under the ceiling
DENÉE
Belgian black marble mine Text and photos KURT STORMS
Today it is time to take my wife Caroline and former student
In the past, a lot of black marble was mined in Belgium, especially on the Namur side. The mining industry was an important pillar in the past. The black marble was spread worldwide.
Nico into this beautiful underwater world. Both have recently become members of the VVS but have never dived here before. And at their request, we went for a one-day trip today. I agreed with Nico that he will pick up a key so that we could go in. The key would be in a locker at the VVS office. I used to be the key manager, but due to changes in the regulations this was no
O
We arrived at 10 o'clock, and as usual Nico is right on time
ne of these mining sites was the black marble mine
and eager to get to the car park. We drive into the narrow cor-
Denée. Denée is a Belgian village which has been part
ridor so that we can park close by. Before I give the briefing on
of the municipality of Anhée in the province of Namur
what we might encounter, I laughingly show them the descent
since 1977. The abbey of Maredsous is nearby. The Carriere is a well-known mine among Belgian/Dutch
cave divers. Once I also took my first steps in cave diving here.
40
longer possible.
we must take to access the mine. I can already hear sighing voices, do we have to go down here, and up again later? That is going to be a struggle.
This mine is an hour's drive from my house, so I regularly
After the briefing, we load everything with speleo bags
spend some time there with my buddy Willem Verrycken.
to make the transport easier. Access to the mine is via a steep
However, the mine is closed off with a fence. To get access
descent, for which we use a rope to keep us stable, it is sporty,
you have to be a member of the VVS or UBS, I am a member
especially later when we have to go back up. There is a lot of
of the VVS (Flemish Association of Speleologists) through my
rubbish down there, even though two years ago they removed
speleoclub Sience Explorers.
two containers of rubbish, but you can still see the remains like
