Lewarde and Lille

The mining museum of Lewarde is set on the site of the former Delloye pit and is the largest mining museum in France. We travelled by bus to the site which is not far out of Lille and what a fantastic place to visit. The Nord, Pas de Calais area of France was dotted with small coal mines until the middle of last century and many of the kids at Bavay schools had great grandfathers who died with the lung disease caused by the inhalation of the silicone in the air down in the mines. The site has many original bits of machinery on display but has also very realistically re-created the miners washroom,  changing room, lamp room and 10 coal faces showing the developments and progress in machinery etc over three centuries.

 

 

At the start of the tour ( for which I received earphones with an English commentary which was great!) we were in an area that the miners gathered in before descending into the bowels of the earth. We stepped into a lift as the guide talked and I thought she was just explaining what it was like for them when the doors shut and the lift moved!! There were 22 french kids and three teachers in it! There was a window at the back of it and you could see level after level passing and even though the lift feeling inside my head had stopped long before the doors eventually opened, I can't begin to describe my feeling of panic at the thought of descending 400metres into the earth! When we stepped out the air was cold and damp and we were in a 300 year old mine.  All I wanted to do was scream "let me go back up, please!" It took some seconds to calm myself and then one of the teachers must have noticed the horror on my face, and assured me we were only down two floors of the building. Phew! What an amazing and realistic re-creation!

 

 

 

It truly brought home the horrors of working so far below the surface and the thought of 10 year old children hauling the heavy carriages of coal, along with women, was incredible. Ponies were used as well to cart 8 ton of coal in carriages and these poor creatures had stables underground for when their shift finished and many spent  in the vicinity of 10 years below ground without ever seeing daylight!  The models of the men working the mine, and the ponies dragging the carts was so realistic.

 

 

There was a different section for each century, showing improvements right up until the 1950s when this mine closed.  The area has lots of small hills which are slag heaps from the old mines. When they all closed it caused hardship for many families with men out of work. The same happened with iron and steel plants up here and from what I've gathered, there are still many families suffering today. The government provides a minimal benefit which of course only covers the basics, so apparently that's why some of these ancient houses look pretty rundown - they cannot afford to do any maintenance on them. They must be so cold in winter without the double glazing that many others have installed.

 

 

After this very interesting visit, we carried on into Lille so the kids could have a couple of hours wandering around the shops. It was still pouring with rain when we left Bavay, but by this time the sun was shining. I must say it again now - what a beautiful city Lille is! It looked even better in the sunshine. After the kids were all given rondez-vous instructions, the teachers headed to a restaurant just off the main square for lunch. Normally I would never waste shopping time when visiting a city by sitting down in a restaurant for lunch! I didn't want to appear rude though so joined them all for a lovely meal. Food  and eating is such an integral part of the french way of life, that it is always deemed important. Danielle is aghast at the thought of skipping a meal, whatever the reason, and meals are never rushed but savoured and lunch and dinner always accompanied by a glass or two of wine (if I'm not at school), because this enhances the food flavours and is just a tradition. 

So, the afternoon wandering around the centre of Lille was so enjoyable and I am just in awe of the shops here! There is so much to look at, both in merchandise and buildings. It is certainly a place to recommend to people visiting this area of France.

 

 

 

Walking around the big city is just too much for some!  That's a dog in the shopping trolley!

 

A very well-known restaurant in Lille - Aux Moules. Mussels (les moules) are a

speciality of the North, with mussels and chips being served everywhere.