Why this ride
137 km from Nœux-les-Mines to Nœux-les-Mines, about 2 h 22 of riding. It goes by way of Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais, Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image, Monument aux morts 1914-1918 and Fosse n°13 bis.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- and Fosse n°13 bis
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 137 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 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. Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-
Noeux-les-Mines stands between Béthune and Lens, and its skyline is dominated by two things: tall slag heaps, the terrils, and the old pithead structures that survive from the coal years. It is the surviving heart of a mine, with its headframe, winding house, baths and offices, plus the housing, school and church that went with it. The UNESCO listing of 2012 includes the Noeux-les-Mines area among its many components, for the sake of the whole landscape rather than any one building.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- 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 Noeux-les- is where the day begins. Next is Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais.
2. Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais
The mining basin of Nord-Pas-de-Calais is flat country made hilly by hand. Around Lens, the heaps of slag left by two centuries of coal digging rise like black pyramids above the fields, and the red-brick miners' houses stand in long, tidy terraces, row after row, called corons. This particular stop lies in the town of Lens, in a cité, the name for a company-built miners' estate, and the numbers in the label come from the way the mining companies numbered their pits and estates.
Read the complete Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais comes up about 17 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image.
3. Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image
Oignies holds a special place in the history of northern France: it is where coal mining in the Pas-de-Calais began and where it ended. In 1842, coal was found here during a search for water on the estate of a local landowner, Henriette de Clercq, starting a rush that transformed the region. And on 21 December 1990, the last tonne of coal in the Nord-Pas de Calais basin was brought up from the 9-9bis pit in Oignies, ending more than two and a half centuries of mining in the region. The old Fosse n°2 and its mine-image, a training gallery where young miners learned their trade above ground, are part of the World Heritage site.
Read the complete Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 31 km into the recorded legs you reach Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image. Next is Monument aux morts 1914-1918.
4. Monument aux morts 1914-1918
Lens is a mining town that was flattened in the First World War and rebuilt in brick, and the monument to the dead of 1914 to 1918 stands as a reminder of what happened here. Lines of trenches ran across this plain for years, and the surrounding ridges, Vimy and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, were the scene of huge battles. At Vimy, the great white Canadian memorial stands on the ridge, commemorating the attack of April 1917 in which Canadian troops took the hill, and the preserved trenches and tunnels can be visited. At Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, a vast French military cemetery and a lantern tower hold the remains of tens of thousands of soldiers. They are quiet places, and the silence is part of the experience.
Read the complete Monument aux morts 1914-1918 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monument aux morts 1914-1918, about halfway. Next is Fosse n°13 bis.
5. Fosse n°13 bis
Oignies holds a special place in the story of French coal, because it was the last place in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais where a pit closed. The final coal came up at Oignies in December 1990, ending nearly three centuries of mining in the basin, and the old pit buildings there have since been turned into a concert hall and cultural centre. Fosse 13 bis, a few kilometres off, belonged to the Compagnie des mines de Courrières, one of the great names of the coalfield, and the whole district falls inside the Mining Basin World Heritage Site that UNESCO recognised in 2012.
Read the complete Fosse n°13 bis write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Fosse n°13 bis sits at 66 km, about halfway. Next is back through Monument aux morts 1914-1918.
6. back through Monument aux morts 1914-1918
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monument aux morts 1914-1918 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 1914-1918 comes up about 84 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image.
7. back through Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 99 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image. Next is back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais.
8. back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais, late in the day. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-.
9. Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- 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 137 km.
Leg by leg
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- to Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- → Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais to Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image
Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais → Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image to Monument aux morts 1914-1918
Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image → Monument aux morts 1914-1918 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monument aux morts 1914-1918 to Fosse n°13 bis
Monument aux morts 1914-1918 → Fosse n°13 bis is 14 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fosse n°13 bis to back through Monument aux morts 1914-1918
Fosse n°13 bis → back through Monument aux morts 1914-1918 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monument aux morts 1914-1918 to back through Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image
back through Monument aux morts 1914-1918 → back through Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image to back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais
back through Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image → back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais to Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-
back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.