Kerr Barging Blogs

The River Sambre rises in France and forms a very direct route from France into Belgium. It has been canalized since 1839 but alas since 2006 it has been closed because of the collapse of a spot at Vadencourt where the canal is taken by "Pont canal" over the River Oise.  Fixing this is very expensive and the funds have not been found despite the requests of the many communities along the affected section, a distance of about 150 kilometres.

Haute Sambre

We were keen to travel on this part of the Sambre for part of its length, so instead of heading straight for Namur along the "Low Sambre" we turned turned right onto a much quieter stretch of river, the "High Sambre".

We were back to the smaller more intimate Freycinet sized locks, manually operated by lock- keepers who travel with the boat. At one stage a trip boat in front turned around so two locks needed to be tended to at once. Looking after us was a young woman and her three year old son, definitely our youngest eclusier. He was delighted when we gave him a red and a yellow balloon to thank him for his trouble, as they are the colours of the "Red Devils", Belgium's World Cup soccer team about to take the field in Brazil. We had not realised that the young lad had his face painted in those very colours!

We started the trip by travelling through a steel works but after that the landscape was transformed. Instead of fairly flat country and heavy industry, we were now in the Sambre Valley with high hills each side, thick forests and impressive ancient buildings dotting the landscape. The canal was quiet with no commercial traffic, a loss for its towns and the people who own barges which used to travel along this route, but a relaxing change for visitors like us.

We stopped in the town of Thuin, a mediaeval town built on two levels, a low and a high town. Many of the 12th Century town walls, passages and gates are intact. The belfry is world heritage listed and provides a great view over the valley- so we made up for missing out in Tournai. On the southern slopes of the high town are "hanging gardens", terraces which have provided the vegetables, flowers and fruit and now include a vineyard which has its own appellation. The lower part of Thuin was a major river port and barge building centre until the 1960s and much of the history is captured in a museum, located on a barge built locally in the 1950s.

Thuin (pronounced "Twan") BelfryTurning back to reach our previous route we re- joined the industrial landscape to travel to the junction of the Sambre and Meuse Rivers at Namur, the Capital of Wallonia; we visited this city last year, arriving on the Meuse River. this year we will meet family members then plan to travel along the Meuse into the Netherlands at Maastricht.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

Thuin, the Sambre and the next village (from the Belfry)

Hanging Gardens , Thuin

Swan

There are two alternative Canals du Centre, the "Historic" Canal du Centre and the "New" Canal du Centre. The latter was completed in 2002 to fulfil the requirement for Belgium to provide an East- West waterway to allow the passage of vessels up to 1350 tons.

The peaceful, historc, Canal du Centre

The previous (now "Historic") Canal operated from 1919 and its much smaller locks could accommodate boats up to 300 tons. The Canal needed to manage a difference in levels of 96 metres between the two ends, which would have needed 30 locks. Instead the decision was made to build four boat lifts, the first completed in 1888. The lifts, bridges and the canal itself are listed as a World Heritage Site. The boat lifts were designed by the English and are quite astonishing for the times they were built. Basically, there are two tanks each holding 1,000,000litres of water. Each tank sits on a large circular piston which is 17metres high and goes into a similar tube in the ground. The two piston-tubes are linked by a pipe and valve. They are equally balanced. A boat goes into either or both tank, then the ends are sealed. An extra 30cm of water (47tonnes) is let into the top tank. This then sinks and the other tank rises. The same process can be repeated many times and only a small amount of water is released each time.

An old Ascenseur

We found it very difficult to establish whether or not the old Canal was still open. With such uncertainty, and so that we could experience the Strepy- Thieu lift described in another blog, we decided to moor at the end of the old canal and explore it on bike and foot. This turned out to have been a good decision as we found that it is in fact closed after the western boat lift, Thieu, about 3 kilometres into the Canal.

Amazing old technology

There is an excellent cycle path right along the canal and plenty of signs about it. It is a beautiful stretch, lined with trees, with a couple of villages along the way. We came across a market in one of them and bought some excellent fruit. Another interesting group of buildings is the "Cantine des Italiens" built in 1945 to accommodate up to 256 young unmarried Italian men, some of the thousands brought to Belgium as coal miners from 1946 until 1956, when a major accident in one of the coal fields killed 130 Italians and brought a stop to the scheme. Now the Cantinas has been restored as a small museum and bar/ restaurant. We enjoyed a pleasant lunch there with friends who came down from Antwerp for the day (seniors travel anywhere in Belgium for 6euros return).

 Showing one of the old "tubs" halfway up, sitting on the giant piston

Best Regards,
Penny and Dave

After our visit to Tournai we set off along the Canal towards Namur, where we are to meet family members. These canals have practical but unromantic names; first the Canal from Peronnes to Nimy then the Canal du Centre, turning into the Canal from Charleroi to Brussels. These canals were built to take large tonnage vessels- minimum 1350 tonnes. There are not many locks, but each of them rises or falls a long way, usually around 7 metres. Many of the boats that use them occupy all the space within the chamber which can leave pleasure boats like us waiting a long time for a turn or to fit in with a smaller commercial, because commercial boats have priority. We were very fortunate  at the start of our trip to just fit into the lock with the first boat in line. There was not a centimetre to spare and we had to keep our lines very tight to avoid touching our companion. Behind us by the time we left the lock were three barges which would have fully occupied the space. The last of them would not have gone through for another three hours.

