Compagnie des mines de Béthune
Facilities
Facilities
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[thumb\|Sainte\-Barbe Maternity Clinic](/wiki/File:Bully-les-Mines_-_Clinique-maternit%C3%A9_Sainte-Barbe_de_la_Compagnie_des_mines_de_B%C3%A9thune_%2807%29.JPG "Bully-les-Mines - Clinique-maternité Sainte-Barbe de la Compagnie des mines de Béthune (07).JPG")
Factories were created at Mazingarbe in 1895 to process the coal.
Some were used to screen and wash the raw coal.
By 1945 the facility could wash 400 tons of raw coal per hour.
The coking plant had four batteries of ovens to process washed coal, and produced 100,000 tons per year from 1899 to 1906, 200,000 tons in 1912 and 392,700 tons in 1913\.
Additional workshop manufactured products such as [ammonia](/wiki/Ammonia "Ammonia"), [sodium nitrate](/wiki/Sodium_nitrate "Sodium nitrate"), [methanol](/wiki/Methanol "Methanol"), [formaldehyde](/wiki/Formaldehyde "Formaldehyde") and [ether](/wiki/Ether "Ether").

All the concession services required large amounts of electricity.
A thermal power station was built at Bully in 1905, and a second at Mazingarbe in 1931\.
Surplus power was delivered to the Société électrique du Nord Ouest.
A railway system with  of track connected all the facilities, crossed from north to south by a main line that connected the northern network to Bully\-Grenay and Violaines.
By 1945 there were 1,300 cars and 27 locomotives.
At Violaines the company had a basin to load barges, connected to the [Canal d'Aire](/wiki/Canal_d%27Aire "Canal d'Aire") at [la Bassée](/wiki/La_Bass%C3%A9e "La Bassée").

At first, Bully had just 400 inhabitants.
By 1875 there were 2,161 employees and 867 houses.
By 1945 there were 12,640 employees and 7,790 dwellings. 
The towns had schools, churches, sports fields and stadiums.
There were many social projects to help people in difficulty, and the company had a medical and hygiene organization with a dispensary, clinic, infant centers and medical staff.
The Étoile Sportive de Bully was founded in 1920 by the Company with a sports complex considered the most modern in France. 
There were five football pitches, one with stands for several hundred spectators, dressing rooms with showers, individual lockers for players. 
Members could also practice gymnastics, boxing and athletics.

Mining towns were built near the mine in a distinctive architectural style.
Cité n°5 (Town 5\) was built on a rectangular grid pattern between 1900 and 1925 to the south of [spoil tip](/wiki/Spoil_tip "Spoil tip") 58a for the workers in No. 5 mine.
Houses built before 1914 are semi\-detached, with a simple architectural style, central dormer windows and very discreet brick patterns on the façade.
The houses built after the war have more complex roof lines and porches.
The 1925 Eglise Saint\-Louis was built following plans by the architect [Gustave Umbdenstock](/wiki/Gustave_Umbdenstock "Gustave Umbdenstock").
It is a red brick [Romanesque](/wiki/Romanesque_architecture "Romanesque architecture") church with [Art Deco](/wiki/Art_Deco "Art Deco") elements.
There is a school with two long red brick buildings, one for girls and one for boys.
The Cité des quarante to the west was built for workers in Mine 6 between 1913 and 1927, with a mix of straight and curved streets.
It consists entirely of pairs of semi\-detached houses surrounded by gardens.
The broken roof lines and porches are typical of the company.


How many inhabitants were in Bully initially, and what changed by 1875 and 1945?