Cambrai gave its name to a fabric. Cambric, a fine light linen, was once woven and traded in this town, and the word survives in English. The town is also known for a small, translucent mint sweet called the bêtise de Cambrai, which the locals say was invented by mistake, and a visit to a confectioner is a pleasant way to spend ten minutes. The belfry is one of the group of belfries across northern France and Belgium that UNESCO listed together, as symbols of the independence of medieval towns, and in Cambrai it is a tall stone tower in the town centre, while the town hall nearby has two mechanical figures, Martin and Martine, who strike the hours.
The town is also remembered for a battle. In November 1917 the British Army launched an attack at Cambrai with several hundred tanks, the first large-scale use of armour, which broke through the German line before the advance was beaten back. The countryside to the south and west, a rolling plain of beet and wheat, still holds the traces, and the cemeteries along the roads are as well kept as parks. Before that, Cambrai was the see of the archbishop Fénelon, the author of an influential book on kingship, and the cathedral dedicated to Notre-Dame stands in the middle of the town.
Riding here is easy, wide and open, on the long roads that cross the Cambrésis. The plain is nearly flat, with endless fields, and the wind can be strong. Surfaces are generally good, and the villages are built in brick with small squares. The mining cités mentioned in the ride titles lie to the north-west, on the edge of the coal basin, and show a different side of the region. In harvest season tractors and sugar beet lorries fill the lanes, and the mud on the road makes corners slippery.
Cambrai has thirty-six thousand people, with fuel, supermarkets and cafes on every ring road. The market square is a good place for a coffee and a sweet, and the evenings in summer are long. If you have time, stop at one of the war cemeteries, where the stones stand in neat rows under a big sky. It is a quiet end to a day.