The name says it all: brown coal used to be mined in this area. To enable coal transport between the Oranje-Nassaumine IV Heksenberg and Oranje-Nassaumijn III Heerlerheide, a rail connection was built that you can now (partially) cycle over.
Blankevoort quarry
The cycle path over the bridge is on the former mining track to the Oranje-Nassau IV coal mine. This railway dam was constructed in 1925 and ran right through the former Blankevoort lignite quarry.
This quarry is named after the operator who was responsible for the extraction of lignite on behalf of NV Bergerode. This cultivation was permitted within the Carisborg II concession, an area of 151 ha in Heerlerheide. NV Bergerode was also responsible for lignite extraction on the Brunssummerheide and in what is now the Vijverpark in Brunssum.
At the end of the 19th century, drillings had already been carried out in Heerlerheide, which confirmed the presence of lignite. It was not until the First World War that the extraction of lignite also became affordable, due to the elimination of fuel imports from abroad.
Due to the fuel shortage in the Netherlands, the extraction of lignite was stimulated by the national government in The Hague. Local residents had no say in this. Those who did not cooperate in the acquisition of land within the concession were expropriated without mercy.
The mining started in 1917. After the end of the First World War, cheaper fuel from abroad gradually became available again. In 1921 this meant the end of the extraction of lignite in Blankevoort quarry.
From north to south
The excavation work started on the north side, where the Pronsebroek sports park is now located. Work continued south from here. All non-usable cover soils were poured on the north side as a finishing touch for the site.
Therefore, only the remaining hole on the south side is still recognizable as a quarry. Excavations were carried out to a depth of approximately 25 metres. So there is about 25 meters of reclaimed soil under the sports park!
NV Bergerode was not allowed to use the mine track to the Oranje-Nassau III in Rennemig for lignite removal. That is why the Army Engineers built a new railway line towards Hoensbroek station especially for the lignite quarry.
Here, too, the local residents and farmers had no say in this. After the closure of the quarry, the railway was discontinued and almost completely disappeared from the landscape.
Neighborhood Roebroeck (or Rodenbroek)
Before the start of lignite mining, it was centrally located in the hamlet of Roebroeck, with the castle of the family of the same name. The oldest parts of this castle probably date back to the 14th century.
It is known that the hamlet also possessed a pottery kiln from Carolingian times (8th to 10th century). The hamlet was located on the southern edge of a marshland (Pronsebroek, Roebroeck) and the castle was located south of the shooting boom on the current sports park, at the foot of the mine track.
There were a number of farms around it. Another part of the hamlet was located at the current Hei Grindelweg/Bruinkoolweg intersection, and a third cluster was located on Heerenweg. The swamp drained into the Caumerbeek via the Schroetebeek.
There is now no trace of the original buildings and the swamp. And that is not surprising: the then landowners were forced to expropriate under considerable pressure, despite generous compensation. The industry in the Northern Netherlands was in desperate need of fuel.
The disappearance of the castle and hamlet of Roebroeck is not unique within Parkstad Limburg. For example, castle farm Rennemig had to make way for the mining track of the Oranje-Nassau III and castle Carisborg (on the site of the current sports park Varenbeuk) has made room for lignite concession Carisborg I.
This text has been automatically translated using an online translation service.
