Nederland: natuur en landschap

The gardens of the Muiderslot (Muiden Castle) are located next to the castle and are often 'forgotten' by visitors. I can recommend to take a look in the gardens; a lovely place to enjoy and relax. The gardens of Muiderslot were first designed and created in the 17th century: to enjoy, to show off and to eat out. In that era it was always practical and necessary to have vegetables, herbs and fruit nearby. A berceau (beech alley) divides the garden into two sections. Windows have been made into the hedges, allowing a look into the garden rooms. The ‘green tunnel’ allowed the lord of the castle and his guests to stroll in the shade. The garden layout with its sober lines, shaped hedges, trees and rare plants served to impress many a guest. The vegetable garden ( Warmoeshof ) still offers (forgotten) vegetables. It was the best way to ensure a steady food supply since Muiderslot was far away from the markets. In the herb garden ( Kruidhof ) kitchen, medicinal, and ornamental herbs are grown. The medicinal herbs supplied the castle pharmacy.

The Motketel is originally a wet area, where the groundwater level is close to the surface. The name probably refers to a low area with humus frequented by wild boar. A mot or motte is a female pig and a boar's daytime resting place and nest is called ketel . Between 1600 and 1800, the high groundwater level was used to dig water wells here. The water from the more than 20 wells was discharged via man made brooks and streams to the village of Vaassen. Running water meant business and therefore income. With watermills, the water was used for washing, grinding, hammering and cutting. In the 18th century, 17 watermills were operated, using the water from the Motketel springs. The watermills have almost all disappeared, but the Cannenburchermolen , near the castle of the same name, is still there. The watercourses of the Motketel form the most intact and complex system, which is still visible in the landscape and is one of the most unique in the Netherlands. The system is opened up by a network of footpaths.

Unlike the name suggests, the Kootwijkerveen is not located near Kootijk, but somewhere hidden in the woods between the hamlets of Nieuw Milligen and Assel. It is a nature reserve that is unusual for the Netherlands: a peat lake surrounded on all sides by wooded shifting sand hills. The Kootwijkerveen has a long history that goes back to the Ice Age. It was originally a marshland area on the western slope of the Veluwe . Because of an impermeable layer, the water remains there and creates ideal conditions for the formation of moor peat. Peat was extracted here up until the Second World War. Later, pasture land was created. In the 1970s, the Dutch government organisation for forestry and the management of nature reserves ( Staatsbosbeheer ), began restoration work. The result is a beautiful lake at 40 metres above sea level: a wet oasis in the middle of dry sandy soil; created by ice ages, peat cutters and nature managers. The Kootwijkerveen can be visited along a signposted walking route, which starts at a car park near Nieuw Milligen.

Wooden breakwater at the beach of Nieuwvliet-Bad, nearby beach pavilion De Boekanier. This kind of breakwaters is quite common along the coast of Zealand and Zeelandic Flanders. They are constructed to absorb the energy of the waves, intended to prevent the erosion of sand along the coast. Usually they stand perpendicular to the dunes. In Zealand they are already used for hundreds of years.

Oisterwijk is well known for its Bossen en Vennen , located south of the village. It is an area of 410 hectares with forests and dozens of fens. These fens were created during the last ice age by heavy southwestern winds, blowing sand away. The created bowls were later filled with rainwater. Because of loamy or primal (iron) layers, the water remained in the bowls, creating fens in a bare landscape. The forests around the pools have been planted since the nineteenth century. Most of the nature reserve is managed by Natuurmonumenten , a Dutch organisation founded in 1905 that buys, protects and manages nature reserves in the Netherlands. I took this pictures on a grey day at the Groot Aderven , one of the many fens.

