Bruay-la-Buissière is a mining town that grew from almost nothing into a busy industrial centre in less than a century, and its town hall, an imposing building in the heart of town, is a statement of that civic pride. The label points to the Hôtel de ville, one of the many urban and public buildings of the mining era that are part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site. It sits on the western end of the coalfield, where the plain begins to rise towards the chalk hills of Artois.
The town's most famous building, though, is underwater, or at least built around water: the Art Deco swimming pool, opened in the 1930s and recently restored, with its mosaic tiles, curved lines and a light-filled hall. Pools like this were built by mining towns and companies so that miners could wash and their families could swim, and Bruay's is one of the finest. Nearby, the Cité des Électriciens, one of the oldest surviving miners' settlements in the region, has been transformed into a heritage centre with exhibitions about mining life, gardens and houses that you can visit.
Riding here is a curious experience. The landscape is flatter in the east and rolls more to the west, with chalk valleys and small villages. A short way north, at Nœux-les-Mines, a ski slope has been built on the side of a spoil heap, a typically northern piece of reinvention. To the south and west, the hills of Artois offer quiet country roads through farmland, with gentle curves and views over the plains. Expect cobbles and rough surfaces in the towns, and traffic around the main roads.
The region suffered greatly in both world wars. The front line of the First World War ran close by, and the hills of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette and Vimy saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war. Memorials and cemeteries are scattered across the countryside, and the views from these heights over the mining basin are sobering.
Bruay-la-Buissière, a few hundred metres away, has fuel, shops and restaurants. Béthune, a few kilometres north, is a larger town with a belfry and a lively main square. The region is known for its beer, its cheeses, such as Maroilles, and its friteries, where chips are fried in beef fat and served with a choice of sauces.