Straddling the river in the Vallée de la Canche, Hesdin is flanked by two major medieval battlefields. The town itself merits a stop for its cobbled main square, 16thC Hôtel de Ville, pretty houses and walks along the attractive river valley.

The opening shots – or rather arrows – of the Anglo-French Hundred Years War were let off at Crécy (20 km SW via D928/D938) on August 26, 1345. Under the command of Edward III, the English archers carried the day, armed for the first time with longbows. King Edward watched the battle from a windmill, replaced these days by a viewing platform on the D111 from Crécy-en-Ponthieu to Wadicourt. Blind King John of Bohemia died in the battle roped to his horse and was buried by Edward. The 16-year-old Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), who performed gallantly on the day, was rewarded with permission to adopt King John’s crest of three ostrich plumes, which remain the badge of the Prince of Wales to this day.

To the north, Azincourt (15 km via D928/D71) was the site of the Battle of Agincourt on October 25, 1415. Henry V of England, 1,000 men-at-arms and 6,000 archers lined up behind a pallisade of pointed stakes facing a French army of 25,000. The battle was swift, bloody and muddy. The French cavalry, unable to charge through the pallisade, got stuck in the mud and were cut down by a hail of arrows. It was said with some justice that ‘the flower of French chivalry was destroyed in a single day.’ Nearby, the Vallée de l’Authie is pleasant walking country. Follow the GR123 from Wadicourt across the Authie to the River Canche, and the GR121 along the Canche from Beaurainville via Hesdin to Trévent.