During our second visit to the Oisterwijk forests and fens ( Oisterwijkse bossen en vennen ) - again on a grey, gloomy day - we made a walk along the so-called Kolkvenroute (about 3.5 km's). This nature reserve is one of the Netherlands’ most unique nature reserves with 80 fens in a stunning green expanse. Unlike many other fens, the formation of Kolkven is not created by the action of wind, but by melting water of a former river. Kolkven (main image) is a lot deeper than the others, which makes it suitable for fishing. The fen is rented by a local angling club. On our route we passed three smaller fens, including the Brandven (PiP’s). This fen (“Fire Fen”) got its name because in the past its water was used as firewater. Nowadays most of the nature reserve is owned and managed by Natuurmonumenten , a Dutch society for protecting nature reserves. (for more pictures of the area see: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/46395468/in/album/537905 )

De Onlanden is a 2.500 ha nature and water storage area, which is enclosed between the sand of Drenthe and the clay of Groningen. It is a low moor area, where water from several brooks used to be stored before flowing to the sea. In earlier times it was one large peat area. Nobody could pass through it and it was unsuitable for agriculture. It was not until the Middle Ages that the first attempts to dewater the area were made. Slowly they succeeded in lowering the water level and systematically the area could be put into use; first only in the summer and from the 19th century onwards throughout the year, although sometimes the moorland was completely flooded. During the last century, the area has been fully used as pastureland. In 2004 plans were made to give the area back to nature. Nowadays it has changed into an immense wet world with grasslands, swamps, marsh forests and creeks. Brooks flow again through De Onlanden and a swamp is developing develop with naturally changing water levels. De Onlanden itself are difficult to visit, but we did find one path - Onlandsedijk - through the swamp with a lot of reed, but also with several species of flowers.

Search and find the benches !! Elfbergen is with 175 hectares the largest forest in Gaasterland. It is one of the forests that Esq Van Swinderen has laid out in the 19th century. The forest has coniferous and broad-leaved types of wood of all ages. In 1925 it came into possession of the municipality of Gaasterland, who sold it in 1976 to Staatsbosbeheer (a Dutch government organisation for forestry and the management of nature reserves). During the crisis years of the 20th century, a labour camp for young unemployed people called Werkkamp Elfbergen was established on this site. The large pond in Elfbergen with a wooden bridge was one of the works these young people carried out between 1935 and 1937. It took a total of 9,000 man-days to excavate the pond. The pond is 110 meters long and 45 meters wide, with a narrowing in the middle over which a bridge has been built.

The Oudemirdumerklif is a nature reserve in Gaasterland , a hilly region in the southwest of the Dutch province of Friesland . Gaasterland derives its name from the word gaast , which refers to the sandy heights formed here during the last two ice ages The Oudemirdumerklif - one of the three cliffs in this region - is a remnant of a glacier tongue from the “Saale ice age”, between 200.000 and about 120.000 years ago. During this ice age, moraines of boulder clay, a tough loamy mass with scattered larger stones and gravel, were formed. The cliffs in Gaasterland were created because erosion took place where the waves of the former Zuiderzee reached these boulder mounds. Wave erosion swept away boulder clay at the bottom of the cliff. Because of the constant crumbling under the influence of the sea, the slopes remained bare before the Zuiderzee was closed off in 1932. After the Zuiderzee became IJsselmeer , the water level remained constant. The steep sides became more slanted due to crumbling and erosion by water. Due to the saturation of the water, the cliff - with a height of about 6 meters - and the beach became overgrown with trees, bushes and plants. Because of the salt which remained in the soil, salt-loving plants continue to grow there to this day. Because of its scientific value, the Oudemirdumerklif was one of the first acquisitions of Natuurmonumenten (a Dutch society for nature conservation) in the 1920s. You can reach the Oudemirdumerklif via the Minne Minnespad .There you walk between so-called garden walls: walls of stacked grass sod meant to keep the cattle in the meadow. These walls are unique in the world, as there are only two other locations in the Netherlands.

