Netherlands/Belgium Trip - Veere      18th June:

Middelburg Cheese Shop Door

    Once again the morning skies were leaden, and a steady drizzle cloaked us in dampness. Great! I strolled into town for some fresh rolls. The bakers did not open until 08:30, unbelievable. I had noticed this last year; shops in the Netherlands never seem to kick into action until after 9am usually, often well after that too. I had to kill time in the drizzle. Still, I had to smile at the door to the cheese shop next to the bakers. Look at the adjacent photo, then hum to yourself Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by the Eurhythmics, then start singing. Enjoy!
    Soon we were on a bus to Veere, passing herds of sheep grazing on the grass verges by the road. In my original homeland, fell sheep graze by the narrow, winding, country roads. However, here they were by the main roads. I wondered what the road kill statistics were. I guess if anyone did strike a sheep, they could pick the carcass up and feed their family for a couple of months.
    Like the buses in Kenya and Tanzania, this bus seemed to do umpteen detours around the suburbs of Middelburg, picking up passengers on the way, before striking out in the general direction of Veere. We coasted through lush, green farmland for the terribly long distance of 5km before we reached Veere. Yes, we could have walked there alongside the canal, but the drizzle and menacing skies made that an unattractive option. Besides, we would have missed the magical mystery tour.
    The small city of Veere stood on the Veerse Meer lagoon. The name literally meant "ferry", perhaps stemming from 1281 when Wolfert Van Borsselen established a ferry there. Veere received city rights in 1355. On 8th January 1488, the "Admiraliteit van Veere" (Admiralty of Veere) was set up as a result of the Ordinance on the Admiralty in an attempt to create a central naval administration in the Burgundian Netherlands. The Vice-Admiralty of Flanders in Dunkirk was subordinated to this. In 1560 under Admiral Philip de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn, this admiralty relocated near Ghent and in 1561 the Habsburg naval forces were also moved to Veere. The city functioned as the staple port for Scotland between 1541 and 1799.

Gardens Near the Markt

    Flemish architects Antonis Keldermans and Evert Spoorwater designed the Grote Kerk, the fortifications, the Cisterne and the town hall. Spoorwater was a visionary in a way, perfecting a method in which a detailed plan was made from which virtually all parts of a building could be manufactured at source, and upon delivery could be easily assembled with the aid of mortar. During this period of prosperity, the cultural centre was located at Sandenburgh castle, the residence of the noble Van Borsele and Van Bourgondië families. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Veere was a prosperous trading city, with about 750 houses inside the city walls then, compared to about 300 as of 2013. As a result of the damming of the Veerse Gat inlet in 1961, the fishing fleet of Veere moved to a new home port at Colijnsplaat on Noord-Beveland.
    The bus terminus was on the edge of town, near the Grote Kerk. The latter did not open until later in the day, so we ambled into the town, passing little alleyways brimming with colourful hollyhocks. Grey skies had now given way to masses of cotton wool floating across an azure heavenly ocean; sun shines on the righteous. Beautiful gardens proliferated, and every house was an attraction in itself. Some houses on the Markt even had miniature version of classical palace gardens. The elongated square contained many authentic shops, several clothing stores and gift and souvenir, arts and crafts shops which kept Meryl absorbed for a while. It was all very twee, the perfect tourist trap, and we soaked it all up as tourists do; we were in the minority, overwhelmed by Dutch, Belgians and Germans.

Side and Rear View of Campveerse Toren

    Edging our way through the throngs, we made our way to the waterfront of the city, a long strip of watercraft infested water basin, with a dyke separating it from the Veerse Meer. Rex could have his fill of boat gazing here, and he didn't waste much time in getting down to serious boat spotting.
    Most sites of interest didn't open until later in the day, so we killed some time with hot beverages in one of the tempting cafes in the Markt square. Rex was attentively listening out as he had been keen for me to hear the 48-bell carillon belonging to the elegant late Gothic Town Hall, which was erected in 1474. As I sipped an exquisite hot chocolate, he took pains to convince me of the ecstasies experienced when one listened to the cacophony of bells in action, each performance being of significant duration. Sadly he was to be disappointed, today there was an occasional clang as one of the workmen, who were refurbishing the town hall, bumped into one of the bells. Maybe another time.

Town Hall Carillon Tower Being Refurbished

    At length the opening time for the Grote Kerk approached, and we headed off to the large austere looking building which dominated the city. The Church of Our Lady was founded in 1342, and in 1472 under Wolfert V Borselen was a collegiate church, consisting of twenty canons. In addition to these canons were five chaplains, a Cantor and three choristers attached to the parish. The new building, dating from 1479, was designed by the Flemish architect, Antoine I Keldermans . After his death in 1512 his son Rombout took on board the task of seeing the building through to completion. The idea of a man beginning a job that he knew he would never live to see completed, and upon his passing, his son following on with the job seems inconceivable in these modern times of hire and fire short term contracts.
    On 25th May 1686, a major fire in the nave of the church raged. Started by careless plumbers, the entire roof of the church was destroyed, and a wooden tower structure in which bells were hung was also lost. Hmmmm.... careless plumbers indeed. When my niece flushed the toilet in her new-build house, she discovered to her horror that it had been plumbed into the hot water system! In more recent times, such as 1809, Napoleon's troops used the church as a military hospital. Later on it became a "house for beggars" and a barracks before going downhill and being used for storing timber. During the flood of 1953 it functioned as an emergency barn for rescued animals. Only during the 70s was the church restored as a cultural destination. Today, the once tall windows had been filled with bricks and replaced with much smaller windows on most of the edifice, probably due to the numerous incidents caused by the strong coastal wind. It possessed a truly varied history.

