South Beveland with Kapelle, Wemeldinge and Yerseke

A lovely, atmospheric landscape full of winding creeks with rolling banks and beautiful reed collars. In the marshy, rural area you cycle past characteristic farms and through fields and orchards. No wild nature in Zuid-Beveland, but neatly landscaped polders with neat arable land that is used for agriculture and fruit growing. On the peninsula between the Oosterschelde and Westerschelde, the battle against the rising water has been won and the fertile land is gratefully cultivated. In the third and fourth century, this part of Zeeland did not yet exist and the area was under water, but from the Middle Ages onwards the area was gradually reclaimed and the population that lives there can make an excellent living from agriculture and fishing. In 1530 during the St. Felix flood and in 1570 during the All Saints flood, the water reclaimed a large part of the land, but the most famous flood in Dutch history is undoubtedly the Flood Disaster of 1953. The eastern part of Zuid-Beveland was flooded. The peninsula benefited greatly from the construction of the Delta Works, which made Central Zeeland more accessible to the rest of the Netherlands. From the car park, where you can park your car for free, you cycle past beautiful mills. You come across the first one after twenty kilometres: mill De Hoop is located in Wemeldinge. Corn mill De Hoop was built in 1866 by a miller's apprentice who worked at the predecessor of the other mill in the village (Aeolus). The mill was in operation until 1968. After that, plans were made to convert the mill into a house, but these plans were also shelved. Nowadays, the white round stone mill with two pairs of millstones still grinds grain on a voluntary basis. The previously mentioned Aeolus is a corn and hulling mill that was built in 1869. This tower mill was the answer to the construction of De Hoop and, in order to surpass this mill, is higher and larger than that mill. The mill therefore has three pairs of millstones and a hulling stone. The rods are the oldest rods that are still in use in the Netherlands and date from 1871. The mill is named after a Greek wind god and it is therefore not difficult to guess that the mill derived its power to turn and grind from this element. Nowadays, the Aeolus is occasionally put into operation by a volunteer miller. The third and last mill that you can see during your bike ride is the Oude Molen in Kruiningen. This corn mill was built in 1801 and continued to grind corn by wind power until 1953. In the second half of the twentieth century, the mill was extensively restored twice, after the municipality bought the ground sailor in 1959. In 2001 the entire mill was moved a bit, so that it could catch the wind a bit better. A volunteer miller regularly operates the mill, which is equipped with two pairs of millstones.