Why this ride
A 262 km round trip from Abbeville - roughly 4 h 21 in the saddle. The stops in between: Terril 34, Cité Foch and back through Terril 34. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi d’Abbeville and Cité Foch
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 262 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 21
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Beffroi d’Abbeville
Abbeville stands on the river Somme a few kilometres before it widens into its famous bay, and the town has the air of a place that has been knocked about and picked itself up. Much of the old centre was destroyed by bombing in May 1940, in the German advance, and rebuilt in a plain, solid style after the war. The belfry, part of the town hall complex, belongs to the group of belfries of France and Belgium that UNESCO lists, and it stands as a symbol of the town's medieval privileges.
Read the complete Beffroi d’Abbeville write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi d’Abbeville is where the day begins. Next is Terril 34.
2. Terril 34
A terril is a slag heap, a mountain of waste rock dumped beside a coal mine, and in the flat land of northern France these man-made hills are the closest thing to relief for miles around. Terril 34 is one of hundreds that dot the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin, a UNESCO site since 2012, which recognises not only the heaps but also the pithead frames, miners' housing estates, schools, churches and railway lines that made up the landscape of coal mining in the region for nearly three centuries. This one sits near Norrent-Fontes and Lillers, at the western end of the basin, where it meets the chalk hills of Artois.
Read the complete Terril 34 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 34 comes up about 72 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cité Foch.
3. Cité Foch
Row upon row of identical brick houses, each with its small garden, outbuilding and front door painted in the colour of the mining company: that is a cité minière, and Cité Foch, between Hénin-Beaumont and Montigny-en-Gohelle, is one of the many hundreds that the coal companies built across northern France. They were designed to house miners and their families close to the pits, and they came in different forms over the decades, from the long terraces of the nineteenth century, the corons, to the garden cities of the early twentieth century, with semi-detached houses, wide streets and green spaces. Many of these neighbourhoods are included in the UNESCO listing of the mining basin.
Read the complete Cité Foch write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 130 km into the recorded legs you reach Cité Foch. Next is back through Terril 34.
4. back through Terril 34
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 34 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terril 34, late in the day. Next is Beffroi d’Abbeville.
5. Beffroi d’Abbeville
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi d’Abbeville write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Beffroi d’Abbeville. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Beffroi d’Abbeville to Terril 34
Beffroi d’Abbeville → Terril 34 is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Terril 34 to Cité Foch
Terril 34 → Cité Foch is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité Foch to back through Terril 34
Cité Foch → back through Terril 34 is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 34 to Beffroi d’Abbeville
back through Terril 34 → Beffroi d’Abbeville is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.