Black Gold: the Mining Route

How coal built — and rebuilt — the east of Limburg: a real mine, the miners' museum, a steam railway and pistes on a spoil heap.

For a century the Oostelijke Mijnstreek ran on coal, and its afterlife is the region's most surprising story. Go underground with ex-miners at the Valkenburg coal mine, see the lamps and strike photos at the Mijnmuseum in Heerlen, then ride the miners' steam railway through the hills. The finale makes the point better than any museum: SnowWorld's ski slopes drop down the Wilhelmina spoil heap, and Brunssummerheide's purple heath rolls over old mining land.