Why this ride
145 km from Aire-sur-la-Lys to Aire-sur-la-Lys, about 3 h 04 of riding. It goes by way of Terril n°10, Terril 244, Les cités des Musiciens and back through Terril 244.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- and Les cités des Musiciens
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 145 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 04
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Aire-sur-la-Lys is the kind of small French town that rewards a slow walk with no plan. Its belfry rises from the eighteenth-century town hall on the Grand Place, an elegant classical building topped by a tall tower with a lantern and a carillon, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France. Across the square stands the Bailliage, a richly decorated Renaissance building from around 1600, with arches, carved figures and a little loggia, which once housed the guard and the town's officials. A few streets away, the great collegiate church of Saint-Pierre, built in a flamboyant Gothic style, rises above the rooftops.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- is where the day begins. Next is Terril n°10.
2. Terril n°10
In the western part of the Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin, around Bruay-la-Buissière, Divion and Marles-les-Mines, the horizon is shaped by terrils, the spoil heaps left by more than two centuries of coal mining. Terril number 10 is one of them, a dark cone of shale and waste rock that has slowly turned green as birch, broom and grasses have colonised it. The basin, with its pits, cités, railway lines and spoil heaps, was listed by UNESCO in 2012 as an evolving cultural landscape, recognising both the industrial history and the lives of the hundreds of thousands of miners who worked here.
Read the complete Terril n°10 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril n°10 comes up 26 km in. Next is Terril 244.
3. Terril 244
Way out at the western tip of the coalfield, near the villages of Mametz and Norrent-Fontes, Terril 244 marks the place where coal mining reached its limit. Beyond it, the land belongs to farmers, and the next towns, Aire-sur-la-Lys and Saint-Omer, have more to do with canals, marshes and markets than with mines. The heap stands as a solitary landmark in the fields, smaller than the giants further east, and its green-covered slopes blend into the landscape. It is one of the outlying components of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin listed by UNESCO, a reminder that the coalfield stretched for over a hundred kilometres from the Belgian border to here.
Read the complete Terril 244 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
52 km in you reach Terril 244. Next is Les cités des Musiciens.
4. Les cités des Musiciens
In Bruay-la-Buissière, the streets of one mining estate carry the names of composers, which is where the Cités des Musiciens get their name. The mining company laid out housing in neat rows of brick, with gardens, pavements and modest decorative touches, and gave the lanes names such as Mozart, Berlioz and Bizet, a gesture that mixes paternalism with a certain poetry. Whether the miners cared much about the choice is another question, but the estates have a distinctive atmosphere, and they are listed by UNESCO as part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin.
Read the complete Les cités des Musiciens write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Les cités des Musiciens, about halfway. Next is back through Terril 244.
5. back through Terril 244
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 244 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terril 244 sits at 104 km, about halfway. Next is back through Terril n°10.
6. back through Terril n°10
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril n°10 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terril n°10 comes up 130 km in. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-.
7. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- closes the day.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- to Terril n°10
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- → Terril n°10 is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril n°10 to Terril 244
Terril n°10 → Terril 244 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 244 to Les cités des Musiciens
Terril 244 → Les cités des Musiciens is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Les cités des Musiciens to back through Terril 244
Les cités des Musiciens → back through Terril 244 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 244 to back through Terril n°10
back through Terril 244 → back through Terril n°10 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril n°10 to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
back through Terril n°10 → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.