Netherlands 3

 15-19 Sept

Across the great divide

The next stage of the trip to Hindeloopen had a dramatic start as we drove over the 20 mile Afsluitdijk joining the provinces of North Holland to Friesland. Construction started in 1927 and the two ends met in 1932 and there is a monument at that point to mark the spot. Unfortunately the stopping place there was closed. 

About two thirds across there is a visitor centre which goes into great detail by audio guide about the construction of the dyke and its impact, some of which we had already learned at Enkhuizen. The dyke is now being reinforced, both in height and width and being clad with special blocks to withstand the funnelled waters from the North Sea. There was a viewpoint from the top of the visitor centre but we didn't think you got the true feeling of being in the middle of the surrounding waters because of the higher level of the dyke on the Waddensee side.

On the first evening in Hindeloopen we had a pleasant stroll into the town, which is located on the banks of the Ijsselmeer.

Hindeloopen

The next day we had a pleasant cycle ride by the water to the nearby town of Stavoren, a bustling harbour, where we watched some superb manoeuvring of a 50 foot plus wooden boat. There was also an unusual water fountain in the form of a giant fish.

From Hindeloopen we travelled to a site near Hooghalen, south of Assen. On the way we visited the Woudagemaal pumping station, the largest steam pumping station in the world, which is a world heritage site. It was originally powered by coal but now uses blue diesel. Nowadays it is only used when water levels are extremely high and other pumping stations (such as one at Stavoren which we missed) cannot cope. Its pumping capacity is 67 cubic metres per second, that's the content of an Olympic swimming pool every three seconds! 

Our guide, Richard, was excellent in terms of detail and his English, as he led us around the machinery inside the station and the surrounding area outside. It was all fascinating stuff; a few more facts are shown on one of the attached photos and the website is www.woudagemaal.nl.

The Hooghalen site was particularly spacious and peaceful and we had some friendly Dutch neighbours. In preparation for another day of historical education at Camp Westerbork we then gave our brains a day off with a pleasant cycle ride through the Drentsche Aa national park and found the excellent cafe / restaurant "Gerrie" at Grolloo.

As expected Camp Westerbork was a sombre experience. It was originally built to house Jewish refugees after Kristallnacht. However, once the Germans occupied the Netherlands it became an internment and transportation camp. The memorial depicts a railway line with 93 sleepers, one for every transportation between 1942 and 1944 and the damaged, curved tracks at the end represent the Jews with outstretched arms. 

Lest we forget

Further on 102,000 red blocks representing all those who were transported and died are set into grey and black blocks forming a huge map of the Netherlands. The different sized red blocks show the range of ages. There were also two indoor exhibitions, the first more factual, the second exploring how the camp has been remembered in the intervening years and how it should be remembered in the future.