Captain's House - New and Old Pekela Route

Description, sights and things worth knowing
You start at the Captain's House on the Rev. S. Tjadenstraat C 96, where the Family Wedding is usually located in front of the shore. This side of the deep is called'landskaante\\\' in Pekela, which is the quiet side.
(If you come by car: you can park well across the street, near the small park on the Beukenlaan.)
You leave on the quiet side to the South, that is to the lock and stay on'landskaante\\\'.

At the (middle) lock you will see the former lockkeeper's house. Opposite the lock, you can get refreshments at cafeteria De Sluis! At the lock, the Reverend S.Tjadenstraat changes into the Doctor H. Brouwerstraat.
You cycle further along the deep and see a few more captains' houses or farms.
You will see the last carpentry factory of Pekela on your right, on the other side of the deep. Previously there were many.
All churches (there are several!) are on the other side of the deep, the'daipskaante\\\'. The first is the Baptist church and after the bend the Roman Catholic church.
The brown color of the water comes from the'primal\\\', the ore that was previously mined, especially in Oude Pekela. Do you realize that this whole area was previously covered with 5 - 10 meters of peat! That is, starting in Winschoten, excavated from 1600. Peat was extracted from the peat and in ± 250 years of excavation the Stadskanaal was reached and people continued there. This region is therefore also called the'old\\\' Veenkoloniën (together with Hoogezand-Sappemeer and Muntendam / Veendam).

Via the Jan Oldenburgerstraat, the JR Stuutstraat and the Jacob de Weerdstraat respectively, still on'landskaante\\\', you will reach the next lock, the'upper\\\' with a former camping site. Here is the lockkeeper's house at'daipskaante\\\'. At the bridge, a little further on, J. de Weerdstraat changes into Molenstraat. You can see the mill in the distance on the other side of the water. Mill de Zwaluw is still producing and you can visit the shop during the day.

The cycle route goes to the right over the Eendrachtsklap and continues on the Eendrachtsweg. Here you can encounter very diverse products on the farmland: maize, potatoes, beets, hemp, grain, etc. In the distance you can already see the large white silo of the former potato flour factory Pekela & Surroundings. Turn right in the slight bend, the road turns into a cycle path and at the end you will see that this is the Slingerlaan! Then you are already at the silo and you will see a remnant of the Ommelanderwijk. That is the name of the deep and of the village. On the other side you will see a fine example of a peat colonial farm. You will also see a factory on the right, which is one of the two remaining cardboard factories in Pekela. The raw material here has always been (waste) paper.

Turn left, from junction 63 to 62, following the cycle path along the road. The road was rather the deep (called neighborhood) that went from Veendam to Pekela. The district is completely filled in, like many peat colonial canals. You cycle to the center of the village, there is an information board about the neighborhood and a statue of a peat worker.

Just before the statue turn right to junction 25, direction Oude Pekela. This street is the Noorderkwartier and you go through the Drieborgh tunnel and arrive at Zuidwending. That was also a deep over which the peat was transported, towards Veendam and beyond.

At junction 25, turn right on the cycle path to knp. 85, all the way (straight) down. On both sides you will see many examples of farms and pensioner houses. In the early 19th century, a tram also passed here as far as Nieuwe Pekela, where the depot still exists.

You come in a slight bend at junction 85 and could now go straight to Nieuwe Pekela to shorten the route, but we advise you to turn left to Kibbelgaarn and junction 23 resp. 87 and then turn right to 22. On that road you will see and smell new activities of a pig and chicken farm. In the distance on the left you will see the former dairy that is now a rubble crusher. In the distance to the right you can already see the pointed tower of the Roman Catholic Church in Oude Pekela.

At junction 22 turn right onto Meedernerveen and after ±1.5 km turn right onto the cycle path along the woods. Follow this until the Raadhuisweg and turn right there, until the roundabout. On the left you see a well for gas extraction. Be careful when crossing the N 367. You enter Oude Pekela, or visit the restaurant or buy a snack at the gas station (you can also do that further in the village....!).

Continuing the road, over the 2nd roundabout you will arrive at the Pekelder Hoofddiep. Just before that, on the left, is the town hall of the municipality of Pekela, with the windmill De Onrust, a former corn and hulling mill. You can't miss the mall on the right!

You turn right before the bridge. You can go to the other side of the deep, across the white bridge, Lubbermansdraai, and then turn right onto Hendrik Westerstraat. You can also follow the'daipskaante\\\' for an ice cream at the ice cream parlors and cross the Pekelder Hoofddiep at the next bridge. Here you will also find the image of the Ship Chasers, with explanation. We advise you to continue on'landskate\\\', as it is definitely quieter cycling there!

A little later you pass the Catholic Church on the other side and immediately after that opposite the bridge on the left the Dollard College Pekela, school for secondary education. It is located on the site of the former Albion strawboard factory, after which the bridge is named. Almost all cardboard was transported to England in its own ship. Straw produced beautiful yellow cardboard and that was loved in Great Britain! Waste paper produces more gray cardboard.

You are now driving on the H. Hindersstraat. Near the Koenemansbrug (bicycle junction 4) you will come across three long-standing factories. First on the left hand side the screen cloth company Drenth and immediately afterwards/behind it the last Groningen stone factory of Strating. The fuel for this, peat, was readily available and the clay was brought in from elsewhere by boat. On the right, across the street, you will see the De Kroon cardboard factory, which has been in existence for more than 100 years, now called Soludis.

Continuing the road you will arrive in Nieuwe Pekela again, and on the separation of the two Pekela\\\'s you will see the Lutheran church on the right, with behind it the only Lutheran cemetery in the Netherlands.

At the next bridge is Junction 84; on the left, at the crossroads, you can see another fine example of a neighborhood, a canal that goes for kilometers into the field and along which the peat used to be transported in pramen. Later, these barges transported the potatoes and the like to the factories.

You are then almost at the 3rd lock, called'verlaat\\\' in Groningen, which is in fact the first because peat extraction went from here to'above\\\'. Above to be understood as the place where the water comes from and then it is'down\\\' here. A little further you will see the former Mennonite church, now rehearsal room of the Albatros men's choir. All workers in the peat brought their own faith at the time, hence the diversity in church buildings.

Near the viaduct, the provincial road N 366 goes over the deep here, various houses have been made in relief, as a reminder of the demolished houses for this road. You have already passed the TIP at camping Wel Wait and almost at the end of this route.

You can just follow the road on the land side and you will arrive at the museum.
At the Poortmanswijk, junction 83, you will pass the beautiful bridge over this district that formed the connection with Alteveer and is still important for the water drainage.

We hope you enjoyed this cycling tour through the heart of one of the oldest peat colonies. In museum Kapiteinshuis they can tell you more and in more detail about the history of this region.