The belvederes and the peat bog of Nanchez - Prénovel

12 points of interest

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  Viewpoint

  Belvedere of the Duchet

  Perched 971 m high-up on the Bois de la Joux anticline, this belvedere overlooks the Anchey Combe (or the Prénovel-Les-Piards combe). According to geologists, this combe is a real combe, dug into the mountain by erosion. The mildness of the slopes is the result of the glaciers having deposited moraines. This combe is now used for hay fields.

  The Nanchez forebay (or the Anchey forebay), which winds along the foot of the belvedere, has once more joined its meanderings since 2016, slowing flood flows and benefitting biodiversity and the rivers downstream.

  From the north to the south, you will see various hamlets: Prénovel de Bise, les Belbenoîts, les Janiers (with the church), Les Fans and Les Berrods. To the south, you should be able to make out the village of Les Piards, where the houses are much closer together.

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  Natural environments

  The Nanchez peat bog

  Peat bogs are characterised by a surface that is constantly water-logged, where peat forms and accumulates: it is a type of bedding made-up of dead vegetation which has badly decomposed due to the absence of oxygen. Life conditions are demanding in these environments and this means that the species that live here must adapt to the omnipresence of water, to a relatively cold climate and to the chemical composition of the soil.

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  Flora

  Sundew

  This small carnivorous plant traps insects using its sticky digestive-juice covered hair. This adjustment allows the plant to acquire additional nutrients in this environment where its roots struggle to find enough food.

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  Flora

  The bog bilberry

  This phony blueberry favours environments that are slightly acidic, which is why it can be found in raised bogs or bogs that are in the process of drying out. Its edible berries, which mature mid-summer, are not as sweet as blueberries.

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  Flora

  Calluna

  This plant’s roots produce toxic secretions which hinder the growth of other species. It is often called common heather.

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  Fauna

  The violet copper

  This butterfly is typical of northern regions. Adults can be seen flying around in May and at the beginning of June. Females lay their eggs by sliding backwards under the leaves of the common bistort. Caterpillars then complete their development on the underside of these leaves.

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  Flora

  Cottongrass

  Their silky tuft does not appear during the flowering stage but rather the fruit stage: the cotton-like fibres that make-up this tuft are carried by the wind to aid the dispersal of its seeds.

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  Flora

  Mountain pine

  In the Jura, these trees are found almost exclusively in peat bogs: its bushy silhouette, its short needles that grow in pairs of two and the hook on the leaves of its cones are some of its distinctive features that will help you to identify one.

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  Viewpoint

  Belvedere over the Fort

  Already on the map in 1835 under the name “La Roche du Fort”, this belvedere – cleared only a few years ago - opens onto the Anchey combe (Prénovel-Les-Piards), the Nanchez forebay and the peat bog. To the south-east you can see the High-Jura mountain range from the Dole to the Reculet.

  At the foot of the belvedere are several funnels, one of which is very visible near the road, and which create overflows during floods. When the sawmills downstream were in operation, the factory workers would try to block them in an attempt to keep enough water for their hydraulic wheels. Regardless of the flow rate, the forebay runs into the karst behind the hamlet of Chaux-des-Prés. Its springs up again 27 km further along, in the Bienne valley.

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  History & Heritage

  The crown of the low walls

  The capping on the low dry-stone walls, or crown, maintains and stabilises the sides (visible parts) of the wall. Without it, the stones, and particularly those at the top, would end up falling. Here, you can observe a technique in which large and relatively flat stones, called lauzes, are laid vertically and often stabilised by spacers in between.

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  History & Heritage

  Wood-turning workshops

  More than a place of work or a rudimentary shelter for craftsmen, for those who occupied it, the workshop is a setting that is both intimate and public.
  Between the tools used, on the worktops where sawdust is pushed away with the palm of a hand, is where craftsmen build their know-how, by the light shed by the large dusty windows.

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  History & Heritage

  The evolution of life and buildings

  The rural house was first the one belonging to the farmer and livestock breed, where men and animals lived together. As from the 18th century, cheese specialisation and the pooling of milk in cooperative structures - “fruitières” - brought farmers out of a self-subsistence economy. In terms of buildings, the farm became bigger: a storey is added to include bedrooms, a second stable is sometimes built to accommodate more animals.