Value of the invisible archives for society

For the third edition of the #InvisibleArchives of the Manifesta Biennal, Moroccan artist Mohamed Fariji (b. 1966, MA) is collaborating with our cooperative of inhabitants from the northern districts of Marseille Hôtel du Nord.

Involved in the exploration of urban myths and collective memory, Mohamed Fariji, develops participatory artistic projects over a long period of time. After a three-week residency hosted by Hôtel du Nord, the artist will present his collaboration and work on the collective’s archives at Tiers QG, for Invisible Archive # 3. This collaboration happens during upcoming local elections and reflects upon “Oh Bonne Maire”, the political story project of Christine Breton, heritage curator and retired Professor of History.

#InvisibleArchives represent selected genealogies and non-institutional memories of various civil initiatives, histories of resilience and community synergies originated and located in particular areas of Marseille. Challenging the city’s “mainstream” discourses, these genealogies re-narrated by an invited artist or a collective, inhabit the space of Tiers QG in a year-long sequence of  exhibitions and public programmes. Selected archives are used as departure points for artists and exhibitions. The public programme takes place in the ecosystem of Marseille, as well as in relation to foreign initiatives and practices. 

Hôtel du Nord invite four initiatives from the european Faro convention network to share their experiences about #InvisibleArchives: Patrimoni in Psain, Cabbage Field in Lituania, Almašani in Serbia and Machkhaani en Gorgia.

The Faro convention of the Council of Europe on the value of cultural heritage for society is about people, places and stories and to make invisible visible (Faro moto). The Faro convention network members try to implement human rights, rules of law and democracy in sometimes difficult circumstances (clientelism, corruption, rural emigration, gentrification, speculation). To manage these situations, in addition to judicial procedures, manifestations and petitions, they choose to use heritage and archives. What is the value of invisible archives for the society? For heritage communities, education, quality of life, social dialogue, regeneration of communities? They will share their experiences during an Aogora on Saturday 22th of Febbruary from 2 pm to 5 pm a the Tiers QG.

 

 

 

     

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

   

  

 

  

  

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

  

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donkeys have returned to ForestA… on the way to a school of nature

Hotel du Nord shares with you the account of the Group of inhabitants who are involved in the side of Benedikte and its 14 donkeys on the grounds of ForestA. A story to discover this adventure in construction but also to invite to join it, it is collective and open to all!

To maintain the crazy herbs of the 16 hectares of the territory of ForestA, the 14 donkeys of Benedikte of the Association Mont'asses are again marseillais…, to take care of the places and also for the enjoyment of the children and inhabitants of the Northern neighborhoods.

Donkeys to ForestA why?

  • For the ecological mowing of the place
  • As part of the gradual setting up of the school of nature with to begin (Wednesdays of the little shepherds from 2pm to 5.30 pm, free on inscription Nathalie 06 99 01 23 10)

Because donkeys are also a magical medium to the exchanges between human beings!

Sea view with donkeys

They arrived on the 24th of March on the occasion of the Spring Festival of ForestA, on the legs of the Park of Pichauris (Allauch) by the massif of the Etoile, then by truck of Château Gombert to be on time at the party!

As soon as they are on the spot the children of the neighborhood feel it and are magneted by these gentle animals in the long hair. Relationships are forged with those who take care of them: Benedikte, Jonathan, Agnès, Nathalie, Vincent (responsible for the shared gardens of the neighbouring Belvedere).

On 10 April, the children of the ITEP of St Louis and those of the district courageously embark on a great cleansing of the future donkey Park (at the BD of Hanoi), so that they do not get hurt. 

Shepherds on the sea

Benedikte tells them about the donkeys and their mission on ForestA.

Then we go to action!

Garbage disposal for donkeys in front of the gazebo garden

A lot of waste is found: glass, leftover snacks and parties, plastics, packaging, and some very dangerous items for donkey's feet.

Small archaeology of waste
many wastes…
but an iron will

There you go! The place is clean. The children understood that throwing rubbish anywhere was not without consequence!

Hopefully this awareness gained from this young audience will find its echo with other visitors…

We're done for today.
Benedikte and the little shepherds

The buckle's locked!

We heal, we brush, we learn the language of animals

Benedikte explains how to brush donkeys to rid them of their winter coat.