The Overasseltse en Hatertse Vennen is a special nature reserve of 520 ha with sloping river dunes, more than 20 fens, heathland and pine forests. The rivers Maas and Waal - which are now relatively far away from this area - are the creators of this landscape. After the last Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago, the Netherlands was a polar desert. Sand from the bed of the river Maas was blown here creating high dunes. The river Waal had previously deposited a layer of clay that was compressed into an impenetrable layer. As a result, rainwater was stored in the form of fens. From the 19th century, pine trees were planted here for the Limburg mining industry. The fen area had its own water management, independent of the regional groundwater. This changed around 1900; both municipalities and private individuals dug ditches and trenches to drain the water. Because the fens were in danger of drying out, part of the woodland was converted to heathland in 2013. This preserves the unique flora and fauna that are dependent on these fens. At the edge of the Overasselt en Hatertse Vennen are the ruins of the medieval St. Walrick's Chapel and a so called “clootie tree”, also known as a “rag tree”. The popular story goes that if you hang a piece of cloth from a sick person in this oak tree, the tree will make the illness disappear (PiP5).

Landgoed De Braak (De Braak Estate) already existed around 1700. Lieutenant E.F. ter Voet van Schelfhorst was then the owner, who was married to Miss Von Braake. Probably the estate was named after her; another possibility is that the name was derived from "broek" = low marshy land. The original country house De Braeke stood between two ponds. The house became uninhabited and was demolished in 1896. Parts of the mansion were used in 1916 for the renovation of the current house of the caretaker of the area (PiP4). De Braak now consists of a monumental park forest with ponds, imposing - often centuries-old – trees, rhododendron bushes and meadows. The well-known garden architect Roodbaard designed the park in 1825. The park also offers a berceau and a maze of hornbeams. The estate is known for its flowering spring plants, such as snowdrops, wood anemones and daffodils. Since 1920 De Braak has been owned by Natuurmonumenten , a society for preservation of nature monuments in the Netherlands. The estate is freely accessible.

Friese Veen (also called Friescheveen ) is a nature reserve - adjacent to Huis Vennebroek - which actually consists of two parts. The Friese Veen itself is a small lake that is difficult to access. It was created in the middle of the 18th century by dredging peat, which was used as fuel. This dredging was done by Friese workers - inhabitants of the Dutch province of Friesland. That gave the area its name. The lake surrounded by swamp forest is separated by a low sandy dike from the polder Camphuis . This polder has not been drained since 1994, allowing nature to take its course. The original meadow has slowly but surely changed into a rough swamp, in which many species of birds can be found. The polder owes its name to P.A. Camphuis, who bought the entire area to build a villa in 1906. (I couldn't take a proper picture from the Friese Veen itself, because its banks were inaccessible and a viewpoint was closed due to the corona crisis. Therefore only a few pictures of the polder.)

About 15.000 years ago the Netherlands and the UK were connected by a land mass. The arctic ice stretched out into Germany and Scotland. When temperatures started to rise, the ice receded and the meltwater caused the rise of the sea levels. The residents of the low-lying regions started to move to higher locations. About 1.000 years ago people started to build dikes to protect their land against the sea. Nowadays nearly half of the Netherlands lies below sea level and is protected by 14.000 kilometers of dikes. One of the most impressive dikes in the Netherlands is the Hondsbossche en Pettemer Zeewering . The name of this sea wall appears in records for the first time around 1350. The first dike was made entirely of sand. In 1873 the Hondsbossche en Pettemer Zeewering became the dike as it stands today with heavy basalt blocks on the sea-facing side. On 1 February 1953 the Netherlands was hit by a devastating flooding. Large parts of the western provinces of the country were flooded and more than 1.800 people drowned during these floods. The Dutch government decided the so called ‘Deltaplan’, to create coastal reinforcements. Due to this plan the Hondsbossche en Pettemer Zeewering was raised till a height of 11,5 meters above NAP (Amsterdam Ordnance Datum). The climate is changing and sea levels are still rising. That means that several weak spots in the Dutch coastline had/have to be reinforced again. Hondsbossche en Pettemer Zeewering was one of these weak links. The authorities decided to use a new method for the reinforcement: Zand tegen Zee (Sand versus Sea). The dike itself was not raised, but instead March 2014 started the project to create a beach and dune area in front of the dike, stretching over eight kilometers between Petten and Camperduin and 250 meters wide. Approximately 35 million cubic meters of sand was used for this new piece of land of about 400 soccer fields. This approach resulted in a new recreation area with a new beach, cycling and walking paths, but also a new area for birds with a dune lake (PiP 3). The main picture and PiP 2 were taken from a newly created panorama dune (PiP 1) with a height of 26 meters near Petten.

