Nowadays the Somme is a tranquil river. It springs in Fonsommes, in the north of France, and flows over 245 kilometres, finally reaching the English Channel in Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. It has been used for navigation since ancient times and was an essential route for shipping goods between the British Isles, Flanders and Paris. There were several parts that were difficult to cross. During the reign of Henri IV, engineering works were suggested to channel it and thus facilitate use. The works were actually carried out a full two centuries later. From 1810 to 1835, the natural course of the river was smoothed out. Towpaths, locks and ports have facilitated and developed inland waterway transport through to the English Channel. This route had its heyday in the 1860s, soon declining when Somme Bay silted up, leading to the closure of the maritime port in Saint-Valery-sur-Somme. Today, the channelled river is mainly used for leisure boating. This stretch is part of the initial “reach” (the stretch of water between two locks), from Amiens to Daours, which first opened in 1825. At each end, there is a lock to navigate a change in river level or bypass an obstruction. In 1870, the Lamotte-Brebière lock, one kilometre upstream, was engineered to improve the regulation of water levels in the famous Hortillonnages, or “floating gardens” located downstream. The towpath you walked along was for pullers, people and horses that drew boats back in the days before motorisation. The Somme Department Council recently refurbished this towpath as the "Somme Valley" Véloroute, a cycle path of over 120 km between the Somme Bay and Péronne.
description image A set of horses pulling a barge on the Somme Canal - Departmental Archives - Somme Department Council
MAP OF LOCKS, DAMS AND BRIDGES PRESENT ON THE RIVER “SOMME”
Mobile bridge
Swing bridge
Dam
Lock
MARSHLAND KID
El Sonme
"We sometimes go swimming in the Somme even if it’s out of bounds!" Sometimes we meet barges. It’s great fun, we wave at the travellers sailing up the canal. In the days before motorisation they used to use flat-bottomed boats, called “gribanes”, which had 2 sails. On windless days, the skipper would use long oars to row the boat, like me and Rémy, when we make a raft! Sometimes “gribanes” were drawn along from the towpath by hacks or peasants using draught horses. I would have liked to see that!"