Vierville in 1975: tourism, school and youth participation

As July 1975 approached, a report presented Vierville-sur-Mer in its dual rural and seaside vocation. The municipality, which had 255 permanent inhabitants at the census, welcomed about two thousand vacationers during the season. The newspaper recalled more than a century of seaside development, brutally interrupted by the war and the Landing of June 6, 1944, in the area of Omaha Beach.

The reconstruction was mentioned through the mayor of 1944, Fernand Leterrier, his deputy Ygouf and the councilors of the time, then Michel Hardelay, elected three years later to succeed Leterrier. Communal buildings, farms, village houses, church, villas and second homes had been restored. The locations of the waterfront had returned, in large numbers, to a level comparable to that of the pre-war period. The text also recalled that in 1848 the maternal great-grandfather of the then mayor, Mr. de Bughas, had bought one of the first lots of the cliff. A railway engineer, this ancestor was associated with the construction of the Paris-Cherbourg line; around 1900, the customs road was in turn mentioned, but the rest of the sentence was cut.

The mayor explained that he had succeeded Michel Hardelay, who had not wanted to renew his mandate for personal reasons. He described a democratic municipal functioning, with decisions taken unanimously nine times out of ten. For major projects, the population was consulted and their opinions taken into account. His concern was about the next generation: he wanted to interest young people in communal life. An experiment of inviting them to council meetings had, according to him, failed. Nevertheless, he said he was ready to continue if young people expressed a willingness to participate, in particular by appointing delegates.

Maintain the school and welcome young people

Part of the school interview is missing. The preserved passage specified that the school could welcome students from neighboring municipalities affected by a closure, the necessary premises being available. A canteen was planned for the next school year and a longer-term children's class. Despite the uncertainty about the future, the municipality said it wanted to do everything to maintain the school.

The municipality also welcomed French or foreign groups. Two hundred German Catholic scouts were announced for the summer. Free camping enthusiasts, presented as friendly and free of their choice, benefited from few tolerance possibilities in Vierville.

Agriculture, urban planning and coastal

Asked about the resmembering, the mayor acknowledged that the dispersion of crops and grasses complicated the work of some farmers. However, he preferred amicable groupings by exchanges, in order to respect hedges, slopes and ditches. He specified that the farms were not necessarily dispersed because the professionals entrusted young people with the care of ensuring their continuity.

The land use plan was in preparation. According to him, it was necessary to consider the future extension of the village in the long term, while limiting immediate ambitions to the possibilities of roads, water and electricity. The problem of surfaces could lead to the disappearance of large agricultural parcels; only small units whose operation could not rationally use modern means were presented as capable of conversion. Fourteen individual pavilions were being completed and other projects existed.

A tourism cooperation to expand

The report highlighted the common destiny of Vierville, Saint-Laurent and Colleville, who entered together in the history of Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. The mayor believed that closer tourism cooperation would benefit these three inseparable municipalities. An intercommunal union of the beach of Omaha already existed, but its action was limited to the surveillance of the beaches of Vierville and Saint-Laurent, Colleville ensuring its own. He wanted an expansion of the union to harmonize tourism development at the level of Omaha, without questioning a merger of municipalities. Any proposal for enlargement deserves, in his eyes, a careful study.

A passage on site projects was cut; the text preserved nevertheless ensured that the landscape would be safeguarded and that the land use plan would take it into account. A second proposal was to be considered by the Council in about two weeks.

Among the current achievements, the promenade pier was to offer an advance of about fifty meters, likely to be extended. The mayor hoped that it would satisfy vacationers and fishermen. Subsidized to thirty-five percent, it was part of the tourist facilities selected by the General Council.

For the summer, Vierville announced two rallies, daily beach games, a children's club, sailing and exhibitions dedicated to painting or crafts. The sea remained the main attraction, but walks in the hinterland were also appreciated by regulars. The report concluded with the wish for a sunny summer for beach lovers as well as those who preferred the shade of the parasol.

The associations cited

A box listed the veterans and former prisoners of war, chaired by Arthur Pignolet; the agricultural union, chaired by René Lenourichel, with Jean-Claude Ygouf on the secretariat; the Friends of the beach, whose vice-presidents were Michel Hardelay and Pierre Le Gallois; the Omaha Beach water union, chaired by Michel Hardelay; the Vaumicel equestrian club, led by Hubert de Bellaigue de Bughas, reachable then at 22 41 48; the nautical club, chaired by Mrs. Voisin; the tennis club, designated CUMA and chaired by J.-P. Hausermann; and the Omaha Beach campsite, whose owner-director was Mr. Chitel, at 22 41 73.

Reconstructed or uncertain passages:
- The assembly has several missing strips between its parts: the transition after the customs path, part of the mayor's presentation, the school passage and projects related to the site are not readable. No absent text was invented. The brief box of the rescue center is partially cut off and does not allow the full name of its manager to be read. The acronyms and spellings of the associations are those of the denomination.

Archive image: https://vierville.cordelle.eu/Photos2008/1975tourisme1975a.jpg