Veere Grote Kerk

    We climbed up to the top of the tower for a panoramic view of the area. It was immediately clear how well the verdant, lush landscape and water were integrated in this country. Water was very much in abundance, and it was easy to see how the Netherlands had been classified as the Low Lands in medieval times. Stretched out below us lay the blue Veerse Meer, 22 km long, and 1.5 km wide in places. Lying between the old islands of Noord-Beveland, Zuid-Beveland and Walcher, this beautiful area was rich with flora and fauna and served as a focus for many watersports. The Veerse Meer dates from 1961, when the Veerse Gat dam was created. To the east lay the Zandkreekdam, the first dam of the Delta Works, that was built in 1960. Beyond it, in the hazy distance a grey brush stroke painted on the landscape betrayed the Oosterschelde, a much larger body of water.
    To the south the Kanaal door Walcheren was represented as a silvery ribbon stretching in a straight line down to Middelburg, easily identified by Lange Jan. On the horizon squatted a collection of cranes and cavernous boatbuilding hangars - Vlissingen. Immediately below us charming townhouses cuddled up to each other in the narrow lanes, and the picturesque windmill, "Molen de Koe" (cow-mill), stoically stood just outside the town.
    Back down into the church itself, a series of "sculptures" had been set up. To me, these were benches covered in sheep's wool, obviously conceptual art but totally lost on me. Two lady artists were precariously balanced on step-ladders creating a black papier-mâché hanging sculpture on a wire frame. What did interest me though was an excellent example of a Foucault Pendulum suspended from the ceiling of the building. The Foucault Pendulum is named after the French physicist, Jean Foucault, who first used it in 1851 to demonstrate the rotation of the earth. It was the first satisfactory demonstration of the earth's rotation using laboratory apparatus rather than astronomical observations. Mechanically, it's one of the simplest experiments possible: a heavy weight attached to a very long string or cable that is free to swing in any vertical plane. If you start a Foucault Pendulum swinging in one direction, after a few hours you will notice that it is swinging in a quite different direction without any outside input. Of course, it is not the plane of swing that is changing, it is actually the Earth which is rotating beneath it.

Molen de Koe

Middelburg in the Distance, Lange Jan Head and Shoulders Above the City

    Heading back "downtown", we stumbled upon the warehouses and old streets, reminders of the glory days of this town. Many buildings recalled a prosperous period in the town's history when it was the centre of the wool trade with Scotland and Scottish merchants lived here. Everywhere was studded with colourful hollyhocks. Once back at the idyllic setting by the quayside, we enjoyed a light lunch in the warm sun overlooking lots of yachts bobbing on the waves, and watched the world go by. I do become curious about the people around me at times, and engage in that human tendency to people watch. It is intriguing to wonder what their tales are, how their lives have panned out. On a tangent I started thinking about a book that was set in Veere, "Van Loon's Lives", a book of contemporary fantasy written by the Dutch-American author, Hendrik Willem Van Loon in 1942. The author imagines he is living in his summer home in the city, and he has the ability to summon the famous (and sometimes infamous) great men and women of history to come to dinner. The summoning is done in the prosaic way of leaving under a specific stone a note with the names of the persons they wish to meet that weekend, who duly make their appearance. Some dinner party "groups" are made of people who lived at around the same time, and some groups are made of people who lived in entirely different times from one another. Van Loon introduces each guest to the reader, he and his wife have to decide what to serve, and the reader gets to eavesdrop about their dinner discussions. Some of the weekend dinner parties often lead to humorous incidents. The book was written at the time when Veere, like the rest of the Netherlands, lay under Nazi occupation, and despite its light-hearted tone, clearly indicates the longing of the writer, living in the US, for his homeland whose liberation he was doomed never to see, having died in 1944. The chapters start with many digressions and idiosyncratic comments, opinions and comparisons with actual 20th century events, particularly with the doings of Hitler and Nazi Germany in general and the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in particular, which was clearly very much on Van Loon's mind. What a well-conceived idea I thought, as I gazed at the assortment of folk across the tables. What stories would they tell?