A lot of attention and exchanges

Agnes explains the morphology of the donkey's hooves, and how to maintain them.

Everybody's thrilled! Children and adults! We worked well, we had fun, we learned a lot!

The Association Yes we camp allows us to gather and Exchange joyfully on this beautiful day, around a good tasting!

The next day, April 11th, we receive residents of St. Louis via the social Center, as well as two new recruits with long ears, Bichette and pomponette who meet their mates.

Many moms and grandmothers accompanied the children. They seem as happy and interested as they are!

Then the long awaited moment by the little shepherds arrives! We're going for a walk. In turn well supervised by the people of the team and the Moms, the children (less than 40 kg) straddle the donkeys!

We travel…
Well deserved walk

Already our neighbors of the neighborhood testify of their interest in relation to the presence of donkeys next to their home. We hope that the well-being of our friends with long ears is also based on the benevolent attention of neighbours and visitors.

Wednesday snacks
To talk with donkeys

This project is under construction.

Any participation, idea, suggestion are welcome. We are very keen that our actions respond to the desire of the inhabitants. Activities can also be exported from forestA (animation in social Center, school, neighborhood, market, hospital…). 

Feel free to contact Benedikte: 06 83 52 92 97, Nathalie: 06 99 01 23 10 or Agnès: 06 08 36 70 93.

ForestA botanical exploration-story #2 the euphorbias

From the BD of Hanoi, the rendezvous point of each botanical exploration, we descend through the staircase of the trail of the Teucrium pseudochamaepitys, and notice a very early flowering of the famous plant protected nationally, next to a Euphorbia ” morning alarm clock “(Euphorbia helioscopia). This will be the theme of a future exploration because on that day, we were more particularly interested in euphorbic.

For the second botanical exploration of the year on 2 March, it was very beautiful, we went to herborize in a place where nobody goes, hardly accessible, below the big letters and above the Timonnerie.

the slope to explore

The descent of the slopes, between the euphorbs. It’s gone for the identification of plants here present… not easy!

The euphorbic (EuphorbiaL.), feminine name, possess special inflorescences named cyathes, peculiarity that they share only with some neighboring genera. These are poisonous plants, which possess a white LaTeX sometimes very irritating.

In temperate species, the appearance of flowering plants varies greatly over the course of days: leaves tend to disappear as the umbelle develops, the stem blushes, while the fruit, a three-celled gloomous capsule, emerges very quickly from the inflorescence.

The word Euphorbia would come from euphorbium, the name given by King Juba of Mauretania, in honor of his Greek doctor Euphorbus, to the medicinal drug made from the LaTeX of the species today named Euphorbia resinifera.

Euphorbia in bloom
Safi’s botanize box
the determination sheet per plant

Check the details

Flora (book)

The euphorbs are generally recognized with their yellowish-green inflorescences, or cyathes, arranged in ombelles, having neither sepals nor petals. Each inflorescence contains a three-style female flower surrounded by male flowers, all in a cut formed by two bracts bearing four or five often-corbare glands. The fruit, pedicellated, is a capsule usually very rounded, smooth or grainy.

observe the details to identify the specific species

We searched the floras (books) to determine the exact name of the most present Euphorbia in this place. It is called Euphorbia graminifolia, a fine-leaved Spurge, with a red stem at flowering and almost more leaves. The most common in the gardens is also there, Euphorbia helioscopia or euphoria awakening-morning.

rigorous observation

The Euphorbia is part of the same family as the rubberized rubber latex, which grows mainly in the Amazon.

In 1935 in Minnesota, Carl Pfaender a farm worker is enthusiastic about the laticiferous potential of spurge esula, which produces a rubber of as good quality as those imported. Euphorbia is, at that time, considered in the United States as a poisonous and invasive plant to eradicate. Carl Pfaender is still in the manufacture of rubber. In 1941, under pressure from his neighbours, he was obliged to pay pesticides himself on several hectares of plants which he took care of as a future LaTeX crop. This is the end of his Euphorbia rubber adventure.

In 1942, in order to contribute to the war effort, botanists explored the possibility of producing rubber on American soil. Ross A Gorter, head of the biochemistry Division at the University of Minnesota, suggests that weed becomes a permanent crop in marginal and regeneration lands in Northern Minnesota and North Dakota. Scientists predict a yield of 170 to 220 kilos of rubber per hectare, which is considered a good yield. 

