Ushant, as the English write and say it, or Ouessant as it is in French, is the last outpost of France, the island at the end of Brittany where the English Channel gives way to the Bay of Biscay. It is surrounded by swirling tides and reefs, buffeted by gales and guarded by six lighthouses. It resembles the Outer Hebrides with wind-bent trees and houses with small windows and toughened shutters. On a high cliff is a control tower, not for aeroplanes but for ships, as this is an historic graveyard for mariners where tides, fog and storms have killed thousands. We rounded it this summer on the ferry from Santander to Portsmouth in still weather but heavy fog.
It has always had a fascination for me since my days in the shipping business when we fixed charters ‘rounding Ushant’. Since then we have visited it by air and it doesn’t disappoint - a wild outpost of a continent.
