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La Molignée

— The village of Maredret rests in a shallow river valley, in the long shadows of two abbeys, the famous Maredsous and the smaller, newer…”

The village of Maredret rests in a shallow river valley, in the long shadows of two abbeys, the famous Maredsous and the smaller, newer Maredret.

Preference for the monastic life appears to have enjoyed a resurgence in Belgium during the nineteenth century, when both abbeys were established by a local family, the De Hemptinnes.

• Walking route: Abbaye de Maredsous – Denée – Ermeton-sur-Biert – Abbaye de Maredret – Abbaye de Maredsous (loop) detailed commentary
• Distance: 15km
• Original route by Gert Sonck at Originele wandelingen in België

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La Molignée

A quietly pious valley in the Province de Namur with a rich and well-documented history

Thanks to exhaustive research and collation by local resident Yves Van Cranenbroeck, there is an extraordinary corpus of knowledge about the village of Maredret and its environs.

One story caught my eye in particular, since we passed the the Taton family home in Haie les Sarts on our walk and there were obvious parallels with the memorial at Bérismenil.

Apparently, the family received several airmen during the Second World War. First there came an Englishman who survived his third crash and a broken leg to walk about 80km of occupied territory from the area around Tienen as far as Maredret, where he was sheltered by the Tatons. Barely eighteen months later, the family did the same for Americans shot down nearby.

• More information at Maredret: la mémoire de notre village

Detailed commentary

Larger map of this route

1. With the abbey of Maredsous behind, go straight and descend along a track passing by a château; cross the road and the old railway before rising through the forest. Follow this track as far as the first houses of Denée.
2. Turn left onto the Rue Tienne de Faux and go straight past the last houses. Turn left just after reaching a forest on the hill, then right when it forks.
3. Before reaching the main road, turn left into the woods, the cross over the main road and onto a small road (Rue du Gros Tilleul). At the end of the asphalt, keep to the fence. At a junction just past a chapel, go straight for a long stretch through woodland until a split at which go left downhill. At the end of the path, take the right fork for a few metres, then descend almost immediately left, heading for an old railway.
4. At a junction with another old railway on which the track and sleepers have been removed, follow it for a moment to the right as far as a bridge over a road. Go under the bridge and follow the road before reaching a small bridge over the Molignée at which turn right.
5. Go straight now, passing over four junctions. In the Bois de Boufos continue straight then, at the edge of a large field, the path finally reaches a T-junction, onto which turn left (Chemin des Diligences).
6. Go straight (this is a GR with the usual red/white stripe markers) to the Rue Germensau. Turn right onto it, then just after, first right on a path announced by a red and white gate that runs by ponds and backyards to the centre of Ermeton-sur-Biert. Turn left on the Rue d’Anhée and pass the church; turn right into the Rue des Roches, keep left on it and the road rises gently. Go straight.
7. Turn left much later at a crossroads in the countryside, then cross over a paved road (Rue de la Cour) and enter the Bois Gilles. The path goes left, crosses a very small stream at a clearing and rises with a pine wood at left. At a crossroads at the end of the pine trees, turn left and then during the descent turn right onto a grassy path.
8. The trail makes two right angle turns and descends. At houses, turn left onto the Rue Haie de la Motte and at the next corner, turn right onto the Haie des Sarts. The chapel of Notre-Dame de Grâce is at the corner. Across the road (Rue de la Bonne Fontaine) and very slightly to the left, find the path that rises up from the road to the abbey of Maredret. Turn right on the Rue des Laidmonts and soon after arrive back at the abbey of Maredsous.