Along the city canal

Arriving in the centre of Zwolle by a nice path along the 'Stadsgracht' (City Canal). And turning right..

..onto a bridge called 'Nieuwe Havenbrug'. Note that it is still decorated with colourful flowers on the lamp posts, even though we're pretty far in October!

Tampere love locks

 Love locks on a bridge crossing the Tammerkoski in Tampere.

A lock with handcuffs... a bicycle lock... (?)

Canal bridge

View on the Beekstraat, that runs on both sides of this narrow canal in Elburg. The streets were deserted on the Sunday morning hour we were there; most likely the Elburg inhabitants were attending a church service as they are known to be very devout. And I guess 10 am is a bit early for most day visitors - just some early birds like us ;)

What's in a name

In 2005 "Doodstil" was honoured to have the most beautiful village name in the Netherlands. It can be translated literally as 'dead-still' or 'mouse-still. Doodstil is a hamlet with about 100 inhabitants in the Groninger region Hogeland.

The name however relates most likely to a (man's) first name Doode or Doede, and 'til' is an old Dutch name for the 'bridge'. So 'Doodstil' means in fact 'Bridge of Doode', and it's a modest one too as you can see on the photo.

Diepe Dolte

This water in Workum is named Diepe Dolte. The boat was probably on its way to the nearby IJssel Lake. It was a perfect day voor sailing!

I am linking to Weekend Reflections.

Deurzerdiep

View on the water of the Deurzerdiep, located in the landscape Drentsche Aa.

The Yellow Bridge

This Yellow Bridge called "Gele Klap" is a vertical-lift bridge in Stadskanaal. The name Klap refers to the Dutch word 'klapbrug' or 'drawbridge', after the old wooden drawbridge that was here before 1867.

I'm linking to Weekend Reflections.

The Hell of Jipsinghuizen

Less than a century ago -in 1924- the province of Groningen started an unemployment relief programme to provide jobs for the many people who needed work in those days. It wasn't on a voluntary basis though; in and around a hamlet called Jipsinghuizen men were forced to dig the barren land, and for very little money. The conditions were so bad and dramatic that it became known as 'the hell of Jipsinghuizen'.

This sculpture, also called 'The Hell of Jipsinghuizen', stands across the former tram station where the workers arrived. It expresses the desperation of the past and the hope for a new tomorrow. It was made by Dutch sculptor Eddy Roos (1949).

Ruiten Aa

It seems a long time ago since we had a sunny day like today -never mind the cold eastern wind ;)
So, we put on our hiking boots and went for a hike in the rural Westerwolde region. The road we are on here is the Zevenmeersveenweg, and the stream we are crossing is called Ruiten Aa.

On the bridge

Crossing the IJssel river on the 'stadsbrug' (city bridge) on foot from the centre of Kampen to the train station on the other side.

Meppel canals

I visited Meppel today, a small city in the south-west of the Province of Drenthe. Meppel developed in the 16th century as a transport and distribution inland harbour. Nowadays there is only one main canal left. I took this photo on my way from the train station to the centre, at the point where the canal is divided in two.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Gloomy day

Happy to see the sun today after a few gloomy days with drizzling rain every now and then. I went for a walk yesterday and took this photo, with a houseboat on the left and a drawbridge just behind it.

River view

View on the river IJssel from the quay in Deventer, with the railway bridge in the background.

Canal view

View onto a canal named 'De Kolk' in Sneek, seen from the monumental Waterpoort, or Water Gate.

And while we were standing there the bridge opened to let several boats pass. I will post some photos of the Waterpoort tomorrow.

Bridges

View from a bridge to a bridge to a bridge...   ;)  Photo taken a few weeks ago while out on my bicycle near the village of Stadskanaal.

I'm linking to Weekend Reflections.

Zuidveld bridge

This is the Zuidveld draw bridge crossing the Ruiten-Aa canal in Zuidveld, a hamlet in the Westerwolde region. The word on the bridge 'Zuidveldsluis' refers to the nearby lock, outside the photo.

Drainage-mill

On the other side of the wooden bridge that I showed you in yesterday´s post is a drainage-mill (poldermolen in Dutch) called 'De Boezemvriend', that as one word could be translated as 'buddy' or 'soulmate' however in Dutch 'boezem' also means 'drainage canal' - so it's a pun.

The mill was built in 1871 to help pump water out of the polder to another level, the building next to it is a pumping-station. In 1990 the mill was renovated and is still operational today. On the grass an old wooden screw pump (vijzel or waterschroef in Dutch) is displayed; placed inside a mill and rotating it 'screws' the water up. They were a replacement for scoop wheels.

Wooden bridge

I am continuing with photos from our hike last Sunday. After walking along the Havenkanaal for a while, we crossed the canal through this bridge..

.. and we had a nice wide view on the landscape south of Lake Zuidlaren (Zuidlaardermeer).

Voldersgracht

This canal is the Voldersgracht, dating from the 14th century and one of the oldest canals in Delft. With houses at the right, it has a street on one side only. It is located near the central square.

Ruiten-Aa canal

On a bridge crossing the Ruiten-Aa canal, earlier today. This region is called Westerwolde and it is located in the south of the province of Groningen.

The canal exists for about 100 years: at the end of the 19th century plans were made to dig a canal in order to relief the area of superfluous water, and in 1920 the Ruiten-Aa canal -including 8 locks- was finished. Nowadays the canal is in use for recreational boats only.