A picturesque corner of the Borinage and the Harchies Marshes

Park in the small car park at the SNCB stop in Harchies (Mons-Tournai line).

(S/E) From the start, follow the red and white markings of^{the GR®} 121 towards the centre of the village, i.e. with your back to the railway crossing. After 10 to 15 metres, the markings leave the road and take you to the right onto a path between two houses. It immediately turns left and runs behind some gardens. It leads to the Maladrerie lane, which opens onto Arthur Pickett Square, with a small tree-lined island in the middle. Cross this triangular square almost straight ahead and take another path. At the school grounds, cross the intersection of paths and continue straight ahead.

(1) This brings you to a perpendicular street. Follow it briefly to the left, running alongside a school playground. Pass a fork in the path and, 10 m further on, turn right onto a new path. This goes around a football pitch and leads to a large esplanade. Continue along the stadium on your left. The path gradually curves to the right. In the middle of the esplanade, leave the^GR® signposts and turn right onto a path that joins a row of houses: this is a former mining district (the Charbonnage mining village). To the right, the street continues along a path that leads to two isolated houses.

(2) Then turn left and take the rural path that runs straight ahead through the countryside, ignoring a fork to the left. At the end of the country lane, cross a culvert to reach the bank of an old canal. Here you will find the^GR® signposts again^. Take the towpath to the right until you reach a lock.

(3) Cross the bridge, turning left. Carefully cross a road junction and follow the tree-lined road straight ahead. Leave this road and the^GR® markings at the first fork to the left. This lane runs alongside a sports field. Turn right, then left towards the Crié d'Harchies. You will pass between a fishing pond and the entrance to a campsite. The small road continues through wooded countryside, crosses a stream (the Grand Courant) and eventually reaches the Harchies marshes near the administrative buildings.

(4) Then turn left: after passing a barrier, you will enter the Marais nature reserve, following the^GR® 412 signs (Sentier des Terrils). A winding path soon curves to the right and continues straight ahead until you reach a T-junction. Continue to the right and you will reach the most spectacular part of the walk, passing between two huge ponds, a paradise for water birds. There are observation points all along this stretch of the route. Beyond the two ponds, the path bends to the left. 300-400 metres further on (bench), a fork to the right leads to a remarkable observation point overlooking a third pond.

(5) Turn back to the fork (bench). Then continue to the right. You will walk peacefully through the very rural environment of wet meadows. It is hard to imagine that you are walking through a former coal mining area. You will eventually come to some small ponds on your left, then pass through a gate to leave the estate and come out onto a road. Continue to the left (leaving the^GR® markings, which veer off to the right) and immediately cross a car park.

(6) After about 50 metres, you will reach another entrance to the nature reserve. Enter again and, at the nearby Y-junction (bench), turn right. You will now be on a straight path. On your left, it runs alongside the ditch of an old canal, a remnant of the mining site. The path is lined with old mooring posts. Just after the first observation post, turn right onto a parallel road, which is also straight. You will pass a few more observation posts on your right overlooking a fourth large pond. The two parallel roads eventually meet. You will finally come to a T-junction with a bench.

(7) Continue to the right to go through a chicane and immediately leave the nature reserve. Cross the road very carefully and, just opposite, take a path that enters the copse and curves to the left. At the nearby fork, keep left, passing some ruins. The path returns to the road but soon leaves it again and enters the copse. You are now walking above an old canal, the one you followed just before, and passing other ruins. These are various remains of former mining operations. After 700-800 metres, the path widens into a track and reaches a fork to the right. Here you will find the^GR® signposting.

(8) Turn right to begin crossing an old slag heap that has been levelled and colonised by scrub and birch trees. Beyond a deforested area topped by a high-voltage power line, the winding path ends at a T-junction facing an old wall. Be careful: leave the^GR® and turn right. You will pass under an old railway bridge and continue through the scrub along the old wall, the remains of a former mining site. The path widens into a gravel track, which leads to a road. Follow it to the left. Pass an esplanade on your left and, just after it, turn right to go around a second esplanade. At the top right corner, you will find the start of a discreet path.

(9) Follow this path until it comes out onto a street, which you follow to the left. At the start of a left-hand bend, with the church in view, take a final path on your right, which winds its way between a concrete fence and a stone wall. Caution: At the Y, turn left. But at the next fork, take the right-hand path. This will take you to a road that you follow briefly to the left.

(10) Almost immediately, turn right into a small street (rue du Pont Gris). It soon curves to the right and continues along a rustic path. This leads to a path parallel to the railway line. Take it to the left to reach the end of your walk, the small car park next to the SNCB stop in Harchies (S/E).

The old canal between (2) and (3) and then between (7) and (8) is the former Pommeroeul-Antoing canal. It was built during the reign of William of Orange, around 1820, to transport coal extracted from the Borinage mines to the Scheldt and the industries of the north of the country. In the^mid-20th century, it was abandoned and replaced by a wider canal.
Between (4) and (7), the route runs through the Harchies marshes. This site of great natural interest, particularly for birdwatchers, occupies the site of a former mining operation. It was the collapse of the mine galleries that created these vast lake areas. Along the way, walkers will have the opportunity to see the remains of this mining operation: traces of slag heaps, an old canal, railway ruins, etc.
::5: The observation point offers a particularly picturesque view, much appreciated by birdwatchers and photographers: here you can see the skeletal remains of a wooded area, whose trees have fallen into decay and been gradually engulfed and drowned by the encroaching waters.