Circular route via Ophain, Wauthier-Braine and Village No. 1

Car park on Place d’Ophain opposite Sainte-Aldegonde Church.

(S/E) Turn your back on the church and cross Rue des Combattants. Turn left and take the first right onto Rue Courte. At the far end of the car park, take the footpath on the left leading to Rue du Cimetière.

(1) Turn right and follow the road, then the path, until you reach Rue du Hautmont. Turn right and continue to a small junction about 250 m further on. Turn left onto Chemin de Noucelles, which runs alongside some pretty houses. Continue along this tarmac path, which soon becomes a dirt track, to cross the Bois du Hautmont and join Rue du Try at the edge of the woods.

(2) Do not cross the road. Turn left, keeping to the verge for 50 m. Turn left onto Rue (Drève) du Bois d’Hautmont. At the right-hand bend, the street becomes Rue de la Carrière. At the next bend, carry on straight ahead along Chemin de la Carrière,^GRP®127Tour du Brabant wallon, until you reach Chaussée d’Ophain. Stay on this side of the road and follow it to the left until you reach the first road on the opposite side. Use the pedestrian crossing to cross the road and, opposite, turn left onto Rue du Bois for about 50 metres.

(3) Just past the last house, take the Sentier Bruyère de Noucelles. Cross the Ri des Vervois and continue straight ahead into the Bois du Foriest. This is a steady climb over sandy ground leading to a tarmac road. Turn right onto it, pass the ‘Le Domaine’ psychiatric centre and continue along Chemin Jean Lanneau until you reach the first four-way junction. Turn left onto the unpaved Chemin du Foriest. It soon descends between an active quarry on the left and the former Blanc Caillou quarry. Continue straight down to a T-junction at the Ravel. Turn right and follow it to Rue de la Gare.

(4) Cross the street and continue straight ahead to a demolished bridge. Head down the Ravel on the right. Turn left immediately. Ignore the path leading under the old bridge and do not go back up onto the Ravel, but carry on straight ahead along Chemin du Fourçon. The path turns right, climbs up a sunken track, then descends again to the abandoned house on Chemin du Champ de la Clôture.

(5) Turn immediately right onto the Chemin Baty de la Croix Charles Boucher. Pass a grave and continue along a dirt track which soon becomes a sunken lane. Cut across the Chemin du Foriest – take care as visibility is poor – and continue straight ahead along the Chemin Baty de la Justice to reach Village No. 1, now called ‘Notre Village’. Pass the entrance and continue straight on.

(6) Walk through the village to the Place de la Presse Belge. At the next roundabout, take the last dirt track diagonally to the left, Rue de Sart-Moulin. At the first junction, turn right down Rue de la Marne to No. 43. At the junction with a pedestrian crossing, take it to the left then to the right, rejoining Rue de la Marne. Turn left and continue to Rue Michel Botte and Sainte-Aldegonde Church. Turn right to take the pedestrian crossing, then another one to reach the car park (S/E).