Enjoy the surroundings of Winterswijk

This ride takes you through the semi-open bocage landscape of the Winterswijk National Landscape. In this picturesquely beautiful region you drive through bushes, avenues and along meandering streams in narrow valleys. Here and there you see wooded banks and authentic farms. You cycle through a sparsely populated region, ideal to switch back and relax. Only the village of Meddo and the outskirts of Winterswijk are on your route. Don't worry: there are plenty of nice places for a pit stop along the way. Soon after the start of your route you will pass through Meddo. You will find the Windmill of Sellink here. Only the stone hull of this former windmill from 1873 can be seen: the rest of the mill burned down in 1933. The mill was named after the first miller, Jan Hendrik Sellink. The mill has always remained in the hands of his relatives. Today the hull is part of a compound feed factory. Remarkably enough, two of the largest boulders in the Netherlands were found in Meddo. The lightest boulder, still weighing 38,000 kg, is located in the cafeteria of the local football club. The heaviest boulder (43,000 kg) has been moved to the old town hall of Winterswijk as a showpiece. At junction 22 you cycle past an open quarry. Here, geological deposits from the Tertiary period have been found that were relatively close to the surface. In the 1980s, collector Gerben Diepenbroek even found the remains of a prehistoric sea animal, a so-called placodon. It concerned a still unknown species that received that name from the finder: Pararcus Diepenbroeki. Of the three quarries, which have been excavated since 1932, one is still in use. The other two are managed as nature reserves. The groundwater is pumped out of the eastern and oldest quarry. All kinds of special animals and plants have settled here. Just south of Winterswijk you pass De Oliemölle, a former water mill on the course of the old Berkel. A little further on is the Venemansmolen. A post mill once stood on the current mill yard, which was owned by Germans until 1659 and burned in 1827. At the end of the nineteenth century a certain JD Venemans bought the whole lot - including the mill rights - and built a new mill in 1898. Until 1992, 5 generations of Venemans carried on the miller's business here.