The old coal mines of Belgium

Bois-du-Luc, La Louvière, Belgium

As I descend into Bois-du-Luc, one of the old coal mines of Belgium, I take one last glance at the rows of old lamps above me.

The stairs are leading me down into a darker depth… not darkness, just darker, and probably completely safe.

Yet, still, I wonder how I have ended up here. This is not chocolate, beer, or European parliaments – all of the things you normally associate with Belgium. Bois-du-Luc is a dirty old mine!

Coal mines of Belgium

But if you know much about industry in Belgium (I didn’t), you’ll know that the production of ‘stuff’ is one of the powerhouses of the country’s economy.

Belgium was one of the first European countries to really embrace the industrial revolution in the 19th century and it created an infrastructure that helped it dominate.

This was helped by a natural location with easy access to seas and rivers, and compounded by the construction of high speed transport to other parts of Europe.

These transport links were (and still are) critical because Belgium doesn’t actually have that many natural resources which it can use for production.

It built its economy around being able to bring in raw materials, process them, and then export them out again.

So we’re talking industries like steel, copper, chemicals, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and much more.

The one natural resource that Belgium had in significant amounts was coal – and the country made the most of it for centuries.

This is how I’ve ended up at Bois-du-Luc, near the town of La Louvière in the Wallonia region. It’s here that four of Belgium’s old coal mines have been listed as a World Heritage Site called ‘Major Mining Sites of Wallonia’.

Major Mining Sites of Wallonia

It was in Wallonia that Belgium’s coal mining industry thrived for several hundred years until the 1970s or so, at which point it had become economically unviable to continue it.

But, even though the boom may have been over, people were sensible enough to recognise the heritage of the period and have preserved much of the infrastructure.

Although there were once lots of different mine sites here, four of them have been added to the World Heritage List. You can see them on a map here.

Although you don’t need to visit every site to get a good sense of the heritage of coal mining in Belgium, each of them is different and shows a different side of the industry.

Grand-Hornu

I think the architecture at Grand-Hornu is the most impressive of the four coal mines. Built in the early 19th century, it is an excellent example of neoclassical industrial heritage.

You can visit the above ground buildings at Grand-Hornu to see inside the heritage buildings. There’s not too much here from the original mining days, though. They normally hold art exhibitions in the spaces.

Bois du Cazier

If you are interested in the history of the region, Bois du Cazier is an interesting site to visit. The original buildings here are used to house museums that tell the story of Wallonia’s mining heritage.

As well as the structures from the mining operations, there is the town that the workers and the families lived in.

There are often interesting exhibitions held here too.

Blegny

At Blegny mine you will get the best underground experience, as you take the cage down about 60 metres into the tunnels to see the extraction process and learn more about the working conditions.

The tour then continues with the wash and sorting installations, from the arrival until transport and sale of the coal.

And then there’s the mine that I visited: Bois-du-Luc near La Louvière.

Visiting Bois-du-Luc mine, Belgium

I’ve come to La Louvière because it’s the closest town to the old Bois-du-Luc mine. The mining site closed down in 1973 and has been a museum since 1983.

What’s so great about this site is the way that it’s been protected. There are new exhibits inside some of the old buildings but not much has been changed structurally, other than for safety reasons.

It means that it’s easy to walk through and see everything – but it still feels authentic enough.

It can’t have been too pleasant inside here for the workers – but I seem to think that to myself every time I go into an old mine, like Rammelsberg in Germany or Wieliczka in Poland.

It’s dark, cold, dirty and dangerous. The men would work long hours (especially in the earlier years of its existence) and probably live short lives.

But this is where Belgium’s Bois-du-Luc is particularly interesting because it actually gives the impression that the company cared more for its workers.

Right next to the entrance to the mine, the owners constructed a village for the workers in 1838. It is laid out like a small community with houses for families, places for social functions, shops, churches and all the things you might need.

The mining village is all still here today – and people (not related to the mine) live in it. The village reminds me a little of the old company town of Crespi d’Adda that I visited a few years ago in Italy, near Milan.

A mining village in Wallonia

Attention has been paid to the architecture and the urban planning at the mining town of Bois-du-Luc, to create a sense of belonging and calm.

I tend to think it’s aimed more at family members than the workers while themselves – while the men are busy and dirty underground, their wives and children can feel clean and happy up above.

It creates an element of social and domestic cohesiveness that ultimately benefits the company.

And, let’s not kid ourselves, this is all about benefitting the company.

Yes, it organises festivals and music classes and other cultural activities for the workers and their families. But it also creates a culture of dependence where housing, welfare, and community only continue to exist as long as someone is working in the mine.

To leave your job was to lose everything!

I find it really interesting to see both sides of Bois-du-Luc and, by association, both sides of the history of mining in Belgium and Wallonia.

There’s the dangerous and dirty side underground, with its stories of industrial unrest, explosions, and manual labour. This is what kept the economy moving for hundreds of years and helped in the advancement of the country as an economic power.

And then there’s the beautiful friendly side, on ground, visible to passers-by. This is what the company and the country wanted you to see.

It’s probably not too different to life today, really. Belgium may be making its money by producing steel, chemicals, and drugs. But it wants you to see the waffles and architecture.

Making money isn’t always pretty.