10 Aug Yesterday (Thursday), we left Sleeuwijk and headed to Heusden. The first couple of kms were on the Waal before we turned off onto the Afgedamde Maas at Woudrichem. Moondance did a great job against the current, but we were all pleased to be on the quieter waters with fewer large ships. While passing Woudrichem we had a view of the town from the water. The trip along the river was quite pretty and was obviously a holiday area. We reached Heusden in good time and after lunch went into town. Our first stop was the tourist information centre that had impressive models of the town, and important buildings that are no longer standing. We then followed an English self-guided walk around the town, with a few detours to look at the boat harbours. Even though the weather was poor (grey with patchy rain), we really loved this little town. It had impressive defences being a star fort town, and also an interesting and varied history. Two major explosions mark it's history. In 1680 lightening struck the castle which was storing gunpowder and this blew up a quarter of the town. And in 1944 when the allied troops were heading for Heusden, German soldiers blew up the town hall. 134 of the civilians who were sheltering from the artillery fire in the basement were killed. In the 1960s there were plans to remove the old fortifications, widen the roads, modernise the old town and build apartment blocks, but the residents protested and instead it has been restored. They even dug up the parking lot to restore the old city harbour.
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
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