Take any road across the Artois plain around Grenay and you will see the shape of the mining basin on the skyline: conical slag heaps, called terrils, rising out of the farmland and cités, and tall brick pit-head buildings that once housed the winding gear. This area lies between Lens and Béthune, in a district called the Gohelle, and it was mined intensively from the nineteenth century until the last pit closed in 1990. The Grenay and Mazingarbe sites are part of the UNESCO-listed mining basin, which recognises both the buildings and the landscape, and the way company housing, railways and spoil heaps shaped one another.
The terrils are the surprise. Once bare and black, many have been colonised by birch, broom and wild orchids, and they now shelter rare plants and insects, plus birds that like warm, dry ground. Some can be climbed, and the views from the top, across the plain to other terrils and church towers, are unexpectedly good. The twin heaps at Loos-en-Gohelle, not far away, are the highest in Europe, at about 186 metres, and have become a symbol of the region's reinvention.
The area has another layer of history: this was front line country in the First World War. The battle of Loos in 1915 was fought here, among the mining villages, and the Vimy Ridge with its Canadian memorial and the French cemetery at Notre-Dame-de-Lorette stand a short distance to the north. Walking among the terrils, you are on ground that was fought over and mined at the same time.
The riding is flat and straightforward, with straight roads, cobbles in the old centres and heavy local traffic. The surfaces are generally fine, and the main hazards are slippery setts in the wet and sudden roundabouts. Spring and autumn bring good light and mild temperatures, and the winter sun on red brick has a glow of its own. Grenay and neighbouring Bully-les-Mines and Mazingarbe all have fuel, shops and cafés, so supplies are easy.