Out on the western fringe of the coal basin, where the mining country fades into the farmland of the Lys valley and the edge of the Artois hills, Terril 32 rises near Norrent-Fontes, Mametz and Thérouanne. This is the far end of the seam, a long way from the dense cités around Lens and Douai, and the countryside feels it: smaller villages, more fields, more trees, and pits that were fewer and further between. The heap stands almost like a lone hill above the cropland, a reminder that coal reached even here.
Thérouanne, just down the road, offers one of history's harsher lessons. It was once a bishop's seat with a cathedral, but in 1553 the Emperor Charles V had the town besieged and then razed to the ground, ordering it effectively erased from the map after its capture. Today it is a quiet village, and archaeologists have uncovered the foundations of the lost cathedral. Aire-sur-la-Lys, a little further north, is the place to see what a prosperous small town of this region looks like, with a fine Renaissance building on the square and a belfry on the UNESCO list.
The riding improves noticeably once you leave the mining towns behind. The lanes west and south of Norrent-Fontes start to climb gently into the Artois, with fields rolling away on both sides, small woods, and a few corners that actually reward some lean. Surfaces are mostly decent but narrow, with farm machinery and the odd tractor coming the other way, and gravel can collect on bends after rain. The wind is less of a nuisance here than out on the open plain, and spring brings rapeseed in yellow blocks, while late summer smells of cut wheat and dust.
Food choices are better in Aire too, with cafés around the main square. If you just want a break, pull off on a farm track with a view of the heap, switch off and enjoy the stillness. It is a peaceful place, and the contrast between the black cone and the green fields is oddly beautiful.