Three days later, the Minneapolis morning Tribune mixes the data and announces a figure of 150 to 198 “tons”, instead of kilo per hectare. Hundreds of farmers are offering their land to work and transform the Euphorbia. When we discover the modest reality of performance, this whole affair is immediately an insurmountable embarrassment and signs the end of the rush to the rubber Euphorbia.

Extract of guayule and other rubber plants from yesterday’s saga to the industry of tomorrow, by Mark R. Finlay

a large graminean, Pipterium milliaceum

There was also the mauve, which is no longer present, the leek of the vines…

Plants identified on the parcel:

Allium ampeloprasum the wild leeks, Euphorbia graminifolia (tenuifolia), Euphorbia helioscopia euphoria alarm clock, malva sylvestris la mauve, mercurialis Annua la mercuriale, betta maritima la chard Sauvage, pipterium milliaceum a great grass, Phragmites australis common Reed, verbasmula sinuatum sinuous-leaved mullein, Scabiosa la scabieuse, Diplotaxis erucoides white rocket, sonchus oleraceus Le perennial sow thistle market

The botanical explorations are walks that invite to make together the inventory of the flora of ForestA, and make this data accessible to all on the site TELA Botanica. To participate in other botanical explorations it is here

Purple
Wild leeks

Photos of Shéryl Debourg (Yes we camp) and Isabelle Dor

Tale toxic Tour #2 (from Freygières to Fabregoules)

On February 12th, we met in Septèmes for the second exploration trip in search of the lost source of the Caravelle/Aygalades Creek and the history of the industrial hills…

We begin our walk by meeting Mr Magro, elected from Septêmes and living in the District of old Caillols where we find ourselves. It reminds us of the stakes of Caravelle: not to consider the watercourse as a storm network and genuinely manage it as a coastal river, to end the industrial discharges that upset the ecology, restore the rypisilve, regain a flow water adapted to the life of a Mediterranean River. For this a few tools: PLUI (for urban planning), the PPRI (for floods and therefore hydrography), the Bay contract (for knowledge) and also the change in water skills (Gemapi) that should compel the public authorities to interested in the River (for management).

And our mobilization…

So Avanti!

But before going to occupy the top of the star to broadcast our messages on television:), we decide to spend at Eric understand how the goats participate in the management of these hills.

Eric took over the activity of goat farm in 2014, transmitted by Guy, who still lives there in the Maisonette. It’s a nice story because Eric, a resident of the Aygalades who discovered his vocation as a cheese maker and then Chevrier, really lived this adventure (from a professional reconversion) as a meeting (with guy and goats) and as a find with the walks he was doing precisely in those little hills with his parents














Today with the help of the commune he modernized the chèvrerie, while living with the memories and know-how of guy who lives on the site and sculpts in the places (look for the OWL…).


Eric explains the AOC recently acquired by the Rove Bush and also with Yves who takes care of the communal Volunteer Committee of fires and forests, the place of goats in the management of fire risk.

This year for the first time you can as a resident ask to welcome some of his goats to brush up your land!


The chèvrerie is located in a former limestone quarry with a few vestiges.


We join the forest, direction Lafarge…

The establishment of Lafarge (factory of the Malle) consists of both a quarry and a cement plant, installed since 1958. it is in this valley of Fabregoules that the springs converge to become the source of the Brook Caravell
e/Aygalades. we’ll try to find the water, but enjoy on the way the remnants of old water management systems, and a spectacular panorama…


And here is the Lake, the spring, the basin,… The
water… at last… The retention of water exerted by the quarry excavation is not entirely responsible for the lack of flow of the Brook (there are also the waters possibly captured by the Gallery of the sea, and also the disturbances of the watershed by the urbanization, and also rainfall…) but it is still a crucial factor on which one must be able to Act (invite Larfarge to put water in the bed from a consultation on the ecological needs of the Brook).


Convinced of our “mission” we finish to explore the water circuits and convince us of his close return, using our new handheld technologies…

The ride ends in Adventure mode, we no longer leave the bed of the Brook…

And to finish in color, a meeting with this little mushroom that accompanied us throughout this aqueous and forest exploration: the Scarlet pezize… It is one of the saprophytic organisms, which can live in air, water or soil without directly relying on a living being. Very fl
ashy, and stoking curiosity, living in the detour of this strange story of Brook of which sometimes one doubts the existence, of these landscapes that one suspects sometimes to be more dead than alive, it appeared as a good mascot for a toxic to
ur! Enjoy…

Next toxic tour exploration on Thursday, April 4, with also the collective observation of a first release of water in the Brook concerted with Lafarge.

