Why this ride
67 km from Auchel to Auchel, about 1 h 12 of riding. The stops in between: Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin, Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de and back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Monument aux morts and Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 67 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 12
- 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. Monument aux morts
In the centre of Auchel, the war memorial stands as it does in every French town and village, listing the names of the men who died in the First and Second World Wars, and in mining towns these lists are often heartbreakingly long. But the memorials of the coalfield have a particular resonance, because the front line of the First World War ran through the edge of the mining basin, only a few kilometres east of here. The Germans occupied Lens and the eastern pits for most of the war, and when they withdrew in 1918, they flooded and sabotaged the mines, which took years to restore. Auchel and the western towns, on the Allied side, kept producing coal for the war effort under constant pressure.
Read the complete Monument aux morts write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monument aux morts is where the day begins. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin.
2. Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin
Barlin is where the coalfield starts to run into hills. To the west, the land rises gently into the Artois uplands, and the mining town sits at the transition, its slag heaps, workers' houses and pit buildings now part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin World Heritage site. It is a quieter corner than Lens or Douai, and the mix of industrial history and rolling countryside makes it a pleasant place to pause.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin 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 de Barlin comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de.
3. Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de
The Grands Bureaux of the mining company at Liévin are the opposite of a pit: a big, solid brick office building where the engineers, accountants and managers ran the underground world from desks. Built in the style of company headquarters across the basin, with generous windows, a formal entrance and a clock, the building announces that coal was a serious business, with a payroll, a hierarchy and a public face. It sits in the town centre, a few hundred metres from the heart of Liévin, and it forms part of the Mining Basin that UNESCO listed in 2012.
Read the complete Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 33 km into the recorded legs you reach Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de. Next is back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin.
4. back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin, late in the day. Next is Monument aux morts.
5. Monument aux morts
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monument aux morts write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Monument aux morts. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Monument aux morts to Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin
Monument aux morts → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin to Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin → Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de to back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin
Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de → back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin to Monument aux morts
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin → Monument aux morts is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.