1. The History
The Coal mine du Gouffre (No. 10) was the main and last colliery company of Charbonnages du Gouffre. It is located at Châtelet Belgium, Walloon Region in the province of Hainaut. The Coal mine was opened by Société des Charbonnages du Gouffre in 1916 and operated until its closure in 1969. In its heyday it could extract 145,000 tons of coal every year. In the 1960s, the capacity of the coal mine was reduced and by 1963 it could only extract 83,000 tons per year. It finally closed on March 31st, 1969.
Charbonnage_n°10_du_Gouffre by HughieDW, on Flickr
After its closure, several persons turn-by-turn became the owner of the site. A zoo opened from 1979 to 1982 and was directed by Mr Heuchon. There was also a wrecking yard that left a serious pollution on the site. The current concrete buildings have the same architecture (brickstone and reinforced concrete) and date back to 1934.
2. The Explore
This was only one of the two many explores in Charleroi I had slated on my recent trip to Belgium that I managed to do. This one was an easy on. On the outskirts – it was a park up and walk in on a very sunny April morning. The place was more photographically pleasing than the explore itself. Very photogenic but effectively a hulking concrete shell with little to no interior detail left. Still worth the effort though.
3. The Photos
Here she comes into sight:
img6594 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6595 by HughieDW, on Flickr
There’s a lorra concrete here…
img6599 by HughieDW, on Flickr
But there’s a certain architectural style to it all:
img6600 by HughieDW, on Flick
img6601 by HughieDW, on Flickr
And the odd bit of decent graff:
img6602 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6610 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6604 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Some shots suit a bit of old-school b+W:
img6606bw by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6608bw by HughieDW, on Flickr
Some look better in black and white:
img6607 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6609 by HughieDW, on Flickr
Internally it’s a shell:
img6612 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6614 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6616 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6617 by HughieDW, on Flickr
But still worth the effort:
img6618 by HughieDW, on Flickr
img6619 by HughieDW, on Flickr
The Coal mine du Gouffre (No. 10) was the main and last colliery company of Charbonnages du Gouffre. It is located at Châtelet Belgium, Walloon Region in the province of Hainaut. The Coal mine was opened by Société des Charbonnages du Gouffre in 1916 and operated until its closure in 1969. In its heyday it could extract 145,000 tons of coal every year. In the 1960s, the capacity of the coal mine was reduced and by 1963 it could only extract 83,000 tons per year. It finally closed on March 31st, 1969.
After its closure, several persons turn-by-turn became the owner of the site. A zoo opened from 1979 to 1982 and was directed by Mr Heuchon. There was also a wrecking yard that left a serious pollution on the site. The current concrete buildings have the same architecture (brickstone and reinforced concrete) and date back to 1934.
2. The Explore
This was only one of the two many explores in Charleroi I had slated on my recent trip to Belgium that I managed to do. This one was an easy on. On the outskirts – it was a park up and walk in on a very sunny April morning. The place was more photographically pleasing than the explore itself. Very photogenic but effectively a hulking concrete shell with little to no interior detail left. Still worth the effort though.
3. The Photos
Here she comes into sight:
There’s a lorra concrete here…
But there’s a certain architectural style to it all:
And the odd bit of decent graff:
Some shots suit a bit of old-school b+W:
Some look better in black and white:
Internally it’s a shell:
But still worth the effort:
