11. LAKE

The Consolidation. In 1976, the bulldozers, the trucks, the surveyors are on the commune of Cahagnes. Dust, noises of site, the hedges are cut, the slopes are levelled: this is the site of the consolidation. Like most municipalities, it is an operation that consists in improving agricultural structures with the consolidation and expansion of the fields of crops and meadows near the body of the farm, in order to facilitate the work. The exchange of parcels is sometimes complicated because it is necessary to take into account the quality of the land, the geometry of the parcels and the surface taken on the roads.

A lake and a campsite. Mayor Charles Blin and his council are giving farmers better working conditions. Attached to green tourism, they take advantage of the consolidation to recover 6 hectares of land, named "surface of the roads of the commune", in order to create a body of water and a campsite of 80 places. It is a matter of making two artificial ponds. Looking at its ponds, one imagines the construction site with excavators and trucks to remove these cubic meters of earth and to shape shorelines and banks: this titanic work will last two years.

Green tourism. At that time, it is also the emergence of green tourism: creation of an initiative union in Villers-Bocage, association of gites of France that popularizes the projects of rural gites, cottages, camping on the farm, Auberge du terroir... as agriculture is changing, they contribute to income supplements for farmers or to individual projects. Currently, the municipality has several group lodgings, rural lodgings, as well as guest rooms.

A very frequented lake. The opening of the lake is a real meeting place for the inhabitants of Cahagnes and the surrounding area. Friendly, friendly, with a refreshment bar, pancakes and cakes: a very simple restaurant.   Around the ponds, fishing activities and a small train and a health route. A must-see spot for wedding photos and an outdoor entertainment venue. City Council led the management in the early years. It was the golden period. It still remains in the memory of the old, nostalgic. Certainly out of weariness, the management of the water body was entrusted to private, which according to the managers, made good or less good fortune.

The lake, a revival ? Currently, the municipal team elected in 2020 takes over the file and does everything to open the campsite and the water in the following years and in the best possible conditions. By spring 2021, the life of the body of water will be punctuated by the installation of a health course and fitness elements, as well as the installation of picnic tables and benches. The lake becomes a stage of the hike around Cahagnes.