Let's stay tuned! #4 story

A new episode of one of our ongoing explorations, which will give rise to a first public stroll on March 24th…

There are days when everything looks ordinary, and yet the extra-ordinary invites itself to the corner of the street. 

On January 10, 2019 was a day like this for a big bunch of neighbors who would live a little adventure, a kind of quiet slide out of our habits, going up from the stream of Aygalades to ForestA. The corner of the street that day is the 151 of the Avenue de
s aygalades. as usual it works in this small area of activity named Marseille industries, installed between Bing (red sludge) and Brook. Before, a long time ago, there was a large rural property with 3 farms, vineyards, a Bastide and pig lodges. The last owner Balthazar Rouvière sold in 1870 to the PLM (Paris Lyon Méditerranée) of Talabot to build the Gare de Saint-Louis Les Aygalades. The railwaymen adventure we will talk about later starts there. A little later in the century an oil mill (a company of refined oils of the MIDI) will be installed and then in the 1920s a purification plant and a gelatine factory that works until the war. It is the family owner, the Ramonnaxto, of this gelatine plant, which after a lot of time in waster will gradually transform in the warehouse area and then in the area of activity these plots. Today there 75 companies that are installed there, a bit of everything (freight, technical equipment wholesalers, computer scientists…).  
But all this little world that turns pretty well is not accustomed to seeing an increasingly important group gather next to what was the keeper's House, in front of a mysterious and discreet small post. B
ut where are the trees in all this? For it is always on the trail of the trees that we meet there…


The flip to another world that is still there will take a few minutes, time to get acquainted with Jeannot, former railwayman, but also pastry chef, who in the middle of this mini business area seems as unlikely as the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland (except that Jeannot at all seems to find that he is late…).

Walkers are particularly numerous, and once again (OWL), we are full not to know us, not to come from the same neighborhood, the same "tribe", so encounters in prospects…

Flip through the small door, we move on the other side…


On the other side the plants are the Queens and each bears its history.


On the other side the little olive tree was planted there for Martha, because her mother was called Emilie Olivier, and that it was a nice way that she bears the name of her father and grows with the name of her mother. 
Beneath him is a bottle full of vows that will one day be dug up by the damsel, but hush, it's still a secret… On the other side everything seems a little magical, there are even faceted balls and ladies with long fur coats that carry baguettes of bread and cause with boys in Backpack…


On the other side, we learn that there are round leaves and elongated leaves on the olive tree, and that it is important to help them grow when you size them…


On the other side everything seems a little magical, there are even faceted balls and ladies with long fur coats that carry baguettes of bread and cause with boys in Backpack…


On the other side there are humans who seem to organize around the trees rather than the reverse…


On the other side it is a bazaar, a complex world of plant, animal and human uses that reassure us: we are alive!…

We continue in the plant maze of the railwaymen gardens. But where does this apparition come from? Appearance or on the contrary relic, mirage of a real living but evolving in a parallel temporality? Let's
listen to the clocks…


1855, the PLM rail line ends at this level. The axis of the train and the stream intersect, and is below the tax line of the grant, prompting the installation of industries that try to avoid tax burdens. On the slopes of the railroad to the Brook, the embankments lend themselves to the cultivation of radishes and the working culture… Jeannot tells us that it would be the Earl of Mirabeau who would have sold for the symbolic ECU the land destined for the workers for gardening. A condition to this sale tells us: that the Béal (these derivations that we built along which brook to capture the driving force of the water) is maintained for life by the gardeners… Toda
y it is no longer with the water of the Brook too polluted that the gardens are watered. What if one day it could be again? tight-fisted?

We arrive in Anne's garden. It is not cheminote, it testifies to the renewal that gradually diversifies the stories and practices. She develops her garden in Permaculture, and especially opens it to learning by proposing a school of gardening with a complete cycle of putting into practice around urban gardening.

Contact and info from Anna: apmarsdegun@yahoo.fr

Again the scenery is enchanting and informative narrative. We learn about the history of the Association Jardinot (contraction of Jardin and cheminot) which has recomposed around the multiple working gardens linked to the history of railwaymen and the SNCF.

