Beuvry
Encyclopedia
Beuvry is a commune
in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
, at the junction of the D945, D72 and N41 roads. Light industry and a little farming have replaced the coal mining of the past.
On September 19, 1784 the Robert brothers (Anne-Jean Robert and Marie-Noël Robert)
plus M. Collin-Hullin flew their hydrogen balloon, La Caroline, for 6 hours 40 minutes, covering 186 km from Paris to Beuvry. La Caroline owed its design to the work of professor Jacques Charles
and Jean Baptiste Meusnier
and achieved the world's first ever flight over 100 km. In the Ville de Beuvry a stone monument was erected to commemorate the 200th anniversary landing of the brothers in La Caroline on September 19, 1784. A celebration ball la ducasse "du Ballon" is now held at the end of every September.
The town has been awarded the Croix de guerre
twice: after World War I and again, after World War II.
A coal-mining town for about 100 years, the last pit closed in the 1960s.
The town was merged with the nearby city of Béthune
at the end of 1993. However, many of the Beuvrygeois voiced their dissatisfaction with the decision at the time, which resulted in the municipal elections of 1995, petitions in 1995 and 1996 and the creation, in October 1996, of a special commission to give an opinion on draft amendments to the territorial limits of the city of Béthune for the re-creation of a separate town of Beuvry. The municipal election in September 1997 led to a de-merger and Beuvry became an independent full-fledged town again in November 1997.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
Geography
A suburban town immediately southwest of Béthune, 23 miles (37 km) southwest of LilleLille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, at the junction of the D945, D72 and N41 roads. Light industry and a little farming have replaced the coal mining of the past.
History
The town's name comes from ‘beaver’ (in Old French, ‘bièvre’) and underwent variations on this over the centuries: Berri; Beuvri; Bevery; Bouvry and finally Beuvry.Robert brothers
Les Frères Robert were two French brothers. Anne-Jean Robert , and Nicolas-Louis Robert , The brothers were the engineers who built the world's first hydrogen balloon for professor Jacques Charles; it flew from central Paris on...
plus M. Collin-Hullin flew their hydrogen balloon, La Caroline, for 6 hours 40 minutes, covering 186 km from Paris to Beuvry. La Caroline owed its design to the work of professor Jacques Charles
Jacques Charles
Jacques Alexandre César Charles was a French inventor, scientist, mathematician, and balloonist.Charles and the Robert brothers launched the world's first hydrogen-filled balloon in August 1783, then in December 1783, Charles and his co-pilot Nicolas-Louis Robert ascended to a height of about...
and Jean Baptiste Meusnier
Jean Baptiste Meusnier
Jean Baptiste Marie Charles Meusnier de la Place was a French mathematician, engineer and Revolutionary general. He is best known for Meusnier's theorem on the curvature of surfaces, which he formulated while he was at the École Royale du Génie . He also discovered the helicoid...
and achieved the world's first ever flight over 100 km. In the Ville de Beuvry a stone monument was erected to commemorate the 200th anniversary landing of the brothers in La Caroline on September 19, 1784. A celebration ball la ducasse "du Ballon" is now held at the end of every September.
The town has been awarded the Croix de guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...
twice: after World War I and again, after World War II.
A coal-mining town for about 100 years, the last pit closed in the 1960s.
The town was merged with the nearby city of Béthune
Béthune
Béthune is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department.-Geography:Béthune is located in the former province of Artois. It is situated South-East of Calais, West of Lille, and North of Paris.-Landmarks:...
at the end of 1993. However, many of the Beuvrygeois voiced their dissatisfaction with the decision at the time, which resulted in the municipal elections of 1995, petitions in 1995 and 1996 and the creation, in October 1996, of a special commission to give an opinion on draft amendments to the territorial limits of the city of Béthune for the re-creation of a separate town of Beuvry. The municipal election in September 1997 led to a de-merger and Beuvry became an independent full-fledged town again in November 1997.
Population
Places of interest
- The church of St.Martin, dating from the sixteenth century.
- An old windmillWindmillA windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
- The Prévôté building (once belonging to an abbey)..
- The sixteenth-century ManorManorialismManorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of l'Estracelles. - An eighteenth-century chateau.
- The Commonwealth War Graves CommissionCommonwealth War Graves CommissionThe Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
cemetery.