Hautes Corbieres Folk; The last couple of years have seen quite a few changes in the Hautes Corbieres, the residents are a changing, Hautes Corbieres Folk are multiplying. It is a slow process but the signs are there. The school buses that ship kids to schools, colleges and lycees are fuller, more local markets are springing up. Some local wag a couple of years ago tagged a crash barrier on the way down to Taliaran with the defiant slogan “The Corbieres is not for sale”, Clearly they had not visited any of the villages plastered with A Vendre signs. But now those signs are coming down.

We use to joke that in Winter smoking chimneys are the only signs of life in Hautes Corbieres villages. Summer has always been a little different, well the months of July and August , as families return, tourists do the tour, second home owners sweep down the cobwebs and open the shutters of renovated but rarely visited village houses.

But now it does feel that something is changing. It is not just that more, younger, folk are moving into the Hautes Corbieres, There is more and more signs of activity, goats, sheep, cows, even a few pigs have started to be seen in newly fenced off fields. Land is slowly being reclaimed for pastures, previously fallow land is being ploughed up and re seeded for fodder. A new fibre optic pipe has been laid down to improve connectivity.

Looking at the historical archives of the Hautes Corbieres the population has been falling for over 130 years, in many places the population follows the prosperity of the wine industry. The mid 1890s was the “golden age” of vines in the Corbieres, that was when the likes of Paziols and Tuchan has the largest vineyards. Since then the vines have been in slow retreat. And with the reduction in the vines came a corresponding drop in population. Marginal vine growing villages, like Maisons experienced this drop in population earlier, 1846 was the high point of Maisons in terms of population, topping 300. Ever since then the village has been in decline. Population decline in the Hautes Corbieres has been like a snow ball, gaining speed with time. As the agrarian economy slowly collapsed so did the small business that rely on it, the mills, the olive presses, the blacksmiths, the distilleries, also the infrastructure, hotels used by sales people, negotiators, visiting state officials, the restaurants and bars, the schools, even teh hair dressers closed up shop for lack of sufficient clients.

I’ve written about this before, see The History of the Garrigue and the The decline of Maisons and the Hautes Corbieres – Montrouch Organic which go into a bit more detail.

Post 1968 there was a influx of urban idealists, driven  by a romantic neo Maoism, a rejection of industrial capitalism and the first stirrings of an environmental  movement. Most of these projects failed. Not surprising really as a deep understanding of Man’s alienation from nature discovered in the libraries of Paris universities and late night drinking sessions in Montmartre does not really prepare well brought up urban middle class kids for the joys of milking the goats at 6am on a Winter’s morning. Most returned back to the cities to staff academia, become psychologists or take over Daddy’s business.

Some did tough it out and became the backbone of my union, the Confederation Paysanne, militants of small farming, and the forerunners of the organic movement.

The 1980’s saw a new, albeit small influx. of “foreigners”. that has continued to this day. That is Northerners retiring to the South for the climate, the possibility of leaving a small town house of a village or farm life. Former school teachers, middle rank civil servants, colonial functionaries, From Lille, Lincoln, Liege, and Leiden. Some have congregated in particular villages, other preferring remote properties to renovate.

Constant throughout the years has been the migration from the Iberian peninsula, migrant pickers moving up from the South following the harvests, refugees both economic and political looking for work or a break from oppression. The Arabic migration, economic in the 1960s and political following France’s defeat in Algeria largely passed the Hautes Corbieres by, on route to the factories of the North or the familiarities of already established communities in the likes Beziers or Perpignan.

It has all contributed to an eclectic mix of acupuncturists and artists, weavers of wool and words, cheese makers and shepherds, hippies and hop heads, and bewildered locals, happy to sell what in their eyes are worthless ruins and marginal land to these incomers.

Up until about five years ago this odd mix remained pretty stable, a few deaths here and there as age and alcoholism took it’s toll to be replaced by another arrival.

As I wrote about in The Missing Generation of Organic Farming there has been a small sea change on attitudes to the countryside. You could draw similarities between now and 1968 I suppose, the new passion for local produce, environmentally sustainable farming, low impact living and a “return to nature” all have found  similar young urban middle class audience.

The difference now has a number of factors, firstly the changing nature of French, and European, agricultural policy. To off set the mainstream move towards even more intensive larger scale corporate farming, and to appease the greenish vote, there is more support for small holders; especially given the aging population of French farmers for young entries into the sector. In global terms the amounts available to small start ups and negligible compared to the Common Agricultural Policy support for large farms, but they can make a vast difference to a small shepherd, bee keeper; or market gardener.

High speed internet, and more regular electricity supplies makes distance working more viable, some service sector work is now available, particularly in areas like on line learning, coaching, editing, software development, online support, and sales. All much  needed sources additional revenue for educated newcomers.

As an area classified as in need of special economic support there is still a high level of state support, start up grants, business development grants and loans are available. the availability of, low paid, state work as postal workers, school assistants, nurses, social assistants, taxis drivers, et al also provide regular income support for Hautes Corbieres folk.

The new parc naturel regional Corbieres Fenouilledes also offers both a source of employment and a means of tapping new sources of state funding. What it’s impact will actually be on the local economy and the environment apart from that remains to be seen.

Last but not least is COVID both it’s short and long term effects. In the short term it has certainly had an impact, those people with second homes in the Hautes Corbieres, and the type of job that allows home working, have relocated out of their usual urban bases to the relative safety of the rural life. The property market has also seen a bump and the attraction of rural living has been driven home by the last 14 or so months.

The long term impacts on distance working, and home working have yet to be fully realised, but as some businesses and workers embrace this accelerating trend the availability of secondary if not primary revenue may also increase the economic viability of Hautes Corbieres life for those with the skills to profit.

The last five years may be a blip in the 130 year decline of the Hautes Corbieres , but I think the signs for its continuing are good, and it certainly has added a new spice to the rich mix of Hautes Corbieres folk.