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Veerplas

Back to Hiking

This is a short hiking route along the eastside of Haarlem. In the Netherlands everything is culture. That becomes even more apparent during this hike. Even the beautiful puddles and swamp areas are the result of human interference. This does not matter however, because it is still beautiful. Grass banks and meadows, while the suburbs of Haarlem remain in the background. The walk passes the remains of the old Veerplas and the Veerpolder, an impoldering from the Middle Ages. A very nice walk for Sunday afternoons. Especially during the spring it is swarming with meadow birds. During this relatively short walk you will come across two forts: Fort bij Penningsveer and Fort bij de Liebrug. Fort Penningsveer has been refurbished into a unique retreat with group accommodations, which individuals, schools, clubs and companies can use for activities related to care, learning, working and recreation. Fort bij de Liebrug organizes regular wine tastings during the weekend.

Other info:

* Start- and finish: NS-station Haarlem-Spaarnwoude (railway station)
* Partially unpaved roads, sometimes swampy. Proper hiking shoes are recommended.
* Dogs allowed, provided that they are on a leash
* Inaccessible for wheelchairs and strollers
* GPS-coordinates available via www.stellingvanamsterdam.nl

Directions:

Start and finish at NS-station Haarlem-Spaarnwoude (railway station)

Directions for walking to the Liedeweg
1. Go east onto Veerpad towards Bliekpad
2. Turn left onto Bliekpad
3. Go east on A. Hofmanweg
4. Ga west on A. Hofmanweg
5. Turn right onto Bliekpad
6. Go northwest on Bliekpad towards Prikpad
7. Go north towards A. Hofmanweg
8. Turn right onto A. Hofmanweg
9. Take a gentle curve to the left
10. Go northeast towards Karperpad
11. Turn right onto Karperpad
12. Go south on Karperpad towards Meervalpad
13. Turn left in order to stay on Karperpad
14. Go southeast on Karperpad towards Penningsveer/R106
15. Turn left to Penningsveer/R106
16. Go east on Penningsveer/R106 towards Lagedijk
17. Turn right onto Lagedijk
18. Follow the road to Liedeweg.

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Passable part of an inundation in the form of elevated terrain, a road, (railway) embankment or waterway.

Collective term for projectile weapons.

Also called bulwark. An outward-projecting pentagonal structure, suitable for delivering flanking fire.

A storage site for military equipment. The parks in the Defence Line are spread out over sectors (sector parks) and groups (group parks).

A battery that is positioned behind armour plates.

A fort with one or more armoured artillery positions.

A number of artillery pieces combined into one group.

Shielded position from which defenders can harass the enemy.

A (low) defensive structure that extends into the moat and can be used to give flanking fire.

A space that is protected against enemy fire and is outfitted with a gun port, behind which a piece of artillery is placed.

An army division whose tasks include, amongst other things, the construction of temporary and permanent defensive structures. The term ‘engineer’ is derived from the French word ‘ingenieur’.

Also called covert way. A pathway that is protected from enemy fire by an earthen wall and can be used for transporting soldiers and military equipment.

Also called stop-log sluice. A temporary dam that stops the inundation water when beams are stacked up in its recesses.

Water purification system that improves the quality of drinking water by extracting iron.

Earthen elevation surrounding a defensive structure, featuring a breastwork.

A (wooden) shed where artillery and military engineering equipment were stored.

The part of a terrain that can be fired at.

Long-range flanking fire: fire support for the secondary forts. Short-range flanking fire: fire that covers the surroundings of the defensive structure itself.

Known in Dutch as ‘Vestingwet’. The act of the 18th of April 1874 that stipulated which forts would become part of the Dutch national defence system.

The side of a defensive structure that is facing away from the enemy.

In the Defence Line forts this is a casemate giving short-range and long-range flanking fire.

Undercarriage for a cannon or other heavy firearm.

Shell that is filled with highly explosive material.

The flooding of land to keep the enemy at bay.

Also called inlet sluice. A sluice that is constructed with the aim of letting water into a certain area.

An independent system of connected defensive structures.

Artillery that gives frontal fire over large distances, directly aimed at enemy positions.

A simple (temporary) defensive structure manned by a small number of soldiers.

An underground connecting passageway that is shellproof.

Known in Dutch as ‘Kringenwet’. Act of January 1853 that stipulates restrictions with regard to the construction of buildings in the vicinity of defensive structures, the so-called forbidden zones (‘kringen’), in order to guarantee a free field of fire.

A chart that is installed next to the gun port to give the operators of the artillery insight into the distances of targets and the corresponding firing angles.

A place of last refuge for the defenders of a fort, which can be defended independently.

A turret that is lifted up to give fire and is retracted and thus made almost invisible once the firing has stopped.

Position that provides shelter to retreating troops.

Battery that is situated in close proximity to a fort and performs some of the tasks that have been assigned to that fort.

The ability of a building to withstand gunfire thanks to brickwork, concrete or a bottom layer.

A shellproof depot for storing artillery and other essential military equipment.

A fort’s courtyard.

Ground-plan.

A turnable armoured artillery position.