New Canal du Centre

The countryside along the canals is mainly rural, dotted with large ports where the barges load- with containers, sand and gravel, scrap metal, grain and so on. Each year in Belgium 40 million tonnes a year moves on the canals and rivers. Also along the canal there are many industrial buildings taking advantage of the proximity to transport. At one stage a huge conveyor crossed the canal and then travelled alongside it for 2 kilometres. At another we passed within a working steel works which is built next to, over and around the canal!

Through the middle of the steel factory
We had the good fortune to travel (us and the boat) in a giant ascenseur which really is an engineering marvel. This "device" has two independent "bath tubs", each holding 6,000,000litres of water and the device lifts these "tubs" over 73metres from the canal at the bottom of the hill to the continuation of the same canal at the top of the hill.

 The huge Strepy boat lift. See the 6 million litre "tub" halfway down!

After a delay of 90minutes (during which we had lunch), we entered one of the large tanks. These are 125metres x 12.5metres x 4metres. The tanks are held within a 120metre high building by 144 cables per tank. These huge cables are individually monitored and adjusted to equalise the strain. Then they pass over huge pulleys and run to 1,000tonne concrete blocks which descend while the tanks rise. There are 8 blocks of concrete for each tank and we were able to watch them going down as we ascended. The noise in the device is quite loud and similar to a jet plane taking off (but not as loud). We were able to get out of the boat and admire the views as we ascended at 20cm per second.

When we came out of the tank, we passed high over a valley because they built a viaduct after the ascenseur for about a kilometre. It was very incrongruous to overtake a shepherd and his goats making their way across the viaduct. It was a neat shortcut from one hill, across the valley far below, to the hill on the other side. We said hello to him and he agred it was an agreeable photograph.

Another amazing sight was a special flood gate which is closed every night and also when there are bad floods. It is very futuristic and we were glad to find it open to us.

The goats....

and the shepherd.....

 high above the town and roads

 The futuristic Guard Lock

We entered Belgium without fanfare. In fact it was difficult to discern the border between France and Belgium along the Escaut River. To begin our Belgian visit for 2014 we were keen to visit Tournai, the first town built in Belgium. Our guide suggested that it would be impossible to find a mooring in Tournai, so we stopped at Antoing where there is a very convenient spot to stop, and caught a train (6 minutes) to Tournai.

Antoing with strange Chateau Tower
This visit was not really fully satisfying. Tournai probably needs another look. Our first task was to find the tourist bureau. In the end we found it just as heavy rain was starting and after we had wandered around the town for an hour. On the way we did find a few of the sights. First was the belfry, claimed to be the oldest in Belgium. The sign told us it cost 1 euro 20 to go to the top. However when we tried to buy a ticket we were informed that, just for today, it cost 15 euros. We declined. The extra fee was for some extra event but not the simple climb and see that we wanted- and a great deal of money out of our budget. Then the Cathedral, said to be magnificent, was covered in plastic sheeting and closed for repairs. A tornado which went through Tournai in 1999 had exposed some work that needed to be done and now, 15 years later, the money had been raised. By then we were out of sorts for the Art Gallery so decided to inspect the Tower of Henry V111 on the way back to the train- covered by scaffolding.  

Tournai town square

Tournai Belfry

The Tournai Giant(ess)

After these disappointments we thought some refreshment was in order so we stopped for a hot chocolate for Penny and a beer for David. What a hot chocolate! We have a new standard of excellence.

So maybe a visit another day will be in order if we are in the area. It was very interesting to walk along the Escaut River through the city and to see a fully laden commercial barge passing under the lifting bridge while the traffic waited each side; the old town walls and towers and the town square.One positive discovery was that there are now moorings available in the city so next time we can stay nearby and better time our visit.

The Escaut river and ancient town bridge- Tournai

Tournai Beautiful statues

The Cathedral spire

We were very keen to visit Valenciennes, the last town of note in France along the Escaut River. The tourist information looked interesting but neither our club mooring guides nor the official charts showed anywhere in the town where we could stop. However, an old, general guide to French Waterways mentioned a place to stay "in the branch of the river leading to the weir". Emboldened, we turned into the back stream, away from the lock, and found an excellent mooring spot complete with well- spaced bollards.

Valenciennes Railway Station
From this excellent spot we explored the town. The first place to catch our eye was the huge Railway Station, built in grand style, and providing a departure point for many varied destinations. Valenciennes also has an excellent modern tram system which seemed to have plenty of passengers.

Valenciennes was greatly damaged by bombing in World War 11 and as a result some of the oldest buildings were lost. some remained though: the Tourist Bureau was located in an old wooden fronted Spanish house and the beautiful Town Hall building seemed to be intact, fronted by an impressive and active town square.

The Reubens Room

The Art Gallery was the highlight of our trip to Valenciennes. Our Art Education continues! There were also some exquisite ancient works of art from Valenciennes' very early days.

Sculptures by Carpeaux

 Crocodile, early 6th Century

Valenciennes Town Hall

2nd Century statuette, the god "Lare"

A staggering number of deaths in the world wars