Wendy Mewes
Writer, Walker, Guide
My blog is regularly updated with the thoughts, experiences, and ups and downs arising from working in Brittany’s heritage. www.wendymewes.blogspot.com
Writing
The focus of my work is Brittany’s landscape and history. I have written history books, guidebooks, walking books and many articles for the press or professional websites. Publications featuring my work at one time or another include The Independent, The Guardian, French Property News and Voyage (Brittany Ferries’ magazine). I have also written texts for businesses such as London City Airport, Inntravel and Freewheeling France.
Voyage - Brittany Ferries
Extract from Independent article on Brittany’s Green Ways
‘The Green Ways experience is certainly tame, with maintained surfacing, the lack of significant gradient and frequently narrow perspectives dictated by geography.
On these paths a traveller measures himself against man-made structures rather than the full scale of nature. What’s a long walk without that unbeatable feeling of breasting a steep hill to a wide-ranging view? ….. But the Green Ways are all about connection, providing the opportunity to move swiftly and safely between points of interest. For many, their limitations are positive benefits for ease of transit. Undoubtedly an invaluable resource for active visitors, these routes offer the explorer of Brittany’s remarkable history and heritage all gain and no pain.’
Quote from travelogue Crossing Brittany
Walking the Nantes-Brest Canal
The weather is appalling as I start but rain often sets off the canal to surprising advantage, in the patterns on the water, the damp embrace of the air and an enhanced greenness in the dripping foliage. In fact, it lends an air of romantic melancholy to some scenes today that might be attractive in the somewhat neglected gardens of a stately home. The canal’s identity, however, is bound up in utilitarianism: faded apathy does not suit its spirit. This section really is going nowhere. Here one can feel intensely the contrast between this pathetic invalid and its strong convalescent cousin in Finistere. A reminder of that bright slogan, popular in the 1990s, ‘use it or lose it’ – good advice for the body, the brain and canals.
I also write poetry and fiction, with two novels Moon Garden (2004) and the Five of Cups (2006) proving enduringly popular with many readers. The Shape of Mist (2011) was a new short story venture. This dual-language (English/French) text is a collection of legends from the Monts d’Arrée, traditional ones given new twists and others (Black Dog Blues, Korrigans in Crisis) entirely my own humorous creation.
Discovering the History of Brittany
My most recent book is The Saints’ Shore Way (April 2013), a project realised with Morlaix and Lannion tourism. It outlines a 133km walk along the coast between Roscoff and Lannion, with background information about Dark Ages saints from Wales and Cornwall who were so important in the formation of what became Brittany. Other themes connecting Little Britain and Great Britain are the medieval cloth trade, rivalry at sea during trade wars and WWII Resistance activity. Details of things to see along the route and very detailed maps are also included.
The Saints' Shore Way