Up and Out

A trip up the eastern border of Belgium yielded some large coal mines in the region; although none seemed as fantastic as Hasard, they were abundant and quite large. I had only done my homework after I left Europe, and hope to return to photograph the others I have missed in the region.

When we arrived at Heusden-Zolder, I thought all was lost - a brand new parking lot wrapped around the facility, lined with newly planted saplings. Driving around the circumference revealed a decrepit power house connected to the renovated building, as well as a disused winding tower and water tower. We headed for the more accessible towers to get a better feel for the place before trying the power house, as it was a weekday and extremely busy... luckily we did! As I descended the water tower, a police car was speeding towards the campus with lights on but no siren. A jog to the car left us lawfully driving away as the cop approached the base of the headframe to slow to a crawl, undoubtedly searching for us.

The next stop was the nearby Beringen mine, which turned out to be the home of the Flemish Mining Museum. Beautiful and interesting mining relics dotted the facility - a mining cart retrofitted to be an "ambulance," antique tools, and parts of machinery. An old German fellow knew exactly what we were up to, and let us know (kindly)... we still poked around a bit but heeded his words. Hopefully I will see it again, some other day.