I took these photographs of the former Julia mine in Eygelshoven in 1987 and 1988. The mine, in the municipality of Kerkrade, closed on 20 December 1974 as the second-to-last coal mine in South Limburg.
Julia belonged to the Belgian mining company Société des Charbonnages Réunis Laura et Vereeniging S.A. The mine was named after Julie Mottin, the wife of mine owner Albert Thys. She died in 1915.
A place from my childhood
My father started here at fourteen at the Ondergrondse Vakschool, the OVS, a mining training school. Afterwards, he worked here as a miner. The site also played a large part in my own childhood. I was there almost every Wednesday afternoon and Saturday, although of course I was not allowed to be. My interest in old buildings and industry undoubtedly began here.
The high-pressure power station, which opened in 1965, continued operating after the mine closed, until 1987. Much of its fuel came from the spoil heaps of Laura in Eygelshoven and Hendrik in Brunssum, which were excavated for that purpose. Julia had a better coal washery, allowing enough coal to be recovered from the dumped material.
Recording it one last time
Before the power station was to disappear, I took my father’s camera and tripod along to photograph it. Urbex was not yet a word I knew. I simply wanted to preserve what I had seen standing there for years.
There was little understanding for those photographs at the time. People thought you took a photograph of something beautiful. Why, then, record an old power station?
On 3 December 1988, the last major remains disappeared. First the chimney was blown up, then the dismantled structure of the power station. Two explosions brought an end to a familiar sight from my childhood.
The images have now also become a photographic record of their time. The control room with its timber finish and the opened-up structure of the power station come from different moments in the same ending. These are not recent digital photographs given an old appearance. They were really taken in the years when this familiar place from my childhood disappeared.
Beste Marco,
In de eerste plaats wil ik je complimenteren met de prachtige foto’s die je gemaakt hebt van de laatste dagen van de Julia. Graag stel ik me kort even voor. Mijn naam is Bart Gielen, ik ben afgestudeerd historicus en woonachtig te Amsterdam. Ik ben echter geboren en getogen in Zuid-Limburg, waarbij mijn beide opa’s werkzaam waren in de kolenmijnen; de een als houwer op ONII, en de ander als opzichter op de Julia (tot aan de sluiting in 1974). In 1985, toen de Julia Centrale nog volop functioneerde, bracht ik als kleine jongen samen met mijn opa een bezoek aan het voormalige mijnterrein. Je kunt je wel voorstellen wat voor enorme indruk dat heeft achtergelaten. Het markeerde mijn liefde voor Limburgse mijnen en industrieel erfgoed. Ik vond het dan ook verschrikkelijk toen de centrale in 1987 werd gesloopt. Heb jij toevallig ook andere foto’s gemaakt ontmanteling ‘Julia’? Ik ben er in ieder geval zeer benieuwd deze te bekijken. Veel dank voor reactie. Gegroet, Bart
Beste Bart, mocht je foto’s nodig hebben van de ontmanteling van de mijn Julia kun je via onze website contact met mij opnemen.
groet, Pascal ( foto archief, stichting “Eygelshoven door de eeuwen heen”)
PS, Marco, ik geloof dat we raakvlakken hebben 😉 sjun foto’s