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

Peat digging and floods developed the river Schermer into an inland lake with an open connection with the sea. Private investors started draining the lake between 1633 and 1635. For this huge job 52 windmills were used. The bottom of the Schermer lies more than 4 metres below sea level and windmills had to convey the water in several steps from one canal to the next. The mills on the reclaimed land of the Schermer (in Dutch: ‘droogmakerij’ or ‘polder’) worked so well that people switched to electrical pumping stations for controlling water levels not before 1928. There are still 11 windmills left in the Schermer, 5 of them nearby the village of Schermerhorn. One of them - the central mill in the PiP - nowadays houses Museummolen Schermerhorn . Visitors can see how a poldermill worked and how people used to live in it.

Graft - then still called Greft - is first mentioned around the year 1100. At that time it was located much more to the west, possibly along the Vuile Graft , a small lake in the neighbourhood. Later the village was built on its present location. Originally the inhabitants lived from arable and livestock farming. Later the women worked mostly on small farms and the men on herring boats. On the town hall of Graft both means of livelihood can still be found: on the street side the coat of arms of Graft with the cow and on the south side a herring boat. In the 17th century Graft was a prosperous village. This is easily visible from the old town hall, built in 1613: a real eye catcher with three stepped gables built in Dutch Renaissance style. It was not only used as a meeting room for the village council, but also served to give the village more prestige. Although the name of the master builder is not known, because of its style it is thought it must have been a pupil of the famous Dutch architect Hendrick de Keyser. At the end of the 19th century the building was in poor condition; around 1900 the top facade on the street side had disappeared. In 1909/1910 it was extensively restored, followed by a major facelift in 1982/1983. It now serves as an exhibition space (annex to the museum In 't Houten Huis in De Rijp), wedding location and meeting room.

Along the Molenkade on the banks of the Hoornsevaart are four of the six surviving windmills of Oudorp, once a separate village and municipality, now surrounded by modern housing and annexed to the city of Alkmaar in 1972. Originally there were six windmills on the dike - built from 1627 to 1630 - to drain the adjoining polder. One burnt down in 1688 and one was dismantled, to be rebuilt at the Netherlands Open-Air Museum in Arnhem. While it was there in storage, during World War II, it was destroyed by a British bomb. The four mills are simply called Strijkmolen B, C, D en E . Mill “C” burned down twice - 1998 and 2004 - but is rebuilt again. A strijkmolen is a water mill with a very low elevation, which "smooths" the water from one storage basin to another. The mill itself does not have the function of a polder mill, although its construction is similar. In fact, it is a storage pumping station.The term strijkmolen was only used in the province of North Holland.

If visiting the village of De Rijp (or nearby Graft ) it is almost impossible to imagine that herring, whale and merchant ships from these villages could sail directly to the sea. These nautical activities brought unprecedented prosperity to the villages. The magnificent city hall and the homes of wealthy ship owners bear witness to the style and glory of the past steeped in a long tradition of whale and herring fishing. After draining of the surrounding lakes the herring industry disappeared and it was done with the wealth of the villages. Nowadays De Rijp is a not so well known village, which attracts not that many tourists with still centuries of history. First of all its unique town hall, which is dating back to the year of 1630. The old part of the village offers also picturesque farms, typical green half-wooden houses along small canals and narrow streets.

Graft - then still called Greft - is first mentioned around the year 1100. At that time it was located much more to the west, possibly along the Vuile Graft , a small lake in the neighbourhood. Later the village was built on its present location. Originally the inhabitants lived from arable and livestock farming. Later the women worked mostly on small farms and the men on herring boats. On the town hall of Graft both means of livelihood can still be found: on the street side the coat of arms of Graft with the cow and on the south side a herring boat. In the 17th century Graft was a prosperous village. This is easily visible from the old town hall, built in 1613: a real eye catcher with three stepped gables built in Dutch Renaissance style. It was not only used as a meeting room for the village council, but also served to give the village more prestige. Although the name of the master builder is not known, because of its style it is thought it must have been a pupil of the famous Dutch architect Hendrick de Keyser. At the end of the 19th century the building was in poor condition; around 1900 the top facade on the street side had disappeared. In 1909/1910 it was extensively restored, followed by a major facelift in 1982/1983. It now serves as an exhibition space (annex to the museum In 't Houten Huis in De Rijp), wedding location and meeting room.

Museummolen Schermerhorn - officially named ‘Ondermolen D’ - is a windmill dating back to 1634 and was used to drain the water from the Schermerpolder. This mill is the only windmill from the Dutch Golden Century, which can be visited from bottom to the top (inside). Stroll through the rooms were the miller and his family lived and worked in the 19th and early 20th century, see the open fire/kitchen and the box-beds where up to ten people had to sleep. It is not very spacious, but at least they had a glorious view over the flat polder. When there is enough wind one can see through a glass bottom how the screw pump conveys water to a higher level. For more pics/info about the Schermer windmills: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/41705132

Peat digging and floods developed the river Schermer into an inland lake with an open connection with the sea. Private investors started draining the lake between 1633 and 1635. For this huge job 52 windmills were used. The bottom of the Schermer lies more than 4 metres below sea level and windmills had to convey the water in several steps from one canal to the next. In 1850 the paddle wheel of the mill was replaced by a screw pump, which is even today still working. The mills on the reclaimed land of the Schermer (in Dutch: ‘droogmakerij’ or ‘polder’) worked so well that people switched to electrical pumping stations for controlling water levels not before 1928. There are still 11 windmills left in the Schermer, 3 of them nearby the village of Schermerhorn along the ‘Noordervaart’ Noordervaart’ are part of a triple mill drainage system . One of them - Ondermolen D - is a museum, where one can see how a poldermill worked and how people used to live in it. PiP 1: Ondermolen D (see for pics/info of this Museum Mill: www.ipernity.com/doc/294067/41705152) and in the background Ondermolen C. PiP 2: Bovenmolen E, seen from the Museum Mill.