Ushant
Template:Redirect Template:Infobox French communeTemplate:Expand French Ushant (Template:IPAc-en;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Langx, Template:IPA; Template:Langx, Template:IPA) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and in medieval times, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in the Finistère department. It is the only place in Brittany, save for Brittany itself, with a separate name in English.
Geography
Neighbouring islets include Keller Island (Template:Lang) and Kadoran (Template:Lang) to the north. The Template:Convert channel between Ushant and Keller is called the Template:Lang.
Ushant marks the southern limit of the Celtic Sea<ref>C. Michael Hogan. 2011. Celtic Sea. eds. P.saundry & C.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the /environment. Washington DC.</ref> and the southern end to the western English Channel, the northern end being the Isles of Scilly, southwest of Land's End in Cornwall, England. According to definitions of the International Hydrographic Organization the island lies outside the English Channel and is in the Celtic Sea.<ref name=IHO>Template:Cite web</ref>
The island is a rocky landmass at most Template:Convert, covering Template:Convert.
History
Ushant is famous for its maritime past, both as a fishing community and as a key landmark in the Channel approaches. It is named in the refrain of the sea shanty "Spanish Ladies":
Several naval battles have been fought near Ushant between the British and French navies.
On 23 July 1815 the captive Emperor Napoleon – aboard Template:HMS towards his final exile – spent several hours on deck watching Ushant, the last part of France he would see.<ref name="Cordingly256-7">Template:Cite book</ref>
During World War II, a force of British Commandos and US Army Rangers of the 29th Provisional Rangers successfully attacked a German radar installation on the island.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In March 1978, the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground at Portsall about Template:Convert from the island, leading to major pollution of the Brittany coast.
According to a repetitive old Breton proverb, Template:Lang ("Who sees Molène sees his pains (or penalty) / who sees Ushant sees his blood / who sees Sein sees his end / who sees Groix sees his cross"). This proverb underlines local points, which are often deadly to navigate with many rocks, and tidal streams of more than ten knots.
A standard start and finish line for traditional all-oceans circumnavigations is between Ushant and Lizard Point.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
There is a single school on the island, attended by the majority of the island's youth: L'École D'Ouessant, south-east of the main town. It was founded in 1865 by Scottish refugees fleeing English persecution. It is the only large workplace on the island, and a major employer.
Population
Template:Historical populations The sole village on the island is Lambaol (Lampaul), which has the mayoral office, school and post office. People also live in the outlying hamlets of Feuteun Vélen, Frugullou, Pen ar Lan, and Porsguen. Template:Clear left
Climate
Ushant's climate is oceanic (Cfb) under the Köppen climate classification: temperate, fully humid, temperate summer, with generally cool, rainy winters and temperate, drier summers.
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Sights
The Créac'h Lighthouse (Template:Lang) is reputedly the most powerful in Europe.Template:Citation needed Template:Lang is the French system name for Plymouth in the British system of the Shipping Forecast.
Cultural ties to Scotland
In 2007, Ushant hosted a Scottish book festival and subsequently created their own tartan registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in August 2010, the islanders were reported to be seeking to establish cultural links with a Scottish island. Rob Gibson, Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Highlands and Islands welcomed the suggestion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Transport
Ushant is connected to the French mainland by air (via the Ushant Airport) and sea. Passenger ferries of the Penn Ar Bed company operate from Brest and Le Conquet year-round, and also from Camaret in summer, stopping at the island of Molène en route.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The airline Finistair operates flights on Cessna 208 planes from Brest Bretagne Airport.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Fauna
Ouessant sheep form a rare breed, originating here. These are northern European short-tailed sheep, ubiquitous in northern Europe up to Roman times, but which now survives only in a few places. Apart from Ushant, these are in remote islands and mountains of Britain and Scandinavia and some places around the Baltic Sea. It is one of the smallest breeds of domestic sheep. It is usually black or dark brown (a few are white), and it is now kept elsewhere in the world as a heritage breedTemplate:Where.
The isolation of the island has helped the conservation of the European dark bee (Apis mellifera mellifera), unaffected by pollution, pesticides and Varroa parasites.<ref name="Abeille">Template:Cite book</ref> In the rest of France, it has been substituted by Apis mellifera ligustica. As a side effect, populations of the bee louse, Braula coeca,<ref name="Braula">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> that has elsewhere perished through pesticides can still be found among the island's bee population. The association Template:Lang<ref name="RFI">Template:Cite news</ref> is attempting to conserve and increase the numbers of the European dark bee, intending to reintroduce it in Western France.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Ushant and the Molène archipelago support Europe's southernmost colony of grey seals. They are mostly at Point Cadoran, on Ushant's north coast, where the strong currents keep the water temperature below 15 degrees Celsius (59 °F), the warmest that the seals can tolerate.
Media and art references
- The island figures in Template:Lang (The Blood of the Siren, 1901) by Anatole Le Braz.
- It is mentioned in the chorus of the sea shanty Spanish Ladies ("From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues").
- Rudyard Kipling mentions it in his poem Anchor Song.
- Charles Tournemire's Symphony No. 2, completed in 1909, was inspired by and named for the island.
- The 1910 novel Template:Lang by German author Bernhard Kellermann takes place on the island. Features such as Phare du Creach and Port du Stiff are highly defined. The main character stays at the la Villa des tempêtes, in ruins today.
- The secret of the seas (Template:Lang), is a 1923 novel by André Savignon set on Ushant.
- "Lord Ushant" is the title given the heir to the Duchy of Tintagel (Cornwall) in Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers (1938).
- Ushant is mentioned in George Orwell's diaries, in passing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- A ship from Ushant is mentioned in the WWII Brest destruction commemorative ode Barbara by French poet Jacques Prévert.
- Ushant is the autobiography of the American poet and novelist Conrad Aiken, published in 1952.
- Ushant is one of the many French islands referenced in Laurent Voulzy's Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie-Galante, a major hit in France since its release in 1986.
- Ushant appears over and over in works of Patrick O'Brian as to the whereabouts and course of ships in his book series.
- Ushant occasionally appears as a landfall in C. S. Forester's novels about Horatio Hornblower.
- Mystery book Act of Mercy by Peter Tremayne is set in 666 AD Ushant and elsewhere.
- Ushant is the setting of the 2004 French film Template:Lang (English title: The Light) directed by Philippe Lioret.
- Father Truitard, a character in Bruce Chatwin's The Viceroy of Ouidah, spent "years communing with the waves and petrels on the island of Ushant".
- Composer Yann Tiersen made the album Eusa in 2016 after moving to Ushant. Each track is named after a location on the island. He also recorded his third album "Le Phare" in a rented house on Ushant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- A trip to the island forms an important plot point in Éric Rohmer's 1996 film A Summer's Tale.
- Ushant was featured in some of the scenes of the 1929 film Finis Terræ.
Book awards
The island awards annual literary prizes to worldwide writers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
See also
- Battle of Ushant (disambiguation)
- Communes of the Finistère department
- Parc naturel régional d'Armorique
- List of the works of Charles Cottet depicting scenes of Brittany
References
External links
- Template:In lang Ushant communal council website
- Template:In lang Cultural Heritage
- Article at AllRefer Encyclopedia, based on The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
- Traditional, "Spanish Ladies", credited to Iron Men & Wooden Ships, by Frank Shay Template:Webarchive
- Ile d'Ouessant - Photo gallery
- Storm Island – article about the island by William Langewiesche in the December 2001 issue of The Atlantic
- Template:Cite EB1911