On April 12, Stéphane Bern gave us the immense pleasure of stopping in Lauragais, more precisely in the village of Faget, to visit an old water pumping station and grain mill currently being restored.
He was welcomed by around fifty people, including the two tour guides from Lauragais Tourisme. We will reveal to you without further delay the reasons for his arrival.
An exceptional heritage inherited from the Industrial Revolution
This old building located in a valley away from the village, dates from the second half of the 19th century. The sponsor was the village lord, Edmond de Carayon Latour, who then wanted to have running water in his castle.
He therefore built this pumping station and grain mill above a water table. At the time, a spring fed a large reservoir (still visible) and thanks to a steam engine running on coal, it was pumped and transported a few hundred meters higher in a terracotta pipe to a castle in water of the time. But in 1963, running water arrived at the tap: the mill no longer having any use, it was decommissioned. Nature then reclaims its rights over this beautiful work that collective memory has ended up forgetting...
2016: discovering a buried heritage treasure
Pierre Lebrun, landscaper and beekeeper, decided to acquire a one-hectare plot of land in Faget that year. While talking with the seller, he whispered in his ear: “ You will see: at the bottom of the valley, there is an old ruin without interest, you knock it down, it will enlarge the space ».
Arriving in front of the ruin in question, Pierre does not immediately realize the value of this building.
Pierre then contacted the Haute-Garonne department to request a grant. One thing led to another and he was advised to submit his application to the Heritage Lotto, managed by the Heritage Foundation.
Between two administrative formalities and thanks to his capital of sympathy, he managed to mobilize an army of volunteers to help clear the building. An association responds to Pierre’s requests: Friends of the Black Mountain, founded by Gérard Pistre. Some members of the association AmieZ will be present as well as the friends of Yann, son of Pierre Lebrun, all of whom are hearing impaired. The love of old stone speaks to everyone!
SOS Stephane Bern!
In 2017, a year after the discovery of the Faget pumping station, the State entrusted Stéphane Bern, the famous presenter of the show “ History secret » on France 3 the mission to identify and find funding behind the launch of the games « Heritage Mission » from the Française des Jeux.
Because volunteers are very good…but without money, how can we finance the work? There was cause for despair, because the presentation of Pierre's file was refused two years in a row, in 2019 and 2020.
But passionate, tenacious, tireless, and consistent in his ideas, he perseveres.
Pierre's project is not only to restore the building, but also to develop a training center: beekeeping, landscaping, but also for French sign language (LSF) courses. ). The building will also be made available to local artists such as painters, sculptors and others! This project, combining environment, history, heritage and aiming to promote social inclusion, was ultimately the winner for the department of Haute-Garonne in 2021 and won the fabulous sum of €300000... From this moment on - there it was never again a question of demolishing anything, but of upgrading the entire building.
It was therefore quite natural that Stéphane Bern, on this magnificent spring day, came to see the progress of the construction site...and promised to come back for theinauguration of the place in September 2024. We will keep you informed of the progress of the project and wish Pierre good luck in this great adventure!
The Heritage Mission
Deployed by the Heritage Foundation, the Heritage Mission was entrusted to Stéphane Bern with the aim of contributing to the preservation of French heritage in all its diversity.
Every year, a grand lotto is organized in partnership with the Lotery, and with the support of Ministry of Culture. The winnings are then used to ensure restoration and maintenance of endangered sites. In this way, citizens can make their contribution to safeguarding heritage for future generations.
Since the first edition in 2018, the Heritage Mission has helped more than 860 websites for their work.
