At Condé-sur-l'Escaut, right on the Belgian border, the coal basin of northern France reaches its eastern end, and the old mining site of Chabaud-Latour shows how industry and nature have come to terms. A pit operated here for decades, and today what remains is a landscape of slag heaps, ponds formed by mining subsidence, woods and wetlands, part of the UNESCO site of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin.
Subsidence is the key to this landscape. As coal was extracted from underground, the ground above sank, and water filled the hollows, creating lakes and marshes where there had been farmland. These wetlands are now valuable habitats for birds, and the area is part of the Scarpe-Escaut regional natural park, which covers the valleys of these two rivers along the border. The slag heaps, once black and bare, are covered in trees and grassland, and some can be climbed for views over the flat country and into Belgium.
The riding here is not about mountains or fast bends. Roads are flat and often busy, passing through towns and villages that run into each other, and the landscape is a mixture of old industry, housing, fields and woodland. What draws you is the history and the atmosphere. The Escaut, the Scheldt in Dutch, flows north from here towards Antwerp, and canals and old towpaths cross the area. Cobbles appear on some minor roads, and they can be slippery in the wet. The weather is often grey and damp, with a soft light that suits the landscape.
Condé-sur-l'Escaut, a town of ten thousand, has fuel and shops, and Fresnes-sur-Escaut and Vieux-Condé are close by. Valenciennes, a larger city, is about fifteen kilometres south-west. The local food is hearty: carbonnade, beef braised in beer, and potjevleesch, a cold terrine of mixed meats in jelly, both typical of French Flanders and Hainaut. Beer is a serious matter here, as across the border in Belgium. On a quiet morning, with mist over the ponds and herons standing in the reeds, it is hard to believe this was once a place of coal dust and noise.