We start at't Kloosterplein, a nice place for a snack or a drink at various restaurants.
The church is a neo-Gothic church that was designed by Jos Cuypers and built from 1896-1897. If you walk from the Sint Jan church towards the Tramdijk, immediately go over the bridge to the right and then immediately left onto the sand path.
Then after about 500 meters on your left you will come across two concrete poles of about 1.80 m high. That's the entrance to the old pool. If you walk into the woods in between, you will see the remains of the old swimming pool after ten meters. Now only the old rounded edges of the pool can be seen, buried car tires that probably provided the required spring force under the springboard and some other remains of this piece of past glory. There's not much left of it, but with a little imagination and the black and white photo below (boys only) in mind, it's easy to imagine how it used to be. The swimming pool was built in 1933 by order of Eduard van Puijenbroek. The costs amounted to NLG 7,022.46. It opened on July 10, 1933, and the entrance fee was 5 cents for children under 13 and 10 cents for anything above. Boys and girls were not allowed to swim at the same time!
Football field VOAB
If you continue your way towards Gorp and Roovert, you will immediately see a meadow behind the old swimming pool. Football association VOAB had its home there from 1942 to 1958.
Air raid shelter
The bunker behind the football field, recognizable by the chimney rising from the hill, dates from the First World War and was used by VOAB as a dressing room. Today the entrance is closed to prevent vandalism.
Bankven
Following the route you will pass the Bankven. The Bankven is one of our most beautiful Gool secrets. In every season I can enjoy its beauty. The Bankven already appears on very old topographical maps, but from which it derives its name, various stories are circulated. One of them is that the aldermen would have pronounced justice there. Another explanation states that there would have been a mud bank at that place. Who knows may say. The Bankven has been used as a skating rink for years and is in that sense managed by the Goirlesche Ice Club't Bankven, founded on January 1, 1919.
Breehees
If you continue the route, you will come across the sixth and last Gool secret of this walk: the camping farm"Breehees\\\" where it is always good to be with the jokes of Meneer de Boer and his hospitable daughter Caroline. Take a rest and continue your walk with the last stretch along the river Leij, which leads back to the starting point through beautiful meadows.
Enjoy your walk, Niek Schenning