A little further on, at the end of the route, you’ll turn left and take a new path. You’ll enter some undergrowth containing birch trees. This is where the climbing begins! Ignore the low relief, as it’ll be short-lived. You’ll notice that the soil changes colour, alternating from red to black. Shale is still apparent. It’s a calm area. The only thing you can hear is the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of the birds.
After this slight exertion, your stomach may start to rumble. Why not take the chance to do the egg test! And yes, despite mankind’s use of the land, Mother Nature has held on to its rights. On slag heaps, coal waste gives off a lot of heat. Are you starting to catch my drift? If truth be told, in the heart of a slag heap, the temperature can exceed 2,000°C. If you dig a hole in the ground, you can put an egg there and you’ll soon see that it’ll cook naturally. It only remains for me to wish you “Bon appétit!” and a nice climb down.
The slag heaps of today bear witness to prosperous industrial activity in the region until the mid-20th century. But now just a few remnants remain. However, these black mountains have not been left behind, quite the opposite! The Grand-Hornu mining site today houses the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC's) and the museum at Crachet in Frameries is home to the science discovery centre Parc d'Aventures Scientifiques et de Société (PASS). In Wasmes, the Marcasse site has been turned into a nature reserve while other sites have taken the form of sports fields, such as the Hornu slag heap, where paragliders take off and the QBike track in Quaregnon where enthusiasts do mountain biking and BMXing.
