Walking through picturesque Drimmelen

Drimmelen is a surprisingly charming town that serves as one of the gates to the Biesbosch. However, from Drimmelen you can also take a nice walk through the Brabant polder.

Old Drimmelen
After walking a few kilometers through the vast polder, you reach Oud-Drimmelen. This hamlet still consists of 9 houses. At the end of the eighteenth century there were three times as many houses and a small church (now demolished). Past the hamlet you walk on a cycle path next to the Breede Vaart. On the right of the canal, past the Koekoekweg, a Canadian bomber crashed on the morning of May 25, 1944. This was on its way back from a bombing raid on Aachen and was shot down by a Messerschmitt aircraft.

Terrace on the Amer
Slowly but surely you will come into view of Drimmelen again. On the left you see the alder forest of De Worp, a nature reserve that was created on this former peat land. Drimmelen is a picturesque town on the dike along the Amer that enjoys a protected village view. If you walk through the Herengracht, you will see several monumental houses from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Half Sole Line
Just before Oud-Drimmelen you cross a railway line on Dahliastraat. This is a remnant of the decommissioned connection between Lage Zwaluwe and 's Hertogenbosch. This rail connection served the leather industry in places such as Vlijmen, Waalwijk and Raamsdonk. Raw materials were supplied and finished products were removed. Lage Zwaluwe functioned as a transshipment point to the port of Rotterdam. The railway was opened between 1886 and 1890 and was entirely financed with revenues from the Indies. The connection was officially called the Langstraatlijn, but was popularly called the Halve Zolenlijn.