Why this ride
149 km from Aire-sur-la-Lys to Aire-sur-la-Lys, about 3 h 08 of riding. The stops in between: Terril n°10, Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la, Cité du château des Dames and back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Terril 244 and Cité du château des Dames
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 149 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 08
- 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. Terril 244
Way out at the western tip of the coalfield, near the villages of Mametz and Norrent-Fontes, Terril 244 marks the place where coal mining reached its limit. Beyond it, the land belongs to farmers, and the next towns, Aire-sur-la-Lys and Saint-Omer, have more to do with canals, marshes and markets than with mines. The heap stands as a solitary landmark in the fields, smaller than the giants further east, and its green-covered slopes blend into the landscape. It is one of the outlying components of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin listed by UNESCO, a reminder that the coalfield stretched for over a hundred kilometres from the Belgian border to here.
Read the complete Terril 244 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 244 is where the day begins. Next is Terril n°10.
2. Terril n°10
In the western part of the Nord-Pas de Calais mining basin, around Bruay-la-Buissière, Divion and Marles-les-Mines, the horizon is shaped by terrils, the spoil heaps left by more than two centuries of coal mining. Terril number 10 is one of them, a dark cone of shale and waste rock that has slowly turned green as birch, broom and grasses have colonised it. The basin, with its pits, cités, railway lines and spoil heaps, was listed by UNESCO in 2012 as an evolving cultural landscape, recognising both the industrial history and the lives of the hundreds of thousands of miners who worked here.
Read the complete Terril n°10 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril n°10 comes up about 25 km into the recorded legs. Next is Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-.
3. Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Aire-sur-la-Lys is the kind of small French town that rewards a slow walk with no plan. Its belfry rises from the eighteenth-century town hall on the Grand Place, an elegant classical building topped by a tall tower with a lantern and a carillon, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of belfries of Belgium and France. Across the square stands the Bailliage, a richly decorated Renaissance building from around 1600, with arches, carved figures and a little loggia, which once housed the guard and the town's officials. A few streets away, the great collegiate church of Saint-Pierre, built in a flamboyant Gothic style, rises above the rooftops.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 49 km into the recorded legs you reach Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-. Next is Cité du château des Dames.
4. Cité du château des Dames
South of Bruay-la-Buissière the land stops being a miners' plain and starts to feel like Artois, with small rivers, wooded valleys and the first rolling hills. It is the sort of cité that you come across by accident, a cluster of brick houses with gardens, set a little apart from the village, built for the Compagnie des mines de Béthune or one of its neighbours. UNESCO's 2012 listing included many of these, and each has a slightly different plan.
Read the complete Cité du château des Dames write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité du château des Dames, about halfway. Next is back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-.
5. back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- 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 d’Aire-sur-la- sits at 103 km, about halfway. Next is back through Terril n°10.
6. back through Terril n°10
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril n°10 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terril n°10 comes up about 125 km into the recorded legs. Next is Terril 244.
7. Terril 244
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 244 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 244 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Terril 244 to Terril n°10
Terril 244 → Terril n°10 is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril n°10 to Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Terril n°10 → Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- to Cité du château des Dames
Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- → Cité du château des Dames is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité du château des Dames to back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la-
Cité du château des Dames → back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- to back through Terril n°10
back through Beffroi de l’Hôtel de Ville d’Aire-sur-la- → back through Terril n°10 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril n°10 to Terril 244
back through Terril n°10 → Terril 244 is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.