The Grandes Eaux departing from Thieu

Parking at Place Hardat de Thieu (Le Roeulx).

This route is marked with blue signs. QR codes will give you additional information about where you are via your smartphone.

(S/E) Turn right onto the path that descends towards the towpath of the new Centre Canal. Continue along this path to the right. You will reach the Quinsac bridge.

(1) Pass under the blue-green bridge spanning the canal. Continue along the canal until you reach the red footbridge (George Price footbridge), then turn right onto the path leading to the Price Memorial esplanade.

(2) Return to the canal and take the footbridge to reach the banks of the old Canal du Centre.

(3) At the drawbridge, cross the road (N538) and walk along the old Centre Canal, staying on the left bank. Continue along the towpath to the old lock (lock no. 1).

(4) At the lock (near the marina), turn left onto Rue Saint-Géry, which leads to the new canal. Turn right towards the old lift and Pont Hardat.

(5) Cross Pont Hardat to return to the starting point (S/E).

(S/E) Place Hardat. It replaces the old communal square, which was completely destroyed for the construction of the new canal in the 1980s. For its construction, noble materials such as blue stone (from the region) were preferred to asphalt. Despite these significant urban changes, the chestnut tree that stands proudly on the esplanade has survived. Fortunately so, because it was planted on 4 October 1930 to commemorate the centenary of Belgium's independence. At the back of the square, you can admire the presbytery dating from the second half of the 18th century.

(1) Quinsac Bridge. This metal structure, inaugurated in 1989, was named in honour of the French village in Gironde with which Ville-sur-Haine has been twinned since 1962.
In the past, on the other side of the canal, there was a factory for processing coal by-products (tar, light oils and benzene). It was founded in 1885 by the Solvay Company, which had installed 25 coke ovens nearby in the same year.
From 1913 to the early 1960s, there was also a power station. It closed down and was relocated to Baudour. Initially, it ran on coal, then on heavy fuel oil delivered by boats on the Canal du Centre. It had three turbines capable of producing 72,000 kW/h at full capacity.
.
(2) George Price Memorial. The memorial and footbridge were named after the last Commonwealth soldier killed minutes before the 1918 armistice came into effect.

(3) It was across this drawbridge that Private George Price's company passed, only to be killed a few minutes later near the first houses of Ville-sur-Haine.

(5) Hydraulic lift no. 4 The four old lifts are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They are an exceptional testimony to the remarkable development of hydraulic engineering in 19th-century Europe. What's more, they are the only ones in the world that remain in their original working condition. The Thieu lift was completed in 1917. It is the fourth and last in the series. On its own, it covers a height of 16.933 metres.

Accessible to people with reduced mobility and parents with pushchairs or prams.