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2019 Discovery Trip This year, it was
the French who were in charge of organizing the Discovery Trip in October and
we chose the city of Douai and the Mining Country. As in recent
years, the trip took place over two days, on October 5th and 6th. The
French group was less important than last years, 27 people, as for our British
friends they were 23. Leaving Dourdan on Saturday 5th, at 9 o'clock, we arrived
in Douai, at the Ibis Hotel, well located in the town centre, about 14 h
30. The English, already arrived, had taken possession of their rooms, some
even had left for a walk around. After having
settled in our rooms, we all walked to the belfry, where we were waited by two
charming very competent guides, one taking charge of the English, the other the
French.
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The river Scarpe in Douai |
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The belfry of
Douai stands in the heart of the building of the town hall with which it forms
a relatively homogeneous architectural ensemble. The main frontage immerses
the visitor in another era, the Middle Ages, which was also the peak of the Gothic
period. We can still see the niches that housed the statues of the Counts
of Flanders, unfortunately destroyed during the Revolution. The spire of
the belfry is impressive with its 54 golden suns and the large lion of Flanders
(nearly two meters!), enthroned at the top of the building, the coat of arms of
the city between its legs.
The visit of the
monument allowed us to discover, on the first floor, the guards room with its
monumental fireplace (1390). At the second level, the bellmen room houses
the mechanism of an automatic clock used until 1859. The bell
chamber, on the third floor, houses the carillon of 62 bells and the cabin of the
master carillonneur. By a spiral staircase we reach the platform from
which we can admire the whole of the Flemish city, after a climb of 196 steps!
The carillon features 62 bells spanning five octaves. It has a
mechanism that allows it to ring every quarter of an hour, but also has
a keyboard that allows concerts every Saturday. A little anecdote, Victor
Hugo passing through Douai in 1837 exclaimed: "There is the most beautiful
belfry I have ever seen".
The visit ended
after all people were obliged to go down the steps that it had been so
difficult to climb. Finally, it was so interesting that no one thought of
muscle pains! Then we returned to the hotel for a little rest, before walking to the restaurant
" Le Vintage" which served us an excellent dinner.
The next morning,
after a restfull sleep and a good breakfast, we left by coach to the
Historic Mining Centre of Lewarde, a few miles away from Douai. Created at
the initiative of the Northern Coal Mines National Administration, this centre has
been opened to the public since 1984, in order to witness three centuries of mining activity in the North of France. It is located in the old Delloye Pit that had been active from 1931 to 1971.
At the entrance of
the pit, two pleasant speakers were waiting for us to dive into the bowels of
the mine!
After putting on the
mandatory charlotte and helmet , we took the staff bridge to go to the carts unloading mill
and the sorting workshop where women and "galibots" (young children) were assigned to sort the
coal from stones an other waste. No protection on the hands, only a scarf on the head ! The
atmosphere must have been difficult to breathe. We then gathered into
a lift to go down to the bottom of the mine. It is the famous
"cage", in which the miners went down to the bottom and that raised the coal loads on the way back. The rate of descent of the cages is 12 meters per second
when it contains staff and 18 meters per second for equipment and ore
(breathtaking).
Arrived at the
bottom, we entered the gallery where our guides explained the evolution of
techniques and working conditions at the coal vein digging. No protection on the head
and the body, sneakers on the feet (that until 1950), in spite of the dangers and the diseases that the minors had to support until the 50s. During the visit,
accessories, tools and archive videos enabled visitors to realise how hard was the
work of the miners ... and even the horses descended by harnesses (in six hours!)
to then pull the carts filled with coal. No visitor can be insensitive to
such a visit, informative, rewarding but also upsetting. Surprise! At the
exit, as we were thinking we had descended very deep, we found ourselves at the ground level,
facing the showrooms. As a matter of fact, we were into an
exact reconstitution of a gallery showing the evolution of extraction, from the
first pits to the most modern, before the pits are closed and prohibited to the
public for safety reasons.
Free time was then
left for the free visit of the rooms of the museum, which begins with the
explanation of the formation of coal, '' The Carboniferous", providing a trip in the geological time ... then followed by exhibition of documents, pictures and numerous explanations, on the
daily life in the mining town, the miner and his family, his interior, the
tavern, the manager's office whose bronzes adorn the corridors, the
infirmary, the stable, all allowing the visitor to understand the evolution of the
techniques and the living conditions from 1720 to
1990. An entire room is
dedicated to immigration. So as to reinstate and boost the production of coal after
the First World War that had left the mining basin in ruins and so many miners
fell to the front, the French Government organized a mass immigration. The conditions
of reception, the conditions of integration and the traditions of the
different nationalities are described with great
accuracy.
After the visit,
the time has come to proceed to the restaurant '' Le Briquet '', for a
very generous lunch, typical of the North of France: Maroilles tart, carbonade (beef casserole), fries
and vegetables, then cheese (obviously Maroilles) and finally dessert. At
the end of the meal, Wendy BARRON, President of Twinning Association on
the English side thanked the whole team of our
Association for the excellent organization of this weekend. For our
part, Gérard PATURAUD, our President expressed the wish that the next visit of
our friends to Dourdan in May 2020 be as warm as usual, despite the possible
difficulties that the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU may cause
.
Around 3 pm, we
said goodbye to our English friends. A little spare time allowed
us to see some of the rooms of the museum for those who had not seen
everything, or to wander around the shop.
After a safe
return trip, we wer back in Dourdan around 9 pm.
See more photos on our photos
gallery
More photos can be seen on
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOuhgSxMXlBwpcZU5k7MRIiRYh66igTS0nWKug
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Douai Town Hall and Belfry
Dinner at "Le Vintage" restaurant
Coal carts raised from the mine bottom
Working place at the begining of XXth Century
The museum machines exhibition room
Lunch at "Le Briquet" restaurant
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