Collie week on the coast of the Netherlands  -   Part 4

Today we drove to Westkapelle. We had a nice walk on the beach before we went into the village:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View from the motorhome:

After a walk through the village we stopped for a bite to eat:

 

 

Later we went to the outskirts of the village to the sea front:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

with a detour to the beach:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Westkapelle is the westernmost village in the Netherlands. Below this panhandle an inlet named Western Scheldt reaches far into the mainland. This also is the main harbor access for Antwerp one of the most important European harbors. It is also possible to reach other harbors like Rotterdam via the channels. For this reason one can frequently see many big ships pass by closely.

 

 

 

The westernmost panhandle:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a beautiful view from the levee with the sea to the left and Westkapelle to the right:

Almost all houses were built in the post-war era. Only the the old houses at the market square are remnants from the past. Alas the old Westkapelle was completely flooded and largely destroyed when the British bombed the protecting levee to restrict the activities of the German occupation forces. Many local inhabitants lost their lives. About a month later, on November 1st, 1945 the allied forces used exactly this breach in the levee as one of the disembarkation zones during the “Battle of the Scheldt”.

It took almost another year until the breach in the levee could be sealed again. Many landing crafts were filled with stones to achieve this. Only the brackish water lake (see previous photo) is a small remnant.

A tower made of bricks can be seen in the background. It is used as a lighthouse today and the only remaining part of the once wonderful but meanwhile destroyed Gothic Willibrordus church.

On the way back we drove through lovely vast natural reserves that provide habitats not only for many protected species of birds, but also for half wild herds of cattle and horses. Then we briefly stopped once again at a bay on the Veerse Meer:

Here the water temperature can almost be compared to bathtub temperatures during the summer. So it is easy to enter the water with the dogs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We jointly had a delicious dinner in the evening and brought the day to a pleasant close.

 

 

Continued at:   Holiday 2016/03: Netherland - Part 5

 

 

 

Holidays

 

 

Leisure Fun

 

 

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