Why this ride
163 km from Barlin to Barlin, about 2 h 36 of riding. On the way it passes Cité des Sports Wingles, Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos, Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e and back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7 and Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 163 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 36
- 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. Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7
Picture a pit village at six in the morning in 1950: men walking to the headframe with their lunch tins, the siren calling the shift, the women already up and stoking the stoves, children getting ready for the company school. The ensemble around Fosse n°7, near Maisnil-lès-Ruitz and Barlin, preserves the setting for that daily routine: the pit buildings, the housing, the paths between them, and the terril rising nearby. It was a self-contained world, owned and run by the mining company, which provided houses, coal for heating, schools, churches and even doctors, in exchange for loyalty and hard work. The site is one of the many components of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin on the UNESCO list.
Read the complete Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7 is where the day begins. Next is Cité des Sports Wingles.
2. Cité des Sports Wingles
Wingles is a town of nine thousand people in the old mining basin, sitting on the edge of the plain where the Lens-Béthune coal fields meet the canal of La Bassée. The coal here was dug from the mid-nineteenth century, and the town still bears the marks: rows of workers' houses, a handful of pit headframes, and slag heaps that rise from the farmland. The sports complex that gives this stop its name is a modern echo of the old social life of the mine, when companies built stadiums, bandstands and gymnasia for their workers, and brass bands and football clubs were as central to the community as the pit itself.
Read the complete Cité des Sports Wingles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité des Sports Wingles comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos.
3. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos
Loos is a town on the southwestern edge of Lille, and its town hall belfry is part of the same UNESCO family as the medieval towers of Bruges and Ghent, though it is a much more modern member. In this corner of Europe a belfry was the symbol of a town's independence from lord and church, and when the industrial towns of the Nord built new town halls in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they gave them belfries too, as a statement that they had grown up. Loos's tower, in brick and stone, does exactly that.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 50 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e.
4. Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e
Estevelles is a small town where the mining basin meets the waterways of the Deûle, between Pont-à-Vendin and Carvin. The label points to one of the mining ensembles of the area, part of the UNESCO-listed basin: a pit, a cité, perhaps a spoil heap, all together telling the story of how coal shaped every aspect of local life. The mining companies built not only houses but churches, schools, health centres and gardens, controlling their workers' lives from cradle to grave. The cités around here, with their neat rows of brick houses and small vegetable gardens, still house many descendants of miners.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e, about halfway. Next is back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos.
5. back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos sits at 99 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cité des Sports Wingles.
6. back through Cité des Sports Wingles
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité des Sports Wingles write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cité des Sports Wingles comes up about 138 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7.
7. Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7 to Cité des Sports Wingles
Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7 → Cité des Sports Wingles is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité des Sports Wingles to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos
Cité des Sports Wingles → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos to Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos → Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e to back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos
Paysage et ensemble miniers d’Estevelles e → back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos to back through Cité des Sports Wingles
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville de Loos → back through Cité des Sports Wingles is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cité des Sports Wingles to Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7
back through Cité des Sports Wingles → Ensemble minier de la fosse n°7 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.