We continue to join the plot of Jeannot. The horizon line reminds us that this territory is well industrial and that in these times of distaking it is the real estate that takes care of requalifier…

Jeannot has cultivated in these gardens for over 60 years, he has learned everything from the ancestors, the rain and the moon. He was a long time President of the railwaymen gardens, and today his great pleasure is to convey. It would be necessary to write a book from what is told at each meeting Jeannot. Christine who also walks with us today has begun, we hope that she will continue, it is important.

For the time being we discover the places. Jeannot his thing is citrus. So in the dozens of stories he tells us is that of the hand of Buddha, a lemon tree.

INTERLUDE BANQUET and lemon TART (crafted by Dalila in special dedication to our host)

The reunion is not easy, because the Brook has not to share its bed, but gradually to be forgotten in the industrial anthology that borders its shores. From the exit of the gardens is the waltz of waste that gives the rhythm, the there, the ground?

Waste, discards, deposed. Borderline…

The entire waste sector is crossed in a few hundred metres, with very old stories (the extraction of fatty bodies from animals by means of hydrocarbons) and the most recent ones (sorting centers, waste disposal or recycling of metals…).

And the trees in all of this, are they still coming to tell some
thing? First they tell us simply by their presence. The riverine is valiant, we feel paradoxically really explorers in this area there… 

Dalila points us to a forest of fig trees that asks the reproduction side, and points out the "battle" underway between the Fresnes accustomed to the edges of the water and the paper walls that adapt well to the reversals of the Earth. More than a battle between the "typical" and the "opportunists", it tells us the dynamics of an environment that invites us to question what could be the various modes of maintenance or accompaniment of these banks self-managed, it discusses…


We arrive at the star, the Etoile du Nord, the cascade!

The day is not dedicated (for once) to the State of the water but to look from the banks, one goes to the adventure of the alley of plane trees spotted in the old pictures.

On the way two young ladies are watching us…

Small exploration with Jean-François, artist-gardener of the places…

Coming back we see trees everywhere, in everything…

We leave the waterfall and the city of the street arts to take a little height…

It is well known that in the forests sometimes live goblins. We are not far from the sacred wood against whom Caesar fought (see the previous story), there is no forest but there is still a leprechaun, or a spirit, or… Who knows. What is on is that he is called Pierre-Louis, that we wonder what he is doing there, that he is not on him either, but tells us that we are on time (the return of the White Rabbit??)! To reward us he tells us the history of the Château Bovis, in response to the various castles that were hanging around. We remember a history of cows but at this stage of the ride nothing is on…

But the risky encounter leads us to talk about where we are, the ancient city of niches, destroyed in the years 2010. Small town-village, its painful trajectory leads us to talk about the attachment that we carry to the places, to the soils, whatever they are when they saw and knew how to grow there. We are trees… An
d a few minutes later…!!


The hands of the children in the leaves, the trunks-buildings or the buildings-trunks, all in the false Tuff and the real rockery. History of stories.
.. End of ride a little on the wire, one is no longer too much on the part of fiction and reality in what one meets and
tells… What is on is that we arrive at the Park Brégante, and that there, on the small rock bridge and in the beautiful garden very wooded of this former Bastide converted once is not custom in municipal public park, 3 of us played small in a transgressive way ( pass the palisade) and 3 of us got married (this is the spot for wedding photos). Beyond saying that marriage is transgressive, we will not say…

We are after this episode close to losing ourselves a bit and finding a hole in the fence. Strangely this disorientation (we got really lost) is signalized by the GR2013. Go and understand…


We return to the territory ForestA… We salute the edible forest and the fig tree cuddly (it is very soft to be carresse), we greet the great landscape and there we say that it is time to say goodbye.


Well no, the meeting still calls us since Ahmed and Hakim are waving at us. Gardeners "pioneers" not to say "clandos", "wild", ForestA terrains, but also "sentinels", guardians, "healers", they take care of places for years, cultivating in the ruins of the old Chateau Bel Air their fashionable gardens Kabyle.

And there, surprise, they attacked the slope! The stairs! We
dreamed about it, they did it!

Uh, no, they were dreaming, they're doing it… and they are so right, they open the horizon! 
Thank you all!!

