Why this ride
160 km from Pecquencourt to Pecquencourt, about 2 h 49 of riding. The stops in between: Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault, Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de, Cité d’Auchy and Cité des Petits Bois.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Terrils 143 et 143 a and Cité des Petits Bois
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 160 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 49
- 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. Terrils 143 et 143 a
East of Douai, the Scarpe river winds through a green valley of marshes, woods and meadows, and rising out of it, near Pecquencourt and Lallaing, are the heaps numbered 143 and 143a, spoil from the mines that once operated here. Today they are part of the Scarpe-Escaut regional nature park and the World Heritage listing of the mining basin, and they are covered with trees and paths, home to birds and plants.
Read the complete Terrils 143 et 143 a write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terrils 143 et 143 a is where the day begins. Next is Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault.
2. Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
The flat country between Douai and Lens does not look like much from a motorway, but it holds one of the great industrial landscapes of Europe. For more than two centuries coal was dug from under these fields, and the mining basin of the Nord-Pas de Calais was listed by UNESCO in 2012 as an evolving cultural landscape of pits, slag heaps, railway lines and workers' housing. The Fosse Cornuault at Évin-Malmaison is one piece of that vast mosaic, a former colliery site with its associated buildings, set among the brick villages of the eastern part of the basin.
Read the complete Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de.
3. Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
On the morning of 10 March 1906, an explosion tore through the galleries of the Courrières mining company, killing well over a thousand miners. It remains the worst mining disaster in European history. Most of the victims came from the towns of Méricourt, Sallaumines and Billy-Montigny, and many were buried in a mass grave nearby. Twenty days after the explosion, thirteen survivors emerged from the darkness, having found their way through the ruined galleries, and their story became famous across Europe. The memorials in and around Sallaumines honour the dead and the rescuers, including German miners from Westphalia who came to help.
Read the complete Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de. Next is Cité d’Auchy.
4. Cité d’Auchy
Rows of identical brick houses with small gardens, laid out in straight lines or gentle curves, each with its own vegetable plot and outhouse: the cité at Auchy-les-Mines is a textbook example of the miners' housing built by mining companies in northern France. The companies provided homes, schools, churches and shops, both to attract workers and to control them, and the cités, with their distinctive layouts and architecture, are a central part of the World Heritage listing of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin.
Read the complete Cité d’Auchy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité d’Auchy, about halfway. Next is Cité des Petits Bois.
5. Cité des Petits Bois
There is a particular kind of street in the old coalfield that outsiders mistake for suburban normality. Rows of identical brick houses, each with a small front garden, line a gently curving road, with a school at one end and a church at the other. These are the cités, built by the mining companies to house their workers, and the Cité des Petits Bois at Liévin is one of them. It belongs to the same family as the cités of the Solitude, named on this ride, and together they tell how a company could organise the life of its men from cradle to pit head.
Read the complete Cité des Petits Bois write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité des Petits Bois sits at 68 km, about halfway. Next is back through Cité d’Auchy.
6. back through Cité d’Auchy
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cité d’Auchy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cité d’Auchy comes up about 100 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de.
7. back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 118 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de. Next is back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault.
8. back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault, late in the day. Next is Terrils 143 et 143 a.
9. Terrils 143 et 143 a
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terrils 143 et 143 a 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 160 km.
Leg by leg
Terrils 143 et 143 a to Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
Terrils 143 et 143 a → Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault to Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault → Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de to Cité d’Auchy
Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de → Cité d’Auchy is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité d’Auchy to Cité des Petits Bois
Cité d’Auchy → Cité des Petits Bois is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité des Petits Bois to back through Cité d’Auchy
Cité des Petits Bois → back through Cité d’Auchy is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Cité d’Auchy to back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de
back through Cité d’Auchy → back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de is 18 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de to back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault
back through Monument commémoratif de la Catastrophe de → back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault to Terrils 143 et 143 a
back through Ensemble minier de la fosse Cornuault → Terrils 143 et 143 a is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.