Cycling through the forests of Hollandscheveld

High steep walls and water that is up to three meters lower than the forests: it is a picture that you hardly ever see in the Netherlands. Deep in the forests are neighborhoods that were dug to cut the peat in the area. In the area, not only in the forests of Hollandscheveld, peat was mainly extracted until 1800 and it was only from the end of the nineteenth century that peat extraction became less important. The forests of Hollandscheveld are among the oldest in Drenthe and were planted on peat soil. So there is actually nothing natural about the creation of the sea of trees, but you don't notice that. The forests are neat, but still feel very natural.