Mining heritage of Lourches and the surrounding area

The route starts at the car park of the Church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, where you can park, between Rue Émile Zola and Rue Pascal, along Rue Jean Jaurès.

(S/E) Cross the car park away from the church and you will soon reach Rue Pascal.

(1) Follow the street to the left and, after about thirty metres, turn left to discover the old Fosse Saint-Mathieu. Retrace your steps; you can look back towards the church bell tower and compare the current Rue Jean Jaurès with Rue de la Station (as it was formerly known).

(1) Cross Rue Jean Jaurès, follow it to the left for a few metres and immediately turn right onto Rue Henri Durre. At the next junction, turn left into Rue Blanqui.

(2) At number 392, take the small path on the right to reach the former Fosse Schneider mining site, where the mine’s imposing slag heap once stood. Retrace your steps.

(2) Continue right along Rue Blanqui. Near Allée A of the Cité Schneider, note a plaque marking the private road of the Douchy Mines. At the end of Rue Blanqui, turn left into Rue Jean Baptiste Lebas (formerly Chemin des Vaches).

At the junction with Rue Jean Jaurès, a chemist’s shop bears the name of the mine that once stood there, the Fosse de l’Éclaireur. Cross the road and take Rue Arthur Lamendin. Turn left at the first street, Rue Victor Hugo.

(3) At the entrance to the first street on the right, Rue de Désirée, stands the Condorcet nursery school, now closed, formerly the school of the Douchy Mines company. Follow Rue de Désirée: at the end is the Fosse Désirée, still in operation for firedamp extraction. Then retrace your steps.

(3) Resume the route along Rue Victor Hugo (on the right if you are returning from the Fosse de Désirée). Continue straight on until you reach Rue Pascal.

(4) Take a short detour to the right, where the Fosse Gantois once stood; the mine shaft is marked out. Retrace your steps.

(4) Continue along Rue Victor Hugo, cross a roundabout and take Rue Carnot, which continues from there. When the street bends to the right, carry straight on and immediately turn left into Place Roger Salengro.

(5) Before reaching the end of the square, turn right onto Rue Jules Guesdes. Cross Rue Anatole France and walk pastthe Sévigné-Macé primary school. Then take the first left and enter the Résidence du 2 septembre 1944. At the roundabout, turn right. You will pass a small coal wagon and the Lourches water tower.

(6) Join Rue Jean Jaurès and follow it to the right. Cross Rue Léon Gambetta and continue along Rue Jean Jaurès. Go straight on, continuing along Rue de Bouchain and then Rue Arthur Brunet. Go over the A21 motorway and pass the Cité Sabatier on your right.

(7) At the junction (Rue Paul Lafargue on the right), turn left and follow a path. Further on, you’ll reach the tarmac and come out onto Rue Pierre Bériot (Denain), with the Fosse Renard slag heap in front of you.

(8) Follow Rue Pierre Bériot to the right, towards Denain town centre. Continue straight on, ignoring the small side streets. Cross the D1040 and you’ll reach a large roundabout. Note the statue of Cafougnette in the centre of the roundabout.

(9) Go round the roundabout to the right and take Rue de Villars. Continue to the Conservatoire de musique (next to the shopping area): this building, formerly the Jean Bart mining settlement, houses the former home of the miner and poet Jules Mousseron. On the opposite pavement, on the first floor of a shop, are the remains of a former butcher’s shop from the Jean Bart mining settlement, dating back to the days of the mine. Retrace your steps back to the roundabout.

(9) Then take the second left, Rue Arthur Brunet. Cross the A21 again and go straight on. After the Baudin bus stop, walk alongside the Werth mining estate and continue straight on.

(7) Continue along Rue Arthur Brunet and cross the A21 motorway again. Carry on along Rue Jean Jaurès. At the junction with Rue Léon Gambetta, take a look at a workers’ mining estate, a remnant of the Cité Bernard. Carry on and you will soon come to a junction you passed on the way out.

(6) Continue straight on along Rue Jean Jaurès. Further on, walk past Voltaire College. Just after that, at the foot of the church, discover the monument to Charles Mathieu (director of the Compagnie des Mines de Douchy). On the other side of Rue Jean Jaurès, noteCharles Mathieu’s former home, now the Lourches Town Hall. Finally, cross Rue Pascal to return to the car park where you started (S/E).

This hike can be done with or without an internet connection (provided you have previously downloaded the hike sheet as a PDF and cached the GPX file). During the hike, you can access a description of each waypoint in the "description" tab by clicking on the waypoint photo located below, under the "nearby" section on your phone/tablet. To best follow your route, switch to the "map" tab; you will see your route appear as you go.

You will need to bring suitable footwear, water, a snack, a phone or tablet (not essential) and appropriate clothing for the weather conditions. Free parking is available near the start point. Return to the starting point.

There are many reminders of the town’s mining past to discover along the route. These are mentioned in the description.

Further information on the source websites:
- Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining basin.
- Douchy Mining Company.
- Denain, the coal town.