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Parking is available in the school car park.
(S/E) With your back to the car park, turn left onto Avenue Jean Moulin, cross Rue du Musée and follow Rue du Kortenker, which is almost directly opposite.
(1) At Rue des Foulons, turn right, pass the Mont Noir stream and, at the Fork in the road, turn left onto Steenvoorde straete, then turn left onto Chemin de la Haute Porte.
(2) When you reach the Haute Porte, take the first right onto Rue au Beurre, then turn right again onto Rue Marguerite Yourcenar to reach the centre of the village of Saint-Jans-Cappel.
(3) Here you’ll find a small museum dedicated to the writer. Take a look at the church’s foundation, built from iron-rich stones sourced from the nearby hills.
Turn left onto the departmental road for 100 metres, then take Rue de la Blanchisserie. After 200 metres, turn right onto Chemin de la Glaise until you reach Route du Mont Noir (D223) at a place called “La Croix de Poperinge”.
(4) Cross the D223 and continue straight ahead. Ride for 500 metres before turning right onto Guesne straete. Follow this road until you reach the Route de Locre (Loker).
At this exact point, you are at the border.
(5) Turn left onto Route de Locre and follow it for about 100 metres before turning right.
You can stop here at ‘Tere plekke’, a typical Flemish pub, for a nice beer!
Take Koudekotstraete.
(6) Cross the Douve and continue to the centre of the village of Dranouter, known for its festival in August.
(7) At the crossroads is another Flemish pub, “De Hekse stoel” (the Witch’s Chair).
“Take a look at the ridge of the estaminet’s roof. You can see the spot where the witch can sit!”
For folk music fans, 300 metres towards Locre is the “Café folk”.''
Carry on to the right along Zwartemolenstraete, past the tavern “De preekestoel” (The Pulpit).
(8) Turn right three times, staying on Zwartemolenstraat, then take Kelverstraat. At the end of this street, turn right onto Route de Neuve-Église (border).
(9) Caution: dangerous descent! Carry on like this until you reach the Ravelsberg (the highest point in Bailleul).
(10) Enjoy the view.
This is where capital punishments took place in the Middle Ages, particularly hangings.
Halfway down the slope, look for a small path on the left and follow it.
(11) Stop at the small copse to enjoy the view of the hop fields.
At the bottom of the path, opposite the Beck Farm pub (microbrewery), you can sample some hommelpap and perhaps admire the Flemish draught horses, a breed once thought to be extinct but reintroduced by the Beck family.
(12) Then head left up Eeckelstraete and turn right onto Feuterdreve. At the bottom of the hill, you’ll be on the border between the Lys plain and the Monts des Flandres. Turn right onto Breemerschenstraete.
(13) Halfway along, cross a wetland area teeming with birds.
Turn right onto the Vieux Chemin de Lille and try to cycle up the Mont de Lille without dismounting!
(14) At Mont de Lille, enjoy the panoramic view over the town of Bailleul.
Further on, ignore a turn-off to the right and continue to a junction. Take Bellekindstraete straight ahead.
(15) Then stop at the British cemetery, where nearly 6,000 Commonwealth soldiers from the First World War are buried.
At the end of Bellekindstraete, cycle against the flow of traffic along Rue des Sœurs Noires.
(16) Turn left and take a look at the media library, rebuilt after the First World War in the Bruges style.
(17) At the traffic lights, take a moment to admire Place de Bailleul with its Flemish houses and, of course, the belfry. Then turn right onto Rue du Musée.
At the Benoit Depuydt Museum, you can take a tour of this little gem.
(18) Then walk down Rue du Musée. At the traffic lights, turn right to reach the car park on Avenue Jean Moulin (S/E).
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