Spiderwoman

Every year we look out for the publication known as the “Bulletin Municipal 2011” (Cormatin). Not only does this small booklet tell us about the yearly acts of vandalism in the village (this year again the Christmas decorations were vandalised), but also the new village related projects are being announced. Those who were unable to attend the New Year’s wishes of the mayor in the village hall, can still find out what is going on in their village, seated in an easy chair by the fire.
One of the highlights for this year is the start of the construction of a new school, under supervision of the town councils of Cormatin and Malay, as well as of the Communauté de Communes entre Grosne et Guye (CCGG) of which our mayor is also the President. The school has the object to prepare the small kids from Cormatin and Malay for the real life.
Another big project is the erection of a climbing wall near Ameugny. This was already mentioned in the 2010 Bulletin, but the 2011 edition was a bit more specific. There was a small map of the hamlet of Bois Dernier (part of Ameugny), and an ancient stone quarry there was indicated as the location of the climbing wall. Each week I cycle a number of times past this part of the voie verte, but I had never seen a stone quarry, let alone a potential climbing wall.
Some days ago however I cycled down the D981 direction Cormatin, when I saw from the corner of my eye a low rock wall on the other side of the voie verte, just visible from the main road. On the way back I took the cycle path, and after I had crossed the D14 at the Musée du Poilu and cycled past the “Aux Berges de la Grosne” (AKA the pink restaurant) I saw something resembling the remains of a stone quarry along the voie verte, with the dazzling height of approx 4 m (13 feet) and a length of approx. 20 m (65 feet). Once at home Sue and I discussed the possibility of this feature; this was going to be either a climbing wall for midgets, or a playground for the children of the new school. Somehow this conclusion did satisfy neither of us.
The next day we had to go to a client by car, and on the way back we parked at Bois Dernier and walked a little way down the voie verte direction Taizé. The rock wall I had seen earlier, was indeed the foot of an old quarry, there was no doubt about that. But from there the hill rose all of a sudden quite steeply, and through trees, shrubs and foliage one could catch a glimpse of the real quarry. Based on topographical maps of the area, the total height of the walls is in the range of 40 m (135 feet), which makes more sense when you think of turning it into a climbing wall.
I was still wondering around trying to find a place where I could take a photograph, but the rocks were properly obscured. Then I met the woman who runs the pharmacy and her son. We had a little chat about the climbing wall, and she warned me for all the dangers lurking there; falling debris, holes in the ground, etc.
In the mean time I had lost Sue, who had managed to find a path uphill at Bois Dernier, and from the path one had access to the foot of the second stone wall. When I finally had caught up with her, I saw her, glued to the wall like a rather small version of Spiderwoman, shouting “yoo-hoo, I’m here!” at me....


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