The village of Petten has been existing since 1300 and was originally called Petten bi der Sipe . During a storm in 1625 no less than a hundred houses were destroyed. The village disappeared completely into the sea in 1792. From the 18th century onwards, Petten was gradually relocated. Petten's past and the struggle against the sea is emphasized by the Palendorp (Pole Village). This monument and work of art was placed in 2016. The 160 poles - six and twelve meters high - form the silhouette of a former church and ten houses. It was a gift of the contractors who carried out the project Kust op Kracht .

In the Middle Ages were dunes on the spot of the Hondsbossche and Pettemer Zeewering . Large storms such as the All Saints' Flood in 1570 swept away these dunes and the North Sea was only stopped by dikes. The impressive sea dike, protecting the villages of Petten and Camperduin, was designated in 2002 as one of the eight weak points of the Dutch coast. It was decided not to further raise the existing dike, but to opt for a solution with 'sand': Kust op Kracht (Coast on Strength). March 2014 the project started to create a beach and dune area on the seaside of the dike, stretching over eight kilometers between Petten and Camperduin and 300 meters wide. Approximately 35 million cubic meters of sand was used for this new piece of land of about 400 soccer fields. The newly created dune area was given the name Hondsbossche Duinen . This approach resulted in a new recreation area and artificial dune landscape with a wide beach, cycling and walking paths, but also a new area for birds with a wet dune valley lake. Near Petten is a panorama dune (26 meters high) - www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/48526386 - where one has a beautiful view over this new part of the Netherlands.

Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen (Sealcentre Pieterburen) is a seal hospital. In the shelter are only animals who for whatever reason are sick, injured or are in trouble. The goal is to rehabilitate these animals and release them in their natural habitat. The Seal Centre -founded in 1971 - is one of the world's leading centers when it comes to the care and rehabilitation of seals. Zeehondencentrum Pieterburen started as a simple crèche evolved into a professional scientific research-based seal hospital, with accompanying facilities such as quarantines, a laboratory, a chemist and all the research equipment imaginable. All seals are released into the wild after their rehabilitation period.

Kasteel Rosendael (Rosendael Castle) is a medieval castle built in a valley at the edge of the hills of the Posbank . The castle was surrounded by water, making it difficult for the enemy to enter and the residents immediately had sufficient fresh drinking water. Often it looked as if the residents of Rosendael used more money for the garden than for the castle itself. Around 1670 the noble family Van Arnhem had built waterfalls, caves, ponds and fountains. Trends changed and when the Torck family lived on Rosendael, the 'old-fashioned' garden was modernized by architect Daniel Marot. Several parts from that period (around 1730) are still preserved: the unusual shell gallery, a teahouse, a grotto, a chain bridge and the marble waterfall. One of the most well known parts of the garden are the so called Bedriegertjes . These ‘tricksters’ are mini fountains, hidden in a cascade’s mosaic floor which turn on and off unexpectedly and spray the surprised visitors with water. It was a popular destination for school trips well into the 20th century.

Echtens Paradijs (Paradise of Echten) is a 1,200-hectare nature reserve in the Ruinen forestry area. Originally virgin and inaccessible, the area was planted with coniferous forests in the 1930s; nowadays, these are increasingly being replaced by broad-leaved forests. Another part of the area consists of heathland, shifting sands and fens.