Alleys and Gardens

Typical Veere Houses

    I was snapped out of such thoughts by a cacophony of bells and sirens. No, it wasn't the carillon, but a pair of fire-engines, two fire rescue vehicles, an ambulance, a paramedic motorbike and a police car all heading along the narrow quayside road. The tranquil setting was well and truly shattered. Being an expert on emergency vehicle sound effects, my grandson would have loved all this commotion. We never did discover what calamity had caused such a turnout.
    At the end of our tasty meal Rex paid the bill, speaking his impeccable Dutch as always. He was even more proficient in the language than he was last year, and was even mastering the dialects now, at least it sounded that way, and as a piece de resistance he was even creating new ones. Clever lad!
    Looking out over the quayside basin, the once richly laden ships from Scotland had made way for yachts. Our last port of call in this small city was the Scottish Houses, buildings once occupied by traders that had been preserved. One, "Het Lammeken", (The Little Lamb, a reference to the wool trade), a beautiful example of late gothic architecture, was probably built in 1539 by a Scot named Joos Olivers. "De Struijs" (The Ostrich) dates from 1561 and was originally the mirror image of "Het Lammeken", but over the years extensive alterations have been made. The Scots not only lived in these houses but also used them as business premises.

Scottish Houses. Notice the Lamb Bass Relief Half Way Up "Het Lammeken"

    In the 12th century, wool production in Scotland and England began to outstrip domestic demand, so the Cistercian monks of Melrose exported Scottish wool duty-free to Flanders. This right was formalised in 1407 by a decree of the Duke of Burgundy which created the office of Conservator of Scottish Privileges in the Low Countries. Huge amounts of wool were exported for manufacture into cloth in the Low Countries, France and German towns on the North and the Baltic Seas. Founded as a fishing port in 1296, Veere soon made contact with Scottish ports and exchanged all kinds of goods. The Staple Contract granted Veere a monopoly on importing, storing and trading Scottish goods in the Netherlands. At this time, Scottish wool was exported to Bruges, but when the River Zwin silted up the ports of entry, Damme and Sluis, could no longer be navigated. Despite all the efforts of Bruges to retain the Scottish Wool Staple the Conservator of Scottish Privileges, Sir Alexander Napier, eventually transferred his Office and Staple Court to Middelburg in 1518. Another factor in this move was the growing pressure from Spain and France to assert the Roman Catholic rite in Flanders. When this pressure began to be felt in Middelburg, the Staple was again moved in 1541 to Veere, where the local people sympathised with the Calvinist views of the Scottish trading community.
    The Veere-Scotland ties had been strengthened by the marriage in 1444 between Wolfert VI of Borssele, Lord of Veere, and Mary Stuart, the daughter of the Scottish king James I and Joan Beaufort. Mary died in 1465 and was buried in the Grote Kerk. The marriage was credited with further stimulating commerce between Scotland and the Low Countries and by 1600 hundreds of Scots had settled in Veere. They even had a Lord Conservator, a local director appointed by the Scots king. The links between the Stuarts and the Netherlands continued with the marriage of Prince William of Orange (Marquis of Veere) to the daughter of James VI.

Polished Stove in "Het Lammeken"

    The Scottish traders (who came mainly from Edinburgh, Perth, Culross, St. Andrews, Dundee and Aberdeen) received several privileges in the town they called Campvere. The Scots' ships were given preferential treatment including use of the quay for unloading their goods, exemption from wine and beer tax and use of part of the local church for their services. The Napoleonic period saw the end of the wool trade and the Scottish Privileges. The Scottish Staple was based on privileges which did not accord with the principles of égalité espoused by the new French influenced Batavian Republic. With the coming of free trade, Veere's prosperity and wealth had already declined. In 1798 the Scottish community in Veere had dwindled to 15 souls.
    "Het Lammeken" had been established as a museum in 1950, and strove to give an impression of the life of the rich inhabitants of Veere in the past. The collection of glass cabinets full of crockery, old books, furniture, lace and local costumes struck me as being lifeless, but hey, even Dutch museums are facing funding cuts. Having said that, I was most impressed by the magnificent, polished stove that stood in an inglenook. At one time this would have been pride and joy for a cook.

Beats Having Gnomes in the Garden

    Veere had been an interesting outing. The bus back to Middelburg was again operated by a friendly driver, who had no problem interpreting Rex's Dutch. Rex must have told him to put his foot down since we seemed to miss out most of the stops that had slowed us down on our outward journey.
    Evening was spent in the small marina clubhouse, enjoying liberal supplies of food, downed with the odd tipple. A marvellous atmosphere washed over us, wafting from the numerous Dutch folk present who were all intently watching the Holland versus Australia World Cup match on a projected screen. It was a colourful setting in the bar/restaurant, predominantly orange of course, and perhaps if we understood it, maybe even colourful language. All-in-all it was a light-hearted affair, even when the opposition scored. There was no high-jinx, no drunkenness, just good folk out to enjoy themselves; a pleasure to see and experience.
    After the match we walked off our food; a chance for Rex to show Meryl some of the sights in the town. In addition he took the opportunity to look over a Dutch boat that he had seen for sale. Meryl had an apprehensive look on her face. I kept out of it.