Photos Dominique Poulain and Didier brevet.

Next exploration "stay tuned!" in April, "tree walk, episode 1" on March 24th.

Toxic Tour Caravelle: Narrative #1

It is Thursday, December 4, and we meet in the winter sun on the square in front of the post of Septêmes. 

Behind the harmless side of the small gathering, the situation is uncertain. We come for some of Septêmes, for others of St Antoine, for others still Aygalades or Saint Henri Nothing that is a step aside towards the unknown but also towards the meeting…! While being all passionate about our neighborhoods and engaged in one way or another to know them better in order to take better care of them, for the most we do not know each other. Hence a little awkward silence until we are not too late. It is quite rare that we are from so many different neighborhoods, and even communes, interested in the same subject to build a stroll. So what's it all about? Objective of the afternoon, start to physically survey the places that could little by little tell us the past history and present of the chemical industry in this small commune bordering Marseille, with which it shares (among other) the river It is called Caravelle, then from the Aygalades Brook of Aygalades. The desire for this stroll in construction is therefore clearly to link a local industrial heritage history to current ecological situations, especially by focusing on relations (via industry, geography, the river…) of this Small rural commune to its big neighbour Marseille. So our little team will get to know the way, knowing that we don't really know which way we're going to go, and starts. We found a consensus to begin the exploration: to see at the bottom of the mayor's Glen the discharges of the Spi Pharma plant, a major source of the current pollution of Caravelle Brook. On the way, Pierre, inhabitant end connoisseur of the places sharing anecdotes of village and river, between floating cows during the flood of 1907, remnants of Fountain and traces of the old wash-house and mill.
From a postcard from the middle of the 20th century it gives…
Very soon we also find ourselves trying to unravel what we know of the watershed of the Aygalades, i.e. of all these tributaries, some of which are no longer considered as memories, and others as sewers.
 
We follow them in what we can see…
And if you look at a map, a river is a multitude…
Study of knowledge of the hazard flooding on the watershed of Aygalades-Setec Hydratec 2015
The stroll continues to the very bucolic glen of the mayor. Several assumptions about the name, including that at one point one of the factories that bordered it was owned by the mayor of the municipality.
As we are in the idea of exploring a Toxic tour, we do not miss this spectacular arrival of parcels from China in the brook of the mayor (tributary which will therefore throw himself in Caravelle). Some (Isabelle and Bernard are active members of the EASA association that fights industrial pollution in Septêmes and its environs) will conduct the investigation…
On the way one agrees the joy of taking a scrub path to look on the steps of Isabelle a mysterious source of lilacs… It's not easy to identify it, but it's finally found.
Little by little the industrial traces are more present. Funny tunnels of giant moles around here, the forest chimney by there, hills that feel more and more the embankment and the Bing.
Here we are in the historical landscapes of local chemistry.
 
Good there it will be necessary to take a few more sentences to explain (with the help of the knowledge of all and some supplements of the historian Xavier Daumalin…):
 
The history of the chemical industry in Marseille and its region is linked to that of the soda, necessary for the manufacture of the soap of Marseille. Originally produced from plants, a new process patented by a certain Nicolas Leblanc in 1791 goes slowly (because in the beginning the Marseille continued to import plant soda because less expensive and less… Pollutant…) Change the yield by allowing a production from the decomposition of sea salt with sulfuric acid. 
The movement to the LEBLANC process will begin in 1809, with the opening of a factory south of Marseille. The continuation of the story, exciting and complex, you will be told by walking, but for now we remember that the development of the factories is then intense in Marseille and that from the years 1815 protests, trial, multiply by People concerned about the effects of gaseous releases on health and crops… 
 
And yes, environmental concerns are not just contemporary issues...!
 
Septêmes was the first commune outside Marseille, both close and perceived as sufficiently rural to be "far from the city", to welcome this rapid growth of the soudières.
It will also be the queen of the protesters, four factories of the industrialists blush, Grimes, Rigaud, Crémieux and Delpuget being implanted there in those years, employing nearly 170 workers.
 
In 1816 the factories of the Vallon are threatened with fire. It ends violently by the incarceration of several farmers. Pierre thus found the trial that one of his peasant ancestors brought to the soda. We hope to read it soon!
The state will finally put an ultimatum to the soda to reduce their gas. 
 
