Le Huit de Mellery

Start at the square at the intersection of Rue de Thébais and Rue du Cimetière, opposite the old school. First, admire the remarkable tree, a silver lime tree.

(S/E) Walk up Rue du Cimetière and very soon, at a Y-junction, take the dirt track on the right. It is bordered on the right by a wood and on the left by an open, grassy area with slight undulations. This site was used as a sand quarry before being converted into a landfill site in 1981. From 1982 to 1985, waste was dumped in the southern part. The landfill site was closed by the Walloon Region. Rehabilitation began in 1990.
Continue until you reach the asphalt.

(1) You will see a black cubic building on your left and a gate in front of you. Turn right before the gate. The path climbs between two wooded areas.
Continue along this road (Rue de la Tasnière). After a bend, you will come to a busy road (Rue de Thébais), opposite the entrance to a property marked by two tall stone pillars.

(2) Cross over, turn left and go down the road to the next crossroads (landmark: Le Melenri, a restaurant) after passing a pond and the Ry de Thébais.

(3) Turn right onto Rue de Strichon and cross the bridge over the Abreuron stream.

(4) Ignore Rue de l'Enfer on your right and continue straight ahead. Go up this road and take the path that continues it, between the two green and white posts.

(5) Turn right at the first crossroads. Then continue straight ahead until you reach a cobbled road (known as Chapelle Notre Dame Auxilliatrice, but the chapel is no longer there), which you cross. There, take the left-hand lane. On your right, you will see the village of Mellery. On your left, you will see the woods of Villers-la-Ville. In front of you, you will see the hamlet of Haute-Heuval and its telecommunications pylon.

(6) Further on, take the path on your left that leads to the woods: there is a road sign set back from the path. Walk to this sign, then turn right to enter the woods.
Follow this path, which leads to a^GR® trail, and continue along it.

(7) After a slightly steep slope, you will come to a junction with a private road. Cross this road and take the path on the left, which climbs uphill and continues to follow the^GR®.

(8) Much further on, leave the^GR®: take the first path on the left which leads you out of the woods towards the hamlet of Basse-Heuval. Cross Basse-Heuval. Further on, the path bends to the right and then meets a cobbled road again. Cross it and go straight ahead (dirt track). After a bend to the left, go straight downhill and you will see the green and white markers again. Pass them and continue.

(4) Take the first road on the left, which is cobbled: Rue de l'Enfer. Follow Rue de l'Enfer all the way to the end. Pass the equestrian centre and the Colombier farm and continue to a crossroads.
You will see the Church of Saint-Laurent.

(9) Head towards Marbais-Tilly , but don't miss the remarkable tree on your right, which dates back to 1930. It is a pedunculate oak called the Arbre du Cinquantenaire, 21 metres high and with a circumference of 2.61 metres.

A little further on, on your left, a triangular flowerbed marks the entrance to a dead-end road. Take it (Rue de Gentinnes, sign not very visible on the far left of the red brick house). This asphalt road continues as a grassy path that climbs towards the countryside. At the top, you will find yourself surrounded by 360° countryside! You have arrived at a crossroads with a concrete path.

(10) Turn right. Walk along a long stretch until you reach a crossroads with a cobbled road.

(11) Turn right (embankment with green fence on your left) to reach Mellery cemetery. This path becomes a paved road and descends back to your starting point (S/E).

Saint-Laurent Church
Wikipedia: "Built in 1776, it houses a wooden statue of Saint Bernard attributed to Laurent Delvaux, a statue of Saint Anthony the Hermit (16th century), and an Ecce Homo from the late 15th century. The presbytery dates from the late 18th century."
Caroline Moreau – Le Soir – 28/10/1993 "The current church, built in the 18th century, is dedicated to Saint Laurent, who was invoked in Mellery for mouth ulcers and purulent sores."

La Ferme du Colombier
"A beautiful rural building that has retained its defensive walls and porch tower, topped with an octagonal roof. The complex, which belonged to Gembloux Abbey, was ceded to the Cistercians of Villers in the 16th century." - Wikipedia
Currently the site of a housing cooperative.

Remarkable Trees
Villers-la-ville.be:
"At the intersection of Rue Adjudants Kumps, Rue de l'Enfer and Rue des Veilles Voies
A pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), known as the 'tree of the fiftieth anniversary', with a height
21 metres high and with a circumference of 2.61 metres, can be seen in the central reservation on the Rue
of the Enfer." "Opposite the former municipal school, at the intersection of Rue de Thébais and Rue du Cimetière, you can see a silver lime tree (Tilia tomentosa)."

Rehabilitation of the former Spaque.be landfill site
"The rehabilitated site is a slightly undulating, open, grassy area. Degassing wells have been drilled in many places. There are numerous overhead connection pipes, particularly in the southern part. The site blends in well with the landscape and has become of great environmental value thanks to the maintenance of a large lagoon in the southern part, which has been left to recolonise since 1998."
Mellery is located in a region where the nature of the subsoil explains the presence of numerous sand quarries. At the end of their exploitation, it was common for these to be backfilled with waste.
The Mellery site was used as a sand quarry before being converted into a landfill site in 1981.
In 1993, sampling and analysis campaigns were organised as part of a study to characterise and monitor the evolution of pollution plumes.
In 2001, the Mellery site was included in SPAQuE's environmental monitoring programme, which focused mainly on analytical monitoring of groundwater quality and visual aspects.
Remediation began in 1990 and the file was entrusted to SPAQuE in 1991.
In 2003, biogas treatment by flaring was replaced by an activated carbon filtration treatment system. In this way, post-management of the site can guarantee the total safety of the village by permanently depressurising the waste massif and treating the volatile organic compounds it contains.
In November 2015, 20 photovoltaic panels were installed to supply electricity to the landfill infrastructure.