Why this ride
A 72 km round trip from Harnes - roughly 1 h 22 in the saddle. It goes by way of Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d, Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs and back through Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Camus Haut and Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 72 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 22
- 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. Camus Haut
Camus Haut lies on the eastern edge of the mining basin, near Annay, Pont-à-Vendin and Harnes, where the canalised Deûle carries barges north towards Lille. The label refers to one of the many mining sites and cités of the area, and while the exact spot is hard to identify from a distance, the landscape tells you what kind of place it is: brick housing estates, old pit heads, spoil heaps going green, and the wide, flat horizon of the Gohelle.
Read the complete Camus Haut write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Camus Haut is where the day begins. Next is Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d.
2. Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d
In the mining towns of northern France, the companies built not only pits and houses but whole communities, with churches, schools, dispensaries and, after the First World War, monuments to the dead. This war memorial and the iron gates of a mining cité in Mazingarbe are small parts of that story, included in the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site. They stand among rows of brick houses, gardens and allotments in a town shaped by coal.
Read the complete Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs.
3. Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs
The coal companies were not short of optimism when they named their housing. In Bruay-la-Buissière, two neighbouring cités were called the New World and the Flowers, and their brick houses with front gardens, laid out along tidy streets, were meant to sell a better life to the families who came from across France, Poland, Italy and North Africa to work the pits. They belong to the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage Site, and they remain ordinary homes, so look respectfully.
Read the complete Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 36 km into the recorded legs you reach Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs. Next is back through Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d.
4. back through Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d, late in the day. Next is Camus Haut.
5. Camus Haut
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Camus Haut write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Camus Haut. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Camus Haut to Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d
Camus Haut → Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d to Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs
Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d → Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs to back through Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d
Cités du Nouveau Monde et des Fleurs → back through Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d to Camus Haut
back through Monument aux morts et grilles de la cité d → Camus Haut is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.