It is then for some the relocation to "deserts" (Port Cros, Porquerolles, the Goudes and overall the whole coastline), for others technological research, with the establishment of these famous tunnels of moles that are spotted in the landscape , otherwise called creeping chimneys (we'll tell you how it works next time…). 
But the still inhabitants of Septêmes are recrossing aligning the counter-expertise to prove the inefficiency of the invention. 
The battle was hard to strike again from lawsuits and complaints. But the state and the experts of the Health Council will judge these environmental concerns unfounded, thus saving for a good long time the Provençal industry of soda…

The tumultuous history of soda will continue throughout the 19th century, on the background of technological innovations and fiscal and economic clashes, and then lead in its contents to the production of chemical fertilizers. It began in 1879 in Septêmes with the installation of the company Schloesing Frères & Cie. 

The plant, of which we have the vestiges right before our eyes, produces nitrogen fertilizers from the drainage waters of the city of Marseille, as well as phosphate fertilizers. 

This Schoesling group has had a certain role in adopting the model of intensive agriculture and the use of chemical fertilizers in the south of France, with quite spectacular communication companions (giant carrots!) and even a newspaper Presented as informative the field Gazette, the circulation of which will exceed 250 000 copies. 

We are now coming to the bottom of the valley at the Spi Pharma factory. This company is installed in old workshops of the old industrial ensemble. It produces chemicals used in drugs, including gastric bandages (Gavascon). Spi Pharma seems to consider the mayor's Creek rather like a sewer and rejects salt and aluminum hydroxide. The increase in the salinity of a freshwater river is a major ecological upheaval which adds to the pollution of the embankments pouring into the stream when it rains. 
This rejection is identified by the researchers (from the Idris, Mediterranean Institute of Biodiversity and Ecology) who are currently working to make a sort of "state of health" of the Aygalades Brook as the major source of pollution, which impacts the whole River since it is very upstream. 
The EASA has intervened several times in particular with the water agency, a verbalization also took place during a very spectacular rejection in December 2016 but for the moment without major advances.
 
Small selections of images to get an idea of how it looks…

And the rejection of 2016:

To finish this first exploration, we leave to adventure in the remains of the factory Duclos. Located on a large part of the hill to the town centre of Septêmes, it produced both aluminum salts used in water treatments, projected concretes and the chemical Industry (duclos chemistry), and also treated Mercury (under the Name of Duclos Environnement…). 
 
The mercury activity ceased in 2011 and had been the object of long struggles of the inhabitants against its extension, following the protest history of the commune… Today a project of depollution and Eco is in the pipes, to follow…
 
Little stroll in pictures in this Toxic Park in the future, on the edge of Landart, Graff and Brut Art…! Let's talk about the images…
 
The beginning of the conversion is visible: the new Media Library of Septêmes.
Bernard and Pierre each have their way mapped out this exciting stroll, a nice way to conclude.
 
 
Next time (12 February next afternoon), direction Lafarge!!

The walk of vows…

At Hotel du Nord we always come to agree on a story that speaks to us all, but it is also always hard to give up completely the multitude of other stories. Then we send you a series of vows, plurals, proteiformes, to walk at your leisure in what was our shared year and make us want to continue. In any case, we'll be there! [Gallery IDs = "12188, 12185, 12186, 12207, 12206, 12205, 12199, 12191, 12201, 12198, 12204, 12203, 12202, 12200, 12196, 12195, 12194, 12193, 12192, 12190, 12189, 12187, 12208,12209"]

The European Heritage Days are back on 15 and 16 September

As every year, Hotel du Nord offers you a series of walks and appointments on the occasion of the European heritage Days. Saturday 15 September Botanical Exploration of the slope in Foresta: the project carried with Yes We Camp around these wastelands advance and the walks to better appreciate the qualities Resume. More details and inscriptions shared heritage at Aygalades: wandering in the city of Aygalades to meet the inhabitants and their heritages. More details Sunday 16 September from the city to the church: in Saint-Louis we find the still very active inhabitants of the city garden which also became this year photographers… More details and inscriptions Vernissage of the exhibition "some paths of Walter Benjamin in Marseille": Christine Breton invites us to walk in the steps of Walter Benjamin in this small exhibition proposed on the Canebière with the office of Guides of the GR2013 and the Musée d'histoire de Marseille. More details