Why this ride
159 km from Thuin to Thuin, about 2 h 44 of riding. The stops in between: The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and, Major Mining Sites of Wallonia, Château de l’Hermitage and back through Major Mining Sites of Wallonia.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Beffroi de Thuin and Château de l’Hermitage
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 159 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 44
- 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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Beffroi de Thuin
Thuin sits on a rocky spur above the Sambre, and from the river it looks like a town that climbed a hill to keep its feet dry. At the top stands the belfry, a tall square tower with an onion-shaped spire that was originally the bell tower of a collegiate church and survived when the church itself did not. Since 1999 it has been part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France, a reminder that towns in this region measured their freedom in bells, towers and charters.
Read the complete Beffroi de Thuin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Thuin is where the day begins. Next is The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and.
2. The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and
Picture a barge sitting in a huge iron tank full of water, rising more than fifteen metres into the air while another tank, counterweighted, sinks beside it. That is what happens at the four hydraulic boat lifts on the old Canal du Centre in Hainaut, built between the 1880s and 1917 to carry boats over a steep change in level between the basins of the Meuse and the Scheldt. They were engineering marvels in their day, cast-iron and steel giants powered by water pressure, and they are still in working order, though now mostly used by pleasure boats. UNESCO listed them, along with their surroundings, in 1998.
Read the complete The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and comes up about 26 km into the recorded legs. Next is Major Mining Sites of Wallonia.
3. Major Mining Sites of Wallonia
Grand-Hornu, on the edge of the Borinage coalfield west of Mons, looks less like a coal mine than a neoclassical palace. In the early nineteenth century the industrialist Henri De Gorge built it as a model colliery, with workshops, offices and stables arranged around a vast oval courtyard of brick arches, and hundreds of houses for workers, each with its own garden, laid out in streets around it. It was a revolutionary idea at the time, combining industry and housing in one planned complex. Mining ended in the mid-twentieth century, and after years of neglect the site was restored. Today it houses a museum of contemporary art and a design centre, and it is one of the four Major Mining Sites of Wallonia listed by UNESCO in 2012.
Read the complete Major Mining Sites of Wallonia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 55 km into the recorded legs you reach Major Mining Sites of Wallonia. Next is Château de l’Hermitage.
4. Château de l’Hermitage
On the Franco-Belgian border, in a forest that has never much cared which country it is in, a pale classical château stands in a clearing. The Château de l'Hermitage was built in the eighteenth century for the dukes of Croÿ, one of the great aristocratic families of the region, as a refined country retreat, and it sits just inside France, near Condé-sur-l'Escaut, at the edge of the forest of Bon-Secours. The family's title went back centuries, and their estates spread across both sides of what is now the border.
Read the complete Château de l’Hermitage write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Château de l’Hermitage, about halfway. Next is back through Major Mining Sites of Wallonia.
5. back through Major Mining Sites of Wallonia
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Major Mining Sites of Wallonia write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Major Mining Sites of Wallonia sits at 106 km, about halfway. Next is back through The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and.
6. back through The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and comes up about 132 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de Thuin.
7. Beffroi de Thuin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de Thuin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Beffroi de Thuin closes the day.
Leg by leg
Beffroi de Thuin to The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and
Beffroi de Thuin → The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and to Major Mining Sites of Wallonia
The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and → Major Mining Sites of Wallonia is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Major Mining Sites of Wallonia to Château de l’Hermitage
Major Mining Sites of Wallonia → Château de l’Hermitage is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Château de l’Hermitage to back through Major Mining Sites of Wallonia
Château de l’Hermitage → back through Major Mining Sites of Wallonia is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Major Mining Sites of Wallonia to back through The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and
back through Major Mining Sites of Wallonia → back through The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and to Beffroi de Thuin
back through The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre and → Beffroi de Thuin is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.