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Beloeil

— The famous château that gave this commune its name is still owned by the House of Ligne.”

Beloeil is a commune in the Hainaut region to the west of Belgium. The famous château of the same name is still owned by the House of Ligne, the origins of whose peerage can be traced back to the year 823. The Lignes’ princely title was bestowed in 1563. The present, 14th Prince of Ligne is the nephew of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

• Walking route: Stambruges – Les Ecacheries – Sirault – Mer de Sable – Stambruges (loop) detailed commentary
• Distance: 17km
• Route based on original source by Gert Sonck at Originele wandelingen in België with significant modifications

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Beloeil

There's been a château at Beloeil for eight centuries and the large estate that surrounds it looks very attractive in autumn.

Detailed commentary

Larger map of this route

This commentary describes the planned route, from which the actual route deviated at times.

1. From the church, go downhill on the Rue du Calvaire and turn first left onto the Rue Paul-Emile Janson. Just before house number 8, go right. At the small field, follow the pedestrian path along the left side. At a junction of pathways with a black gate, take the left path between stone walls. You reach a crossroads of the Rues du Rieu Bouillant and de Beloeil. Cross diagonally left and take the narrow path between houses. At a junction of pathways, turn left between fences. Turn right on the Rue à Blanc Pain. After the last houses you continue into the open field.
2. Follow the track to a very sharp left turn at the treeline. Take the first right lane, heading in the direction of the forest, then along the forest edge as the lane becomes a narrower pathway. Eventually you approach two old guard towers of the Château Beloeil.
3. Turn right at the towers and go arrow-straight in the direction of the Château. Pass two paths right and take the third right leading to a junction. Here, take the second right.
4. Pass two straight paths on the right. At the third, turn left onto a road with a pebble surface running by a section consisting of young plantations. At the end of this section there’s a more open area and you turn right onto a grass track that follows the edge of an area with young trees. [Note: we were unable to find a clear path here so we deviated from the planned route, rejoining it at #5] At the far end of this section, follow the path straight into the forest. After about a hundred meters you turn sharply left onto a pretty narrow path. After some time, the path forms a t-junction with a wide forest road, so turn right here and continue straight at the crossroads into more woodland until eventually you emerge at the road.
5. Cross the Rue des Viviers au Bois with caution and go straight onto the Rue Robert Dremière. Keep going until the canal then follow the towpath to the left. Cross the bridge (Rue du Docteur Roland) and continue to the church of the hamlet of Les Ecacheries. At the church turn right into the Rue du Bosquet. Continue until you reach the forest.
6. At the entrance of the forest, go diagonal left on the middle of three broad forest tracks. Stay on this track for approximately 1.3 kilometres and follow the famous source of the Fontaine Bouillante. On a T-junction at the end of the road turn right on the forest road. After the ranger’s house, you come to a crossroads: turn right here then straight for 350 metres and turn left onto a marked path. After another 350 metres, you’ll come to a picnic spot in the woods with an area map and cross over the road, going straight on into another forest. Keep going straight at the junction of paths and climb through the spruces. Half a mile further on, you come to a water tower.
7. Left at the road (Rue du Happart). Cross the road and turn right onto a track at house number 43. At the last house – number 31 – continue straight on a path towards a marshy area and follow a grassy path along the right side of it. At the end of this clearing, go straight into the woods but after just a few metres turn right onto a less used path into the forest. [Note: it appeared to us that access to this path is now forbidden, which forced us to deviate from the planned route, rejoining it at #9]
8. Just 150 metres on this path and at the highest point, turn left into a less-frequented track. The road runs between spruce on the left and mixed woodland on the right. Keep descending until you reach a gate to a wide forest road ahead. Turn left here and almost immediately right again into another forest. At a fork keep right. When you reach a broad forest road, go right and follow it along the edge of the Sea of Sand.
9. Heading anti-clockwise on the path around the Sea of Sand, After two hundred metres, when approaching trees on the left, take the first path on the right. Go straight on over the track on a path uphill. This path takes you to a crossroads. Here, go straight down into the gorge. Down in the gorge, take the path left that runs beside the rock wall. This quickly joins a maze of trails through which there is no fixed route (the area is designated for open roaming). As long as you keep going in a general, southwesterly direction by always taking left forks rather than right, you will arrive back at the Sea of Sand.
10. This part of the Sea of Sand contains no vegetation, so continue on the path around the former shoreline until you see an area map like the one described earlier. Turn right here and go through the gate to the forest road. Turn right onto it and pass the reception pavilions of the Sea of Sand.
11. Continue on the track that passes the pavilion, through the forest. After a half mile down this road at a curve going right, head diagonally left on a track. This path starts at point number 3 of the health trail. Pass posts 4 and 5 of the fitness trail going straight and a little further, you go straight at a junction. Turn right onto the asphalt at a factory and cross over the bridge and turn right onto a towpath alongside the canal.
12. After two hundred meters, at the end of a section of spruces behind a fence, leave the towpath and turn left along a pathway. Alongside the pumping station then left onto the Rue du Géologue M Robert. Opposite number 26, turn right onto a path running beside a wall. Follow the path to the right and into a cul-de-sac. At number 27 you go right into a narrow path between concrete walls. Take the left fork to the Rue du Calvaire onto which you turn right and follow it as far as the church.