Netherlands Trip - Elburg      29th June:

Overloaded Barge at Urk

    The sky was overcast, but at least it was dry. All the lifeboats were fully manned and out in the harbour, as were all the police boats. A helicopter circled overhead. There must be an exercise on we thought.
    I was convinced I could hear a choir singing somewhere in the distance. "Now he is starting to hear angels," muttered Rex. Then I was sure I heard a tenor singing in the distance.
    I thought nothing more of it. A large barge slid past us, skippered by a young man. It slowly drifted into the harbour and tied up next to the marina waiting for the lock to open. It was loaded to overflowing with sand, so full in fact that its decks were in the water, and its wheelhouse was leaning forward at a crazy angle, as if the vessel was about to fold in two. Engines were busily pumping out water from its bilges.

Botter on the Ketelmeer

    I came across the old man we had seen yesterday, he was delivering more ropes to his boat. He excitably told me that the king was in Urk today, visiting the town and the Fishing School. The last time royalty had visited Urk was over twenty years ago. That explained all the lifeboats, police boats, helicopter and choirs. I chatted with the man for a while, and mentioned that we were heading to Elburg. He informed me it was a beautiful town, but advised to stay well clear of the banks going down the narrow channel, "It gets very shallow there." I informed him we had left money for the harbour master, and the kind chap would advise him when he put in an appearance.
    As we parted from our berth, a police boat came over to inspect us. "English?" shouted one of the uniformed occupants when he spotted our ensign. I indicated we were, and he waved us on.
    An hour later we were gilling about waiting for the Ketelbrug to open, carefully keeping clear of the barges that were hurtling through on their way to the lock at Lelystad. It was a good 20 minutes before we were through, and then we glided past the islet of Ijsseloog down the beautiful Ketelmeer before taking the right hand channel into the Vossemeer. If we had not turned right we would have entered the River Ijssel.

Serene Vossemeer

    The narrow channel passing down behind Flevoland was a wider version of the Norfolk Broads, very serene and picturesque, until the rain came down as we approached the Roggebotsluis. We then entered the stretch of water known as the Drontermeer, populated by myriads of swans. Just before the next bridge we turned left and headed up a channel into Elburg. There was no marina as such, just a very long pontoon with facilities at either end of it. We moored about half way along the pontoon, and once I'd paid the harbour master, we walked up to town, passing the pretty Haven well stocked with botters, traditional flat-bottomed fishing boats, and crossed the moat that surrounded the old town. From an aerial perspective, the old town resembles a large pillow surrounded by a moat, in actual fact a pillow 250x350m.

Approaching the Vischpoort

    The earliest written record of Elburg is from 796 AD. Between 1392 and 1396, Elburg was rebuilt after a flood in the form it is seen today, with a moat and a city wall, together with a gridiron street plan. This rapid rebuilding was expensive, indicating that Elburg was reasonably affluent in medieval times. The town was granted town status by Earl Jan van Geel early in the 14th century. There is a record that Elburg got its fishing rights granted in 1313. In 1367 the city was recorded as a member of the Hanseatic League, a cooperative alliance of merchants and cities who together protected and expanded their trade.
    Throughout the centuries, Elburg remained a fishing and farming centre until the end of World War II. Unlike many other Dutch towns, Elburg had refused to use city funds to build a railroad station in 1863. Because the land owners were asking unreasonably high prices for the right of way over their property, the track line Utrecht-Amersfoort-Zwolle bypassed Elburg. As a consequence, Elburg became less attractive for manufacturers compared with neighbouring places like Harderwijk. In addition, the closing off of the Zuiderzee in 1932 meant an end to the fishing industry of Elburg, since the former salt water bay gradually became a fresh water body. Therefore, since 1956, the city concluded that only tourism would be the most viable sector for the local economy. Because of its favourable position both on the edge of the canal and near the Veluwemeer, tourists have made it a popular tourist destination.
    We entered the old town via the Vischpoort, a Medieval defensive tower. Strolling down Vischpoortstraat, a street bustling with tourists, we came across Beekstraat which intersected at right angles to form the main square, the Vischmarkt. Although the "square" was not a square in the traditional sense, it was quite obviously the throbbing centre of the town, a hub of cafes and restaurants all eager to empty the pockets of the hordes of tourists.

Streets of Elburg

Grote of St. Nicolaaskerk

    We carried on across the square into Jufferenstraat, and then struck off left to pass the National Organ Museum, before turning down to the Grote of St. Nicolaaskerk. The church, named after the patron saint of the sailors and the fishermen, was founded in 1396 , when the town was moved inland, and was completed around 1450. The church has been protestant since around 1580. In 1693, the tower was hit by lightning , which caused it to burn to the masonry. The tower was then covered with a flat roof, as it is today. In 1797, they decided to cover the frescoes in the church with white lime. These frescoes appeared again during the restoration of 1971 to 1975. We stepped inside this beautiful light and airy church, and I climbed to the roof for an excellent view of the Medieval town with its handsome collection of brick cottages bleached ruddy-brown by the elements beneath pantile roofs, and its environs, while Rex inhaled a few more coffin nails at street level.

Agnietenconvent, now Elburg Museum

    Not far from the church was the 15th-century Agnietenconvent, or convent of St Agnes, now home to Museum Elburg. This museum hosts both permanent and temporary exhibitions about the town's history. The casemates, one of the oldest still-existing cannon cellars and the wall house where the poorest of Elburg's citizens lived are part of Museum Elburg as well.
    This very compact old town was a delight to visit, and I realised why so many tourists visited. Sadly, the skies looked threatening, and we took shelter in a toy shop to avoid a soaking; Rex was in his element, and suggested I buy half the shop for my grandchildren, as long as he tested all the toys out first.
    We returned back to Duonita to avoid more rain for a while, but come the evening we marched off back into town and found a bar. To Rex's delight this bar permitted smoking inside, apparently with the police blessing.
    We chatted with another customer inside, whose job was "boat repairs". He was 64 years of age, and looking forward to his retirement at the age of 67. The fellow liked visiting Britain, and loved the Scottish mountains. He recalled walking by a canal in Birmingham where he had come across an 85 year old bloke building a large Dutch boat to Dutch plans, with the help of his son and daughter. This had really impressed him. The guy then changed tack and went on to lament about how there was no work for the young people, and how it was impossible for them to get onto the property ladder. He was a rum character, and he complained bitterly that Germans were buying many second homes in the area, which brought a closure of many shops, bars etc. Hmmm ..... Holland seems to have similar issues to Britain.
    We found a suitable restaurant, and I rejected the local delicacy, smoked eel, choosing instead Zeewolffilet. I never did find out what it was, but it was delicious.