Starting Point Winkel
Routes from this starting point
-
Trambaan Route
- 6.85km
-
Aartswoud Route
- 14.71km
-
Groetpolder Route (orange)
- 15.02km
-
Groetpolder Route during the breeding season
- 13.34km
The routes from this starting point begin at the car park behind the distinctive old Regthuys (1599) in the centre of the village of Winkel. The weekly butter market was once held on the forecourt of this former courthouse, later also used as a weighhouse and town hall. Although Winkel was granted town rights in 1415, it has remained very much a village. It lies safely behind a medieval eelgrass dyke, part of the long Westfriese Omringdijk (c. 1200–1250). The village church, a brick hall church dating from 1845, stands just in front of the dyke, on a small mound. To the west, Winkel is bounded by the Alkmaar-Kolhorn Canal, dug as a work relief project between 1938 and 1942.
- The blue Trambaan Route runs to the neighbouring village of Nieuwe Niedorp, partly along the embankment of the former Schagen–Wognum–Hoorn tramway (1898–1935). It also passes through the attractive Dorpsstraat and follows the grass dyke along the canal.
- The green Aartswoud Route partly follows the Trambaan Route and continues to the medieval Langereis drainage canal and the Groene Pade of Aartswoud. It returns to the starting point along the grass dyke beside the Groetkanaal and across farmland, thanks to the cooperation of the farmers Boekhorst and De Heer and landowner De Wit. The route is waymarked in both directions with green arrows.
- The orange Groetpolder Route crosses the Westfriese Omringdijk and enters the Groeterpolder (1847). Farm tracks lead to the grass dyke along the Groeterkanaal. The route then continues along grass dykes beside the Kromme Gouw and the Alkmaar-Kolhorn Canal.
At Limmerschouw, you can visit the Nederlands Kremlin, a sculpture garden that was open on selected