Last summer, I read The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue. You can read my review of the book Here. If you’re wondering what that has to do with my making a very long-overdue return to Granville, it’s because the story in the book begins right here.
Granville, as a destination, was on the itinerary for my very first camping trip in France. And no, I’m going to let you know how long ago that was, but I can say that my green guide is now so old it relies on sellotape for its existence! However, I have a new book to guide me around this town, and we’ll be making a beeline for the station.
But first, some facts. Granville sits on the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula, some 104 km south of the port of Cherbourg. That’s a steady hour-and-a-half or so drive through scenic rolling, coastal landscape. Granville has a population of around 12,500 and is the third largest city in the département of Manche. First and second places are occupied by Cherbourg (78,000) and St-Lô (20,000).
Despite its relatively small size by UK standards, Granville has a long and fascinating history. The town sits on a rocky promontory overlooking the Îles Chausey (the French Channel Islands), the Channel, and the Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel. The town, as we know it today, was founded by a vassal of Guillaume le Conquérant. As payment for men and arms supplied during the invasion of England, Guillaume ceded the area of Roque de Lihou to the local Grant family. The Grants became the first Lords of Granville after the Vikings.
Across the many centuries since then, the town has been fortified, bombarded, reconstructed, besieged (and that’s a whole story by itself), and ceded through marriage and land grabs. But let’s move forward to the nineteenth century and my reason for being here. 1815 was the beginning of a new and prosperous age for Granville. A Chamber of Industry and Commerce was created with the sole intention of bringing work and business opportunities to the area. A lighthouse was built to aid shipping. The port was redeveloped in 1856. Four years later, the first gaming house was built by a former Mayor. In 1865, a hospice was built, and in 1867, the town acquired its first oared lifeboat. A local newspaper, Le Granvillais, first hit the streets in 1869, and in the following year the railway came to town.
On July 3rd, 1870, the SNCF line from and the newly constructed station at Granville opened. This momentous occasion supported the movement of goods into the town and the transportation of fish, shellfish and other goods out of town and across France. Initially, the line from Granville reached as far as Argentan. By 1895, there was a regular service from Granville to Paris, and this little town had become known as the ‘Monaco du nord’. Just as wealthy Victorians in England flocked to Brighton and various other coastal resorts, so Parisians, local politicians, and landowners took the train to Granville to enjoy the healthy sea air along with the opportunities for gambling and cards.
However, call in at the Musée de Vieux Granville, and you will be rewarded with a series of old photographs and lithographs of the town as it used to be.
Photo CyrilB1881
There will be more on the towns along the Granville-Paris railway line in the coming weeks, so keep watching this space …
