Oude-Tonge, Ooltgensplaat and Stad aan't Haringvliet

In the battle against the water of the North Sea, people gradually conquered more and more land and thus reclaimed Goeree-Overflakkee piece by piece. The island in the southwest of South Holland initially consisted of several small islands. The first reclamation already took place in the twelfth century, when the Oudeland polder of Diependorst was reclaimed. Nevertheless, the conquest of the territory did not go without a hitch and the island was regularly hit by floods before the construction of the Delta Works. For example, 22 people drowned during the storm surge of 1682 and in 1953 the flood disaster claimed 481 lives. Oude-Tonge was hit the hardest; 305 inhabitants, ten percent of the total number of inhabitants of the village and almost 65% of the number of victims of the disaster, died here. During your bike ride you will come across windmill De Korenaar (hull/remainder) in Ooltgensplaat. The mill was built in 1729 and replaced a wooden predecessor. Originally De Korenaar was a ground sailor and in 1919 he was fitted with new rods. These were removed again in 1947, after the mill had suffered heavy war damage. In 1968 the hood was also removed and only the fuselage remained. What remains of De Korenaar is in a bad state in 2013; the ruin was never restored. A ground sailer that has been better preserved is in Den Bommel. De Bommelaer was built in 1738, but contains many second-hand parts from 1620. The mill was very neglected in the second half of the twentieth century. To prevent demolition, a foundation bought the mill in 1967. In 1969, the ground sailer was restored. De Bommelaer generally runs on Saturdays and can therefore be visited. You then set course for the namesake of the mill ruins you saw earlier on the tour. This ground sailer was built in 1746 in Stad aan't Haringvliet. De Korenaar was active until 1958, after which it fell into disrepair to such an extent that it no longer worked. The municipality of Stad aan't Haringvliet bought the ear of corn in 1965 and restored the mill in 1970. There is one pair of grinding stones in the mill, which is usually used to grind grain on Saturdays. You will also recognize the last mill you will see on your journey as a ground sailer, as the blades almost touch the ground. d'Oranjeboom was built in 1768 as a replacement for a standard mill that stood on the same site. Since 1988, the mill has belonged to the Molenstichting Goeree-Overflakkee, which has restored the mill. The mill can be visited every week on Saturday between 10:00 and 16:00.