Why this ride
A 130 km round trip from Aire-sur-la-Lys - roughly 2 h 29 in the saddle. The stops in between: Monument aux morts, Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin, Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de and Cité des Soeurs.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Terril 31 and Cité des Soeurs
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 130 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 29
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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 31
A terril is a coal slag heap, and in the old Artois coalfield they punctuate the horizon like unfinished pyramids. This one, numbered 31 in the local inventory of the mining basin, lies on the southern fringe of the field, near Norrent-Fontes and Mametz, where the plain of the Lys starts to tilt against the low hills of Artois. Heaps like this were built up over decades from the waste rock hauled out of the pits, and many are conical, a few are flat-topped and some stretch in long ridges. Left alone, they have turned into oddities of nature, with warm black soil that suits unusual plants, birch scrub, and in summer a surprising number of butterflies.
Read the complete Terril 31 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 31 is where the day begins. Next is Monument aux morts.
2. 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 comes up 17 km in. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin.
3. 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
34 km in you reach Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin. Next is Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de.
4. 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
Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de, about halfway. Next is Cité des Soeurs.
5. Cité des Soeurs
At the western edge of the coalfield, where the plain of the mining basin starts to buckle into the chalk hills of Artois, the town of Barlin grew up around its pits. The Cité des Soeurs is one of its housing estates, rows of brick miners' houses with gardens, and Terril 244, a slag heap now furred with trees, stands nearby like a man-made hill. Both belong to the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin World Heritage Site, which covers more than a hundred kilometres of coal country from the Belgian border westwards.
Read the complete Cité des Soeurs write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité des Soeurs sits at 67 km, about halfway. Next is back through Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de.
6. back through Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de
Return visit. Read the place description above.
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
back through Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de comes up 84 km in. Next is back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin.
7. 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
101 km in you reach back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin. Next is back through Monument aux morts.
8. back through 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 through Monument aux morts, late in the day. Next is Terril 31.
9. Terril 31
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 31 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 130 km.
Leg by leg
Terril 31 to Monument aux morts
Terril 31 → Monument aux morts is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monument aux morts to Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin
Monument aux morts → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin is 16 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 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de to Cité des Soeurs
Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de → Cité des Soeurs is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité des Soeurs to back through Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de
Cité des Soeurs → back through Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Grands Bureaux de la Société Houillère de to back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin
back through 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 back through Monument aux morts
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Barlin → back through Monument aux morts is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monument aux morts to Terril 31
back through Monument aux morts → Terril 31 is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.