Red Mole
Well-known member
Another port of call on our tour of Belgium last month was the long disused and abandoned coal mine of Hasard Cheratte.
Whilst looking for a way in to the main mine site we stumbled upon another abandoned building nearby so had a quick explore there while the rain eased. Not that the roof kept much of it out! This turned out to be Cheratte Castel which was the residence of the mine's director and also held the medical rooms.
The main site is huge and the scale of the place, especially the towers and the mock gothic architecture, is quite intimidating. As the photos show the whole place has been seriously graffitied but there was still plenty to see including the sealed shafts themselves, several washrooms, the lamp room (where the miners lamps were charged), the wages room and discarded clothing.
A brief bit of history:
The building of the collieries began in 1860. Closed in 1977, the coal mine in Cheratte belonging to 'Les Charbonnages du Hasard' still retained 600 miners, but during the production peaks this number was over 1500. It was the first coal exploitation electrically powered in Belgium.
Thirty seven years later, the whole site is still here, oozing heritage and dominating the small town with houses all around it. The imposing concrete winding tower sits over shaft 3, which was the deepest of 4 shafts at thefacility (480 meters).
First some pictures of the Castel (which seems to be largely ignored in most other reports)
[/url]HC14-010 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC16-012 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC07-005 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC02-002 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC04-003 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC11-008 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC06-004 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC08-006 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
And then some of the main attraction
[/url]HC20 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC19 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC17 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC24 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC25 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC33 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC41 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC59 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC57 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC31 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC23 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC40 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC45 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC42 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
[/url]HC43 by ChrisLansdell, on Flickr[/IMG]
Whilst looking for a way in to the main mine site we stumbled upon another abandoned building nearby so had a quick explore there while the rain eased. Not that the roof kept much of it out! This turned out to be Cheratte Castel which was the residence of the mine's director and also held the medical rooms.
The main site is huge and the scale of the place, especially the towers and the mock gothic architecture, is quite intimidating. As the photos show the whole place has been seriously graffitied but there was still plenty to see including the sealed shafts themselves, several washrooms, the lamp room (where the miners lamps were charged), the wages room and discarded clothing.
A brief bit of history:
The building of the collieries began in 1860. Closed in 1977, the coal mine in Cheratte belonging to 'Les Charbonnages du Hasard' still retained 600 miners, but during the production peaks this number was over 1500. It was the first coal exploitation electrically powered in Belgium.
Thirty seven years later, the whole site is still here, oozing heritage and dominating the small town with houses all around it. The imposing concrete winding tower sits over shaft 3, which was the deepest of 4 shafts at thefacility (480 meters).
First some pictures of the Castel (which seems to be largely ignored in most other reports)
And then some of the main attraction
