Walking through picturesque Drimmelen

Drimmelen is a surprisingly charming town that functions as one of the gates to the Biesbosch. From Drimmelen you can also take a nice walk through the Brabantse polder.

Old Drimmelen
After walking a few kilometres 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 (now demolished) church. Past the hamlet you walk on a cycle path next to the Breede Vaart. To the right of the canal, past the Koekoekweg, a Canadian bomber crashed on the morning of 25 May 1944. It 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 back into view of Drimmelen. On the left you can see the alder swamp forest of De Worp, a nature reserve that originated 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 the Dahliastraat. This is a remnant of the decommissioned connection between Lage Zwaluwe and 's Hertogenbosch. This railway connection served the leather industry in places like Vlijmen, Waalwijk and Raamsdonk. Raw materials were delivered and finished products were transported. Lage Zwaluwe functioned as a transhipment point to the port of Rotterdam. The railway line was opened between 1886 and 1890 and was fully financed with the proceeds from the Indies. The connection was officially called the Langstraatlijn, but was popularly called the Halve Zolenlijn.