In the early 1900s the Trappists fled the Mont des Cats (named after an ancient local tribe) and escaped to Watou. There they took up residence at the ‘Patershof’ farm (also known as ‘Courtewyle’), just a stone’s throw from the current brewery. They re-named their new home the ‘Réfuge de Notre Dame de St Bernard’ – and it was to prove a refuge in practice as well as in name. But why did these monks come to Belgium at all? In France they had to pay tax on their revenues and that was not (yet) the case in Belgium. Safe in their new home the monks took up cheese-making.