Hillsides of La Laquette

Church car park in Enquin-les-Mines.

(S/E) Head towards the church and find a path on your left. At the three-way junction, keep right and head up into the woods until you reach a wide track (Sentier de la Vallée). Follow it to the left until you reach a junction.

(1) Turn right and join the D77. First turn right then left to take the Chemin de Delettes. It passes between the houses and reaches a T-junction.

(2) Turn left. Ignore the first path on the right. Shortly afterwards, take the grassy path on the right, running alongside the hedge on your left. After a steep descent, you’ll reach a T-junction.

(3) Take the steeply ascending path on the right and join a wider track (with a wayside cross on the right). Follow it to the right (Chemin d’Erny) and keep heading in the same direction until you reach the D130 (the end of the track is very grassy and dotted with ruts). Cross the road to take the track opposite and you’ll immediately come to a three-way junction.

(4) Carry on straight ahead, then turn right onto the first track. You’ll reach a junction near Enguinegatte.

(5) Turn left. Ignore the road on the right and take the first track on the left to reach a three-way junction.

(6) Turn right. At the next three-way junction, turn left onto the track. At the next junction, carry on straight ahead. The track turns left at a right angle and reaches a T-junction. Turn right to quickly reach a crossroads.

(7) Turn left until you reach the D193. Follow it to the left and, at the junction, turn right onto the D130 for 200 m.

(8) Turn left onto the wide track, which very quickly turns into a lovely footpath. Walk gently downhill to reach the Laquette, which you cross via a lovely footbridge (the old one was more rustic). Continue for a few more metres.

(9) Turn left onto the first path to reach Erny-Saint-Julien. It’s a lovely path that runs alongside the Laquette, though we found it very wet a few years ago. You’ll reach a tarmac road.

(10) Follow it to the right, pass beneath the church and take the first street on the right towards the village hall (and its mobile phone mast). After the chapel (on the right), carry on straight ahead to pass between the farm buildings. Keep going in the same direction until you reach a T-junction.

(11) Turn left and find a path on the left.

(12) See practical information 1. Ignore this and head down the road opposite to the first houses in Bomy, where you’ll find a three-way junction.

(13) Take the street on the left and, immediately after the house, don’t miss the narrow path that climbs steeply to the left. Veer to the right to quickly reach a metal gate (on the left). Continue along this very beautiful path until you reach the road. (see practical information 2)

(14) Follow it to the left. Now continue along the GR®127 for 1 km along an unpleasant tarmac stretch (see practical information 3) until you reach a junction near the cemetery.

(15) Turn right (GR®) onto the ‘Sentier des Paysages à Énergies’, which, with its attractive Blue Arrows, will take you back to Enquin. Enter the woods and stay firmly on the main path. This path is in poor condition, but a very pleasant track has formed on the right, running alongside it. Leave the woods and continue for a few more metres until you come to a path that winds sharply to the left.

(16) Follow this path, skirting the woods, until you reach a magnificent picnic area (with a lovely view and an information board).

(17) Carry on straight ahead (leaving the GR® on your right) until you reach a T-junction. Turn left and, 200 metres further on, take the path on the right to reach the D 77.

(18) Follow it to the left, pass the farm and, at the bend, turn right onto the grassy path (it had disappeared a few years ago but the local council managed to restore it. Well done!).
Join Rue du Calvaire and follow it to the D 158 (calvary on the right).

(19) Opposite, take Rue Adam, which leads down to La Laquette. Cross it, taking a moment to admire the Moulin Espagnol. Then take the steps (or the path running alongside them) to reach the church and its car park (S/E).

Good walking shoes and at least one walking stick are essential.
For the alternative routes, it’s best to wear trousers.

1. You can follow this path all the way to the road. Then follow it to the left to reach point (15).

2) Opposite, there’s a very good path with a chain. Markings on the ground encourage you to take it. Which I did, of course. It’s an excellent, straight path (I think it’s the old GR® route) that cuts through the woods to rejoin the GR®.

3) To avoid part of it, I regularly walk along the edge of the woods via the hamlet known as ‘Le Maolier’. It’s a bit muddy at times, but you eventually come across a lovely grassy track that leads back to the path to the cemetery.

And, of course, it’s an obvious shortcut to link the points (9) and (11).