A varied weekend

A day in a pleasure Park, the Efeteling, a kind of Dutch Disneyland originally a theme park and the creation of the Dutch painter and cartoonist, Anton Pieck. It has grown into something much bigger now and boasts a huge fairground as well. Being a surrogate grandmother is quite an experience. Being recognised as such and not as the inner 35 year old is a shock to the system.

The spectacular water show at closing time

Saturday was totally different with a concert in the concert hall in the old farmhouse of friends, Steeckerhil.  A violinist and a pianist, the Duo Sans Souci,  played a very varied programme of music for a spellbound audience. It is always a great pleasure to go to a concert in this farmhouse, being a special guest of the owners who provide everybody with drinks and a buffet before the concert, in the interval and after the concert.  It isn’t very near my home, so it was far after midnight before I got back. In spite of the rain and the change of weather during the concert, the drive back home was fine. The musicians explained their choice of music and between musical pieces gave some more background information about the composers as well as the compositions. The attraction about this farm-concert-hall is that the musicians are so approachable. They mix with the audience during drinks and the buffet after the concert, which is really fun. They presented us with a “light” programme, for instance the music which was played on the Titanic. They gave us some interesting facts about the musicians, the space where they played, what they played etc. the film doesn’t do justice to the facts, but films hardly ever do and documentaries are often fictional to make the film more interesting..

 A piano version of Gounods Marche funèbre d.une marionette. At the concert performed by the pianist and the violonist in a different tempo!

Sunday found me unexpectedly in Zeeland, one of the southern provinces consisting of former islands in the North Sea, now connected by long dams cutting them off from the dangers of the sea. It is a very different part of Holland. I had not been there for a number of years and was surprised about the changes. The dikes have created new dunes and very wide beaches which seem to be the domain of surfers and kite surfers. It attracts the young. Also many holiday parks have been built, with bungalows and the needed infrastructure. In fact the former quiet and somewhat isolated islands are now very busy indeed. The former fishing ports are home to hundreds of pleasure yachts and only few of the small towns have kept their original character. There are so many bungalow parks, so many beaches and sailing boats, cycle paths and small restaurants, I was amazed. Getting there is a bit of a nightmare, having to brave the oil refineries, docklands and all the other industries along the Waterway south of Rotterdam. It is where our money comes from, but not a pleasant area to drive through. Not for the eye, not for the nose.

Getting to the middle of each individual former island was a relief. Whereas the “rims” of the islands are busy and very touristy, like a crust around the poriginal islands, the small towns in the middle of the islands seem still unspoilt. Here we find farms and towns which are like little gems.

The tower of the old church of Goedereede

 The church of a later date. The space on the left behind the railings is the space between the church and the tower. It looks as if the choir has turned its back on the tower!

 Some streets in Goedereede

 Below: here the horses were shod

 I stopped at Goedereede, once also a sea harbour, but now a sleepy town. Sleepy or not, Pope Adrianus, the only ever Dutch pope, came from here! There is a small statue for him near the church where he was a priest long before the Reformation. The church is peculiar, the sturdy tower not attached to the church. The tower is what remains of the original church which was destroyed. The church which was later built on this spot is unusual in that it seems to be the choir of the original church, but it is built the wrong way round so could never have been attached to the nave and tower. The Dutch article in Wikipedia is far more informative than the English one which can be found by clicking on Goedereede (see above), the name meaning Safe Harbour.

 Reflection of the Market Square 

 The Market Square seen from the lock

 The lock

The Market Square

 View from the former harbour, since long blocked off from open water

Interesting are the back streets which have rows of big black wooden sheds which were used for storage when Goedereede became an agricultural town instead of a fishing port. That was long before the islands were connected with dams. The harbour silted up and so fishing was no longer a good option. Now those sheds house workshops and a supermarket.

 The big wooden sheds behind the houses

I pass along the dams, the new dunes, see the now inland lakes on the left and glimpses of the wide newly formed beaches on the right. Once on the next “island” I drive through Scharendijk and Brouwershaven. The latter is a slightly more important town, the huge church a witness of its former glory. Unfortunately the church is locked, as most churches in Holland. 

 The church of Brouwershaven

Jacob Cats, one of our well known 17^th century poets was born here, his parental home still intact. In the wide market square is a big statue of the poet and politician. Here narrow streets with small house as in Goedereede and many other small towns on the former islands. The harbour is big, but I do not see any fishing boats, just yachts, bobbing slightly on the rather smooth water. 

 The parental home of Jacob Cats, Brouwershaven 

The harbour at Brouwershaven

After a walk through the town I drive on to two remarkable villages. One is Noordgouwe, a “ring” village. The church is built on a round plot of land surrounded by a moat, and encircled by a ring of houses which are very picturesque. Near the path to the church is a trave for the shoeing smith, and a bandstand is partly built over the water.

 The church of Noordgouwe

 Noordgouwe

 Some of the houses round the church

The music stand over the ringed moat

It is a miniature version of the next town, Dreischor, which also has an encircled church with a place where horses were shod. The church however is wider and more ornate inside.  

 Dreischor

 A monument in the aisle of the church and its painted roof

I was there in time for the Choral Evensong, sung by a project choir. The church was packed, which was surprising for such a more or less remote town. The English conductor, who came over for the event, had not chosen the easiest music. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in E by S. S. Wesley is for double choir and split voices, and so was the anthem by Stanford. But it was a beautiful service, with for once a young minister or priest who could really sing!

This is the Stanford anthem:

Of course there are still fishing ports, but not in the small towns I visited.

Stellendam, Goedereede and Ouddorp do have a fishing fleet, but they share a harbour near Stellendam and have 50 or so “kotters”, small fishing boats. In Goedereede itself there is no longer any sign of fishing activities.

In fact Zeeland is famous for shell fish: mussels and oysters. Every single restaurant and cafe had mussels on the menu as they are at their best in autumn. No time to enjoy this delicacy though! Next time, I hope.