Abel Tasman Colonel's Deep Route

Lutjegast is located on a small sand ridge. Until a thousand years ago, the village was bordered on the north by the sea and on the west and south by a swampy peat area. Further south is the sand ridge on which Grootegast was built. Abel Tasman was born in Lutjegast in 1603. In the village there is a museum and a walking route with information center dedicated to Tasman.

The route leads from Stroobos (mooring place'The four elements\\\') along the Van Starkenborgh Canal on the border of the clay and sand area, so to where the sea used to be, to the peat areas near Lutjegast. Then along a part of the former Kolonelsdiep and the Grootegaster Tocht, via the Abel Tasman road to the village itself.

In Tasman's youth, the Kolonelsdiep formed the sailing connection between the city of Groningen and Friesland, the Zuiderzee and Amsterdam. In the middle of the 17th century, that connection was taken over by the new, much more navigable Hoendiep, now the Van Starkenborgh Canal.

Sights and things to know

The route starts at junction 7. At point 96: follow the exit to Dorp

# Archaeological excavations have been carried out near Dorp. The traces there already point to habitation from the sixth century.

# The route runs along the Van Starkenborgh Canal. As part of the Lemmer-Delfzijl waterway, it was widened and deepened in the 1930s and 1960s. Now it is being made suitable for ships up to 2500 tons. It was dug in the mid-17th century as the Hoendiep, the waterway from the city of Groningen to Friesland and the Zuiderzee (now IJsselmeer).

# The current high bridge at Eibersburen dates from 2007. It replaced the previous high bridge from 1937. That was an iron bascule bridge. Before that there was a low swing bridge. 

# Immediately after the place name sign of Lutjegast, the route heads towards Mieden. This term means low lying hay fields. The land here used to be so swampy that it could only be used to harvest hay in the summer.

# Via the Bombay the route ends at the intersection with De Wieren. There was an inn at that intersection in the first half of the 17th century. The Colonel's Deep ran past the inn. This deep was dug in 1573-1576 on behalf of the Spanish governor Caspar de Robles. The deep was intended as an alternative connection between the city of Groningen and Friesland. The previous route via the Reitdiep and the Lauwerszee was closed to the Spanish rulers by the water beggars in the service of the rebellious United Provinces. The inn was also a border post between the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The waterway through the peat area of the southern Westerkwartier functioned poorly. That is why the Hoendiep was dug in the second half of the 17th century.

# The name Caspar de Roblesdijk, of the road along the remainder of the Kolonelsdiep, commemorates the stadtholder.

# The deep turns into the Grootegaster Tocht at junction 23. When the Hoendiep was completed in 1660, villages such as Lutjegast, Grootegast and Niekerk almost immediately dug canals to the Hoendiep to set up a canal connection with the city of Groningen. This also applies to the Grootegaster Tour. It was also used for a while for peat shipping from the peat peat areas south of Grootegast.

The Eendracht polder mill is located in the bend of the Tocht. He still helps with the drainage of the Sebaldebuurstermolenpolder. There is also a working scale model of the Eendracht near the mill house.

# At point 41, the intersection with Westerzand/Abel Tasman road, there is a rest point.

# The Abel Tasman road winds over the sand ridge on which Lutjegast is also built. It runs parallel to the Van Starkenborgh canal. In the distance you can see the passing ships.

# At the place name sign Lutjegast there is a large farm on the left of the road: Erfgoed Rikkerda. This is the former treasure house of the Rikkerda borg. It was located on the left, further in the country, diagonally behind the current ice rink. The castle was built after 1675 and inhabited by  Bernhard Johan Prott. Prott was commander of the Bourtange fortress and played an important role in the defense of Groningen in 1672. He died in 1703 and is buried with his three widows in the former Dutch Reformed church in Lutjegast. The gravestone is located in the church under the pulpit, the crypt is located under the hill, outside to the right of the church.

# After 200 meters further, on the left of the road is the open-air information and education building'Lutje Batavia\\\'. The information concerns Lutjegast, life and work of Tasman, and nature at Lutjegast. It is also a starting point for walks in the peat area south of Lutjegast.

# The former NH church is in the center. On the wall to the left of the front door hangs a plaque about Tasman's achievements. The Abel Tasman Museum is also in the center.

More information about the museum and Lutjegast can be found at www.tasmanroutes.nl, under the headings'about us\\\' and'mooring places\\\' respectively.

# The route returns to the starting point via junctions 94, 10, 96 and 7.