Week 26 More on Blokzijl

Week 26

More on Blokzijl

I did a bit of research on Blokzijl and found some quite interesting stuff. The first recorded mention (1363) of the area refers to the "end of the deep", meaning the end of the then navigable stretch of water. This later became the site of a lock which was primarily used to stop flood waters from the Zuider Zee. It was mentioned in the early 1500's and later named Blokzijl after the lock was rebuilt in the style of another lock in the area - this other lock was built next to a/the Blockes House ( I don't know what a Blockes house is - maybe the name of a family?). "Zijl" was an early Dutch word for "sluis" or lock.... therefore "Blok Lock" for my sense of wordplay.

     At the end of the 16th century there was an increasing demand for peat to fuel the heating needs of the large southern cities. This was a huge source of income for the Toll house at the lock. The city was re-built (by chap in photo, below) as a fortress and given special privileges by Prince Maurits.

     Beer brewing was also big business at this time - with 5 breweries operating under their own Guild.
     Silting of the harbour was (and still is) an expensive problem but keeping it navigable was necessary for the important trade function and the need to protect Blokzijl as a Dutch city in the midst of Spanish influence.
     The "Golden Years" of Blokzijl were between 1623 and 1666 when up to 160 "kavelen" (caravels?)(medium sized seagoing vessels) had Blokzijl as their home port. The end came (as did the end of the Dutch "Golden Century") when most of the Dutch trading fleet was destroyed by the English on the Zuider Zee.

Sometime in this period the area was under the rule of the Spanish - but a number of Nederlands cities rebelled and broke away -Blokzijl went with them but remained at the outer limit of the area ruled by Spain.

Geocaching

We looked up a Geocache for Blokzijl before we left. It can sometimes be a great way to explore a village, town or area with a sense of purpose, rather than just wandering around. The one in Blokzijl had picked out 12 landmarks or features, 6 of which could be used to find the co-ordinates of the "treasure" or cache. The numbers of the "correct" 6 would add up to 34 and then we had to line them up from east to west and then........ well, we didn't get that far. I think we needed to have more stuff printed before we started - so we'll finish that off next time. But here are some of the photos of the landmarks...

A snoek (Pike - a fish)

And some more photos I took whilst just "wandering" (on foot and in the boat)....

Plastic Pontoons

Old Sea Gates with Lock Keeper's House

Land Reclamation and Blokzijl

The light coloured areas are the reclaimed land - showing Blokzijl at the edge of the Zuider Zee (hence the need for the sea gates in the photo above).

....and a Google Earth pic

Ossenzijl:Private canal with removable bridge.

Lock Gates

The two "arms" operating the gates are "toothed" and are critical to the operation. The winding mechanism is in the green box which rotates the rod, which engages with the "teeth" of the arms. It is not noticeable in the photo, but the closest arm is slightly bent because it was rammed by a boat in the lock, only a few weeks ago. The boat had lost all control of it's steering so the owner just had to sit there as his boat crashed into the arm.

Back at work.....

Landscaping

Yes, it's still wet!

Tile lifting machine - creates a vacuum - to lift each tile (2 men).

And MORE drainage!! No bloody wonder with all this rain!