Around Don

Park in the car park at Don Cemetery.

(S/E) Take the path on the right, running alongside the cemetery, and enter La Louvière Park. Walk along the pond to the left. At the end of the pond, take the grassy path leading down to the left to reach a second pond. Walk round the park, continuing along the grassy path until you return to the northern end of the first pond. Turn left onto the gravel path which leads to the towpath near the Don Lock. Then turn right, passing the lock.

(1) Leave Rue de l’Égalité on your right (return route) and take the small path on the right which joins Rue Anatole France (D41).

(2) Turn left to cross the Canal de la Deûle, then continue to the junction of Rue Camille Desmoulins and Rue Abbé Leman. Turn right onto Rue de l’Abbé Leman and head towards the church. Continue to the end of Rue de l’Abbé Leman, passing a school on the way.

(3) Turn left, skirting the sports ground on the right, join the D41 and turn right.

(4) Cross the old Canal de la Deûle and turn right at the roundabout. Take the second street on the right, Rue du Général Koenig. Then take the first right, Rue Raymond Chenu. At the end of this street, turn right into Rue de la Centrale and follow this street to the Canal de la Deûle.

(5) Take the Chemin du Halage to the right. Follow it to the roundabout you passed on the way there, then turn left to cross the old Deûle Canal.

(4) After the canal, turn left onto Rue Jean Longuet to reach the junction you passed on the way there.

(3) Turn left onto Rue de l’Abbé Leman, following the route in the opposite direction to the outward journey. Cross the Canal de la Deûle again.

(2) After the bridge, take the small path on the right down to the canal bank.

(1) Turn left onto Rue de l’Egalité and continue to the cemetery car park (S/E).

- After a spell of rain, the grassy path along the second pond may be muddy. In that case, you can stay on the gravel path and walk along the ponds on the right rather than on the left.
- If you’re travelling to the start of the walk by train, you can begin this walk from the roundabout near (4). Don-Sainghin station is 300 m away via Rue de Docteur Calmette.

• The La Louvière site forms part of the chain of parks that make up the Parc de la Deûle. Created in 1990 on a former branch of the Deûle, it covers an area of ten hectares and features three ponds. A willow grove has grown there naturally and, of course, the area has been colonised by a rich and varied array of flora and fauna.
• During this walk, you will have the opportunity to see the difference between a canal with Freycinet clearance (300 t) and a canal with Grand Rhénan Class Va clearance (3,000 t). This difference is particularly striking at the locks.