What is now the French side

What is now the Swiss side — old bear of Bern rubbed out & replaced with Vaud shield

So this present 🇫🇷🇨🇭 border line was once between Franche-Comté that belonged to Philip IV King of Spain & the Pays de Vaud then part of Berne. The heraldry of new authorities was carved onto the original 17th century stone in 1824. Big efforts in wild mountains to make politics material #alongtheline

A border stone in winter light, frost on the ground, in the woods. The stone is set into what looks like a very old dry stone wall, with a fleur-de-lys on one side.

A stone roughly carved in an eery light in the forest, with a rough shield carved on it. It’s now indicating the Swiss Canton de Vaud, but it was probably carved with earlier jurisdictions before, including the short-lived (Napoleonic) République Helvétique

A border stone with a confusing line on the top, and a yellow/blue single fleur-de-lys (previously Royaume de France) now 🇫🇷

An old stone, engraved and re-engraved with three dates (1761, 1865 and 1922) indicating various different demarcation exercises

Border hopping in the sun, up above the stratus clouds that have engulfed Geneva for what feels like weeks. Walking slowly along the 🇨🇭🇫🇷 border, in the Canton de Vaud / Dpt de l’Ain. We saw old souls garding imagined lines across the centuries, for successive political masters #alongtheline #bornées

Next Fluviale date: 24 Oct. 2025
6:30 PM / 18:30 • OPENING exhibition ‘vanish. deflate’ / Verena Tscherner @tschern
Gallery STUCCO HALL’ / Mikulov [CZ]
The exhibition lasts till 21 Nov. 2025
#fluviale #alongtheline #artfestival #europe #modernartfestival #mikulov #kunstfestival

Well that was August. Well that’s August out of the way. A busy month with lots of activity around the railway. It’s months like this when we can forget the activity that goes on behind the scenes. In the sheds and along the line doing work that enables the railway to run safely. Mention must also be made of … Continue reading "Well that was August." The post Well that was August. first appeared on VibeWire Magazine.

#Alongtheline #Maintenance #Summer #Timetables

Travelling Post Office This weekend sees the return of the travelling post office. In the past this has always been very popular with visitors. On both Saturday and Sunday it’s doing two runs to the equipment at Sutton Cross to give demonstrations of mail exchanges. Let’s hope it will be a regular occurrence. At one stage it did … Continue reading "Travelling Post Office" The post Travelling Post Office first appeared on VibeWire Magazine.

#Alongtheline #History #WansfordStation

Opening the Festival at our first station: Mikulov with Major Petra Kolaar
Performances by Aiko Kazuko Kurosaki and Music by Michael Delia
Exhibition by Gertrude Moser-Wagner, Conny Zenk, Verena Tscherner, Jennifer De Felice u.m.o.

#fluviale #artfestival #alongtheline #translocal #crossborders

A stone inscribed with the location of a dolmen, an ancient megalith, that looks a bit like a border stone the author spent several years chasing

Another one, next to a different megalith

An alignment of megaliths in Brittany, near Erdeven. Like Carnac, only smaller and less touristy.

The author’s partner, looking at a huge megalith, looking rather debonair in a Panama hat and shorts

Chasing large standing rocks, with slight border stone vibes, only much, much, much older.
#Bornées #AlongTheLine

A bit of a gap. The keen ones amongst you will have noticed there has been a bit off a gap since the last post, this has been due to a number of circumstances, Despite this the railway has continued to chug along quite happily! I think it’s fair to say that the railway has been busy with a number … Continue reading "A bit of a gap." The post A bit of a gap. first appeared on VibeWire Magazine.

#Alongtheline #Summer

New festival in town:
FLUVIALE
Aber das ist nur der Startpunkt für ALONG THE LINE - Reise entlang einer Raumzeit-Linie durch Europa von Skjervøy Norwegen nach Catania Italien
6.6.2025, 19 Uhr, Vorstellung im DEPOT Kunst und Diskussion, Breitegasse 3 in Wien.
#kunstfestival #fluviale #alongtheline

The sweet smell of a freshly printed book! Yippee!
#alongtheline

A borderstone seen from the top, looking faintly like some sort of hieroglyph-covered stone. Clearly, this is a magical being.

A part of a STOP sign painted on the ground, interrupted by a brass plaque indicating the Swiss/French border, with 2021 (the year) on it, and two arrows indicating the direction of the border

The number 188 carved on a border stone, and a mysterious little metal plug below, no doubt laid later during some measuring / cartographic / geometric survey

The little plug on the stone seen in the previous photo, captured close-up, showing that it is engraved with the number 1238 (presumably a numbered code from a survey), and the simplified heraldry showing the letter G in a shield, for Geneva.

Territory and borders are made visually & materially on the ground, in mysterious codes and signs, like a secret language based on calculation, inscribed in complex infrastructure.

(Time out for a long walk today, before heading into a 10-hour total Zoom marathon tomorrow!).
#Bornées #AlongTheLine

The village of Bossey, just next to the Swiss/French border, is pictured both in the background and seen on an early 20th Century postcard, held in the author’s hand. Past and present visually in dialogue.

The same exercise as the previous picture, with an old sepia postcard held up against the same place today, with old houses in Landecy. The two are remarkably similar.

A border stone lies knocked over, the stone broken in two at the base. I suspect an accident with a tractor in this field along the border. Should I have a) cemented it back? b) taken it home? Reader, I did neither.

A border stone transformed by someone into an impromptu cairn with additional rocks on the top and around the base.

A rainy Sunday wander along the 🇨🇭🇫🇷 border, filling in some blanks and chasing viewpoints with old postcards. History in place. I wanted to take views of the Salève mountain for a drawing project but clouds had other plans!
#Bornées #AlongTheLine