Why this ride
A 329 km round trip from Carvin - roughly 5 h 58 in the saddle. It goes by way of Terril 125a, Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm, Terrils 143 et 143 a and Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hôtel de ville and Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 329 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 58
- 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. Hôtel de ville
A town hall makes an odd target for a ride, but Carvin's is a good excuse to stop in a place most people only see from the A1. The town sits on the northern edge of the old coalfield, between Lens and Lille, and its civic buildings and squares reflect the confidence of a community that grew with the mines. Like many such places, Carvin's centre is a mix of brick, stone and post-war rebuilding, and the town hall faces a square with cafés, bakeries and a market on certain days.
Read the complete Hôtel de ville write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hôtel de ville is where the day begins. Next is Terril 125a.
2. Terril 125a
On the southern edge of the coal basin, where Auberchicourt, Écaillon and Aniche run into one another, a long spoil heap rises above the brick roofs and the fields. Terril 125a is one of the many numbered heaps that the Nord-Pas de Calais inventory catalogues, and it belongs to the old concession of the Compagnie des mines d'Aniche, one of the historic coal companies of the region. Aniche itself is a reminder that the north was not only about coal: the town had a long glassmaking tradition, and the combination of fuel, sand and labour made the area an industrial hub well before the twentieth century.
Read the complete Terril 125a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 125a comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm.
3. Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm
In 1757, a group of aristocrats and entrepreneurs founded the Compagnie des Mines d'Anzin to work the coal seams found under the plains near Valenciennes. It grew into one of the largest industrial companies in France, owning dozens of pits, thousands of workers' houses and its own schools, churches and shops. The ensemble here at Fresnes-sur-Escaut, close to the Belgian border, includes buildings connected with the company's long history, and it is part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site.
Read the complete Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 80 km into the recorded legs you reach Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm. Next is Terrils 143 et 143 a.
4. Terrils 143 et 143 a
East of Douai, the Scarpe river winds through a green valley of marshes, woods and meadows, and rising out of it, near Pecquencourt and Lallaing, are the heaps numbered 143 and 143a, spoil from the mines that once operated here. Today they are part of the Scarpe-Escaut regional nature park and the World Heritage listing of the mining basin, and they are covered with trees and paths, home to birds and plants.
Read the complete Terrils 143 et 143 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terrils 143 et 143 a, about halfway. Next is Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin.
5. Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin
Black hills on a flat land. That is the image most people keep of the Nord-Pas de Calais coal basin, a band of former mining country stretching about 120 kilometres from the Belgian border westward towards Béthune, where for nearly three centuries coal was dug from deep underground. The slag heaps, the terrils, rise like pyramids above the towns, and the mining villages, the cités, line the streets in rows of brick houses. In 2012 the basin was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised as a living cultural landscape, with over three hundred elements protected.
Read the complete Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin sits at 139 km, about halfway. Next is back through Terrils 143 et 143 a.
6. back through Terrils 143 et 143 a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terrils 143 et 143 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terrils 143 et 143 a comes up about 197 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm.
7. back through Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 249 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm. Next is back through Terril 125a.
8. back through Terril 125a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 125a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terril 125a, late in the day. Next is Hôtel de ville.
9. Hôtel de ville
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hôtel de ville write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 329 km.
Leg by leg
Hôtel de ville to Terril 125a
Hôtel de ville → Terril 125a is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 125a to Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm
Terril 125a → Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm to Terrils 143 et 143 a
Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm → Terrils 143 et 143 a is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terrils 143 et 143 a to Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin
Terrils 143 et 143 a → Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin to back through Terrils 143 et 143 a
Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin → back through Terrils 143 et 143 a is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terrils 143 et 143 a to back through Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm
back through Terrils 143 et 143 a → back through Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm is 52 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm to back through Terril 125a
back through Compagnie des Mines d’Anzin: Ensemble comm → back through Terril 125a is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 125a to Hôtel de ville
back through Terril 125a → Hôtel de ville is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.