains of the tile works.