Jaap van 't Veen's photos with the keyword: gemeente Schagen

Molen L-Q is a reed-covered octagonal polder mill probably built around 1597. The mill drained the 298-hectare so-called section “L-Q” of the Zijpe and Haze Polder. The “L-Q section” was created in 1960 by merging the L and Q sections; Molen L-Q used to be called 'The L'. In 1962, a diesel engine was installed, which took the windmill out of service. The gradually decaying Molen L-Q was restored in the years 1972-1974 and has been operating more or less regularly ever since. The mill is located on the western side of the Noordhollandsch Kanaal, near the hamlet of Burgervlotbrug and is of great scenic significance in the open meadow area.

Flour mill De Hoop was built in 1782, when it was used as a saw mill - named De Haan - in the city of Leiden. In 1865 the mill was moved to the village ‘t Zand in North Holland, where it served as a flour mill until the 1920s. In 1940, the mill was increasingly dismantled; only the octagonal thatched body was preserved in reasonable condition. At the beginning of this century, the idea arose to restore the mill to its former glory. This was no longer possible in its old location and so the mill was moved about 400 meters to its current location in 2011. From May 2013 the mill can be visited again and every now and then wheat is grounded. In and around De Hoop is a small museum (limited opening hours) about its history. The grounds are also used for a campground for campers

The small church of the village of Eenigenburg was built in 1792. Together with the churchyard it lies on a terp (a man-made mound), which probably dates from the 14th century. The mound is a remnant of a larger one that was partly dug away. The church has a larger predecessor, which was demolished because of its age. Remnants of previous church buildings have been found in the mound. In the wooden tower of the simple hall church hangs a bell from the 16th century. Since 1973 Kerkje Eenigenburg has been a national monument.

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.

The so called Kop van Noord-Holland is the northern part of the province of North Holland: an authentic area, surrounded by three coasts: North Sea, Wadden Sea and IJsselmeer. The Kop van Noord-Holland is also the largest tulip area in the Netherlands. Colourful flowers and bulb fields as far as the eyes can see. From mid-March to mid-May the region turns into one big sea of flowers. It starts with the crocus season, then daffodils and hyacinths appear and finally the tulips show their different colours from mid-April until the beginning of May. In addition to the vast bulb fields the Kop van Noord-Holland features a couple of very interesting sights: Hortus Bulborum in Limmen with hundreds of different species of blooming bulbs and the Poldertuin in Anna Paulowna, a public park with 220.000 bulbs. Thanks to the long springs with cool nights this part of the country is extremely suitable for tulip growing. The sandy soil in the polders is constantly drained. This creates ideal conditions for the bulbs.

The current Zijpe and Hazepolder was until the 12th a bog area, protected by the row of dunes from the North Sea. The reclamation of the peat for the benefit of farming led to the land being lowered and due to the rising of the sea level the area was endangered. From around the year of 1600 the new polder was drained by twenty mills. Each mill took care of its own part (also called afdeling = section). The area was subdivided for this purpose and the 20 parts were assigned the letters of the alphabet (A to U, the letter J was not used). On a map dating from that year there is no mill in the northern part of section G of the Zijpe polder . Probably this higher part of the section was not drained until around the middle of the 17th century. In 1664 there was at least a windmill. The current Noorder G polder mill is probably still the first original mill. Until August 1958, this section was only drained using wind power. In that year the windmill was decommissioned and the paddle wheel removed. It was then replaced by a mortar with a diesel engine. In 1969 the dilapidated windmill became the property of a foundation: Stichting De Zijper Molens . An external restoration was carried out between 1969 and 1972. After the motor mortar had been removed, the inside of the mill was reconstructed during the restoration at the end of 2003. In 2004 the mill was once again able to drain its section of the polder. Since then it is regularly put into operation.

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 Zwanenwater (Swans Water) is a beautiful nature reserve of more than 600 ha nestled in the dunes, just south of the village of Callantsoog. The reserve was created in 1597 after the construction of the Zijperzeedijk ; dunes, valleys and lakes have been created by drifting sand. Since 1973 the area is managed by Natuurmonumenten , a society for preservation of nature monuments in the Netherlands. Swan water' has beautiful freshwater lakes - among them the two largest natural dune lakes in Western Europe, marshes, heathland, woods, dunes, flowers and plants. There are more than 120 endangered plant and animal species living in this area. It is an important stopping place for migratory birds and ore than 100 species of birds breed in this nature reserve. Besides birds, there are many other animals in this area such as: sand lizards, butterflies, foxes, rabbits, hedgehogs, mice, toads, cattle, frogs and water salamanders. In all this natural beauty several species of orchids grow. They are often well hidden among the hundreds of other flowering plants.

Making a bike trip in North Holland, I came across the ‘Stolpbrug’ just outside the village of Sint Maartensbrug. At first glance it didn’t look like a bridge and is located somewhere ‘in the middle of nowhere’ over the ‘Grote Sloot’. The structure is quite unique and can only be used by pedestrians and cyclists. After some research I found that the ‘Stolpbrug’ is an artwork designed by Joke Zaal. The ‘bridge’ is a monument to mark the 400 years of existence of the ‘Zijpepolder’. The skeleton of the ‘Stolpbrug’ has the shape of a ‘stolpboerderij’ (haubarg), which is typical for this part of the province. Former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands opened this ‘artwork bridge’ in May 1997. The ‘bridge’ is made of African azobé wood and has a height of thirteen metres. Except a bridge it is also a platform for cultural events and has a lookout with great views over the flat polders.