Walk from Mougau Bihan

We parked in the car park next to the megalithic structure at Mougau Bihan and set off down the road – no guidance from Wendy Mewes this time – we just used the map.

We set off down this quiet road and soon turned left down ‘English’ green lanes.

Croas Melar is a granite cross which commemorates the site of a battle: in 1171 the Duke of Brittany, Conan IV, and his English allies defeated the Viscount of Léon, Guyomarch IV. The history of Brittany up to the Middle Ages is incredibly complicated, and violent, and I can recommend Wendy Mewes’ Discovering the History of Brittany as a succinct and clear guide.

At a crossroads the path continues uphill to the top of the hills, the Monts d’Arrees.

The views are wide: here the line of trees marks the course of the Élorn River, close to its source.

So far it had been an easy walk, with a clear path, but that was about to change! I spotted a track on the map and we turned downhill. However, we were soon lost in thick bracken and gorse and a 15-minute saunter downhill turned into a 45-minute struggle. We could of course turned back….

Finally we found the track we were looking for – wide, clear, easy.

And so back to the car

You may be interested in
The Élorn River
Photograph of the Élorn River at La Roche Maurice in 1850s