Why this ride
132 km from Norrent-Fontes to Norrent-Fontes, about 2 h 41 of riding. It goes by way of Chevalement du Vieux-Deux, Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les, Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais and Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Terril 34 and Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 132 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 41
- 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 34
A terril is a slag heap, a mountain of waste rock dumped beside a coal mine, and in the flat land of northern France these man-made hills are the closest thing to relief for miles around. Terril 34 is one of hundreds that dot the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin, a UNESCO site since 2012, which recognises not only the heaps but also the pithead frames, miners' housing estates, schools, churches and railway lines that made up the landscape of coal mining in the region for nearly three centuries. This one sits near Norrent-Fontes and Lillers, at the western end of the basin, where it meets the chalk hills of Artois.
Read the complete Terril 34 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 34 is where the day begins. Next is Chevalement du Vieux-Deux.
2. Chevalement du Vieux-Deux
Marles-les-Mines is a small town of about six thousand people west of Béthune, in the hilly western fringe of the coalfield, and the headframe known as the Vieux-Deux, the old Number Two, stands among its houses as a stubborn monument. The Compagnie des mines de Marles sank its shafts here in the nineteenth century, and the pit worked until the twentieth. The tall frame has been preserved, and together with the nearby terril and the cités around it, forms part of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin, the World Heritage Site listed in 2012.
Read the complete Chevalement du Vieux-Deux write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chevalement du Vieux-Deux comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-.
3. 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
about 31 km into the recorded legs you reach Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-. Next is Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image.
5. 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
Ancienne Fosse n°2 et mine-image sits at 66 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais.
6. 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 comes up about 82 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-.
7. back through 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
about 99 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-. Next is back through Chevalement du Vieux-Deux.
8. back through Chevalement du Vieux-Deux
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chevalement du Vieux-Deux write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Chevalement du Vieux-Deux, late in the day. Next is Terril 34.
9. Terril 34
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 34 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 132 km.
Leg by leg
Terril 34 to Chevalement du Vieux-Deux
Terril 34 → Chevalement du Vieux-Deux is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chevalement du Vieux-Deux to Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-
Chevalement du Vieux-Deux → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais
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 back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les-
back through Cité n°2 62 Pas-de-Calais → back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- to back through Chevalement du Vieux-Deux
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Noeux-les- → back through Chevalement du Vieux-Deux is 15 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chevalement du Vieux-Deux to Terril 34
back through Chevalement du Vieux-Deux → Terril 34 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.