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ISSUE 42
AUGUST 2012
PUBLISHERS OF
News and What’s On information for the Dordogne and surrounding area
UK author is honoured for bringing in tourists
Third shale gas permit sought for Dordogne ANOTHER company has made a request to test for shale gas in the Dordogne – covering an area to the east of the department, bringing the total number of potential local drilling projects to three. Hexagon Company, based in Singapore, has asked the ecology ministry for permission to carry out drilling in an area covering parts of the Dordogne, the Corrèze and the Lot. The request was made two years ago but was only made public this summer due to the new government’s policy of transparency. The third project, called the Permis de Brive, was added to the ecology ministry’s website shortly after the recent presidential elections. Two other licence requests affect the Dordogne – the Permis de Cahors covering 35 communes in the department and the Permis de Beaumontde-Lomagne to the very south of the Dordogne around Villefranche-du-Périgord. The three demands dovetail together to cover the east of the Dordogne including the towns and beauty spots of Sarlat, La Roque-Gageac, Beynac, Terrasson, SalignacEyvigues, Saint-Cyprien and Beynac. In total, they cover nine departments in the south-west. Î Turn
How couple created a lavender farm near the Dordogne p7
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by JANE HANKS MARTIN Walker, the UK writer who created a series of crime novels based in the Périgord, has been honoured for his contribution to local tourism. Martin Walker’s books have been sold worldwide with particular success in Germany, Switzerland and Austria - and have literally attracted busloads of visitors to the Dordogne. The works have been translated into 15 languages and were recently published in French – and Mr Walker was invited to a celebration launch in Paris. He was joined by the two people who were the inspiration for his books – the mayor of Le Bugue, Gérard Labrousse, and police chief Pierrot Simonet who is the model for the main character, Bruno Courrèges, the chief of police at Saint-Denis, the book’s fictional village which bears a close resemblance to Le Bugue. Mr Walker has spent his professional life all over the world but chose the Dordogne as the “nearest I have to home”. He wrote for The Guardian for 25 years and rubbed shoulders with politicians including Thatcher, Bush, Gorbachev, Clinton and Blair. Î Turn
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Martin Walker and police chief Pierrot Simonet, the model for the main character
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