Bois de la Houssière, a remnant of the Coal Forest

A loop walk in 'Bois de la Houssière' located between Braine-le-Comte, Henripont & Virginal-Samme. A Natura 2000 protected forest and remnants of the historic Coal Forest, where we seek out the most enjoyable paths through the old sand quarries on this ridge.

The Iron Man of Houssière: 0km - 4.5km

In continuation of our previous walk in Edingen, there is nearby a Picard city in the province of Hainaut - Braine-le-Comte or in Dutch - 's-Gravenbrakel. Not only did the old railway from Geraardsbergen - via Edingen have this city as its destination, but there was also an old tram line that connected the station with the surrounding hamlets. Dismantled during World War I, rebuilt in 1922, and again broken up by the Nazi occupiers in 1942, this was a definitive blow to this tram track.

We park at the edge of Bois de la Houssière in a parking lot at the intersection of N533 with Drève Du Long Jour. After crossing this somewhat dangerous regional road - N533 and a small stretch of old tram bed, we start the first climb towards Sablière Du Vertbois or the old sand quarry of 'Groenbos'. The first sand quarry on our route, on a walk where we will cross several old quarries in this relatively large forest. This Houssière forest, named after an old farm nearby, is now a Natura 2000 protected forest of 650ha. Just like the Sonian Forest, Meerdaal Forest, and the Hallerbos, this forest is one of the few remnants of the large historic Coal Forest.

Nice connecting paths - that I remember from many MTB trips through this hilly forest - lead us to the Iron Man or in French le Bonhomme de Fer. One of 85 decommissioned points that contributed to mapping Belgium in the 19th century. Almost identical to the Iron Man of Kester, but with signs of names and distances referring to the direction of the nearby geographic points, such as the summit of the Lion of Waterloo and the Belfry of Mons.

Forest of Houssière from Henripont to Virginal-Samme: 4.5km - 9.5km

Almost 5 kilometers into our journey and after a brief stop at the Iron Man - driven away by hornets that also want to enjoy this quiet spot - we take the 'Wolves' path or Chemin Aux Loups at the edge of this large forest. Since we need to detour for the only remaining active sand quarry in le Grand Bois or Bois de la Houssière, we still enjoy some views over the sloping plane of Ronquières and rolling fields around. Just before we reach the village of Henripont, we again enter the forest via sentier de la Maison Des Gardes to Chemin Royal. A fairly straight and wider path that is ideal for picking up the pace a bit. This path and some low-traffic starts take us from the south all the way to the north of this forest.

This beautiful forest with magnificent beech and oak trees not only houses a valuable fauna and flora. Several springs emerge here that together form La Brainette in the west and flow eastward towards La Sennette. Two tributaries of the Zenne that belong to the river basin of the Scheldt.

Virginal-Samme, a piece of Walloon Brabant: 9.5km - 12km

About at the tenth kilometer, we briefly leave the province of Hainaut to make our way back towards the start of our trip via Virginal-Samme - a piece of Walloon Brabant.

This district of Ittre (Itter) was formed by merging the villages of Virginal, Samme, and the hamlets of Haute-Bruyère, Basse-Bruyère, Jacquier, and Bouton-Rouge at the end of the ancien régime.

The sand quarry of the high forest and the gang of Nijvel: 12km - 16km

After 12km we are again within the territory of the province of Hainaut and set course back towards Bois de la Housière. This beautiful forest unfortunately also has a dark chapter in its history, namely that of 'les Tueurs fous du Brabant'. Better known in Flanders as the Gang of Nijvel, a gang that got its name from the press after their attack on the Colruyt in Nijvel.

Not only a dark chapter of this forest but also for Belgian history. A series of violent robberies between 1982 and 1985, resulting in a total of 28 deaths and 40 injuries. Meanwhile, almost 40 years later, these members are still not unmasked or their motives for these bloody raids. A second rarity is that the observing gendarmerie patrol had to leave their post at the Delhaize in Aalst prematurely in 1985, where a few minutes later one of the most violent robberies took place. This also suggests that this organization had political motives and was protected from above.

On November 9, 10 & 11, 1985, this forest of Houssière came into the spotlight and was 'unwillingly' linked to this gang. Motocross riders found a burned pile of materials linked to the robbery of the Delhaize in Overijse and handwritten notes from the girlfriend of a suspect. Many witnesses testified that the Golf GTI with 2 people was seen here shortly after the robbery in Aalst. Later, that same Golf, which was also found burned, was recovered in this forest.

Near the village of Fauquez, witnesses saw people dumping bags into the Canal Brussels-Charleroi. A year later, these bags were found to be military bags containing weapons, ammunition, and evidence. After various excavations in this forest, no further evidence or human remains were eventually found.

Enough of the Gang of Nijvel ... For those who want to read more about this, you can find a mountain of info online, through films, or in books. We focus on the beauty of this forest in beginning autumn mode and a large offering of mushrooms along the way.

We explore a few more old sand quarries via the most challenging paths, including Sablière Du Haut-Bois or 'sand quarry of the high forest with its bruyère'. The ideal plant species for this sandy and nutrient-poor soil, which is why these hills have largely remained forested. This sandy ridge was formed by what geologists describe as 'the Formation of Brussels'. About tens of millions of years ago - during the Eocene - this yellow sand was deposited by shallow seas in a subtropical climate.

Yes, you read it right ... Subtropical climate, which we today can almost experience in this still sunny 18°C half of October.

Ancienne Sablière Du Marouset: 16km - 18.2 km

A final old sand quarry on our path is that of Marouset or l'Ancienne Sablière Du Marouset. A green area transformed into an arboretum which we head towards via a particularly steep path downwards. We cross this arboretum and after about a hundred meters, we return to the now fully loaded parking lot and brasserie 'La Torine'.

A beautiful and hilly forest near this Hainaut city, Braine-le-Comte. A city founded in the early Middle Ages or the city where both brothers Hazard began their youth at the football club Stade Brainois.