Why this ride
140 km from Haillicourt to Haillicourt, about 2 h 47 of riding. On the way it passes Terril 49, Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières, Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune and Cité du Moulin.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Terrils Jumeaux 28 and Cité du Moulin
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 140 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 47
- 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. Terrils Jumeaux 28
Two near-perfect black cones rise from the farmland between Ruitz, Maisnil-lès-Ruitz and Haillicourt, and once you have spotted them you will keep seeing them for miles. These twin terrils, the spoil heaps of former coal pits, are among the tallest in the Nord-Pas de Calais basin and have become something of a regional emblem. They look volcanic, which in a way they are: shale and waste rock tipped there for decades by the mining companies, slowly settling into steep, smooth pyramids that turn purple-grey in rain and almost silver in bright sun.
Read the complete Terrils Jumeaux 28 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terrils Jumeaux 28 is where the day begins. Next is Terril 49.
2. Terril 49
Terril 49 rises above the fields between Vermelles, Mazingarbe and Noyelles-lès-Vermelles, one of the dozens of spoil heaps that punctuate the landscape of the Gohelle. Like many of them, it has gone green, with trees and scrub covering slopes once black and bare, and it has become a refuge for wildlife in a landscape of intensive farming and urban sprawl. Lizards, rare insects and birds of prey thrive on the warm, dry slopes of the terrils, which retain heat like stone.
Read the complete Terril 49 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Terril 49 comes up 17 km in. Next is Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-.
3. Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-
On 10 March 1906 a fire in a pit at Courrières, a few kilometres from here, set off a coal-dust explosion that ran through the galleries of three linked mines and killed 1,099 men and boys. It is the worst mining disaster in European history. Rescue teams came from Germany's Westphalian coalfield and worked alongside French crews, a rare moment of cooperation between two countries that would be at war within a decade. Twenty days after the explosion, thirteen survivors were found alive, which astonished the country. The disaster led to strikes and a national debate on safety and the role of the state, with the interior minister, Georges Clemenceau, sending troops to the area, and it changed mining law in France.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
33 km in you reach Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-. Next is Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune.
4. Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune
Béthune was a mining town on the edge of the Artois, and Pit Number 9 of the Béthune company is one of the surviving complexes that UNESCO included in its listing of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin. A mining complex is more than a hole in the ground: there were the winding house and headframe, the screening and washing plants, the offices, the baths where miners scrubbed off the coal dust, the stables for the pit ponies and the railway sidings, and many of these structures stand near Vermelles. Brick, steel and slag dominate the scene, and a sense of effort and anonymity hangs over it.
Read the complete Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune, about halfway. Next is Cité du Moulin.
5. Cité du Moulin
Around Lens the slag heaps rise from the plain like a chain of black pyramids, and the twin cones at Loos-en-Gohelle, among the highest in Europe, are visible for miles. The Cité du Moulin sits in this landscape at Fouquières-lès-Lens, next to Harnes and Billy-Montigny, one of the pit villages built by the mining companies and now part of the UNESCO-listed mining basin. It is a quiet residential area today, but its streets tell the story of the coalfield's most terrible moment.
Read the complete Cité du Moulin write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cité du Moulin sits at 66 km, about halfway. Next is back through Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune.
6. back through Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune 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 du n°9 de Béthune comes up 83 km in. Next is back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-.
7. back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
99 km in you reach back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-. Next is back through Terril 49.
8. back through Terril 49
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terril 49 write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Terril 49, late in the day. Next is Terrils Jumeaux 28.
9. Terrils Jumeaux 28
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Terrils Jumeaux 28 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 140 km.
Leg by leg
Terrils Jumeaux 28 to Terril 49
Terrils Jumeaux 28 → Terril 49 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Terril 49 to Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-
Terril 49 → Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- to Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune
Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- → Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune to Cité du Moulin
Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune → Cité du Moulin is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cité du Moulin to back through Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune
Cité du Moulin → back through Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune to back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières-
back through Ensemble minier du n°9 de Béthune → back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- to back through Terril 49
back through Paysage et ensemble miniers de Fouquières- → back through Terril 49 is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Terril 49 to Terrils Jumeaux 28
back through Terril 49 → Terrils Jumeaux 28 is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.