Nivelles to Braine-le-Comte (20km + small detour for ship escalator)

## Details

On Sunday I am organizing a hike that goes along the impressive ship-escalator in Ronquières. The Ronquières Inclined Plane is a canal inclined plane on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal. The plane was built in 1968 to reduce the delays imposed by the 14 locks (already reduced from 16 in the 19th century) that had hitherto been needed for the canal to follow the local topography. The hike starts in Nivelles and goes through countryside and a small forest to Braine-le-Comte. As usual we end with a beer in a local pub.

●●You can find the gpx track and the description here:
https://www.routeyou.com/nl-be/route/view/15615046
●●Meeting point:
I am boarding the train in Brussels-South. This is train IC 3130 to Charleroi-Central at 10h07. Let's meet at the platform or in the first carriage of the train. So, if you start from another station, you will find us in the first carriage of the train. We arrive in Nivelles at 10h32.

●● Train tickets:
Nivelles and Braine-le-Comte are on different lines. You will need two tickets.
●● Back to Brussels:
From Braine-le-Comte you have at least one train per hour back to Brussels.
●● Specifics:
Distance: ca 20km + probably a small detour to have a close-up of the decline.
Elevation gain: 200m
Net walking time: ca 5h
Weather forecast: Still a bit unclear for the moment.
In the unlikely case of too bad weather, we may cancel a hike, even few hours before the event. If this must happen, we will of course update the Meetup website and send out an email to those registered. So it is important to have access to either the [Meetup.com](http://meetup.com/) website and/or your emails.
●● What to bring:

• Comfortable hiking clothes &shoes
• rain gear (just in case)
• water + food for the breaks
• sun cream
• Compeed for blisters
• some small money for drinks

●● Basic rules:
Please RSVP only if you really intend to come. And if your plans change, update your RSVP asap, even hours before the walk. This is basic courtesy towards others. Repeated late cancellations are not well considered (at all). No-shows are even worse.
Do not show up for a hike unless you are on the “going” list.
●● Acknowledgement of member responsibility and release of liability:
You are responsible for yourself and should be fit enough if you want to take part. As the participation in the events is strictly voluntary and you freely choose to join, it is the responsibility of individuals participating to ensure that they are fit enough and have adequate coverage to protect themselves. By signing up for this event, you agree to release the organisers from any responsibility and liability. Moreover, the organisers aren't tour operators, so they don't feel obliged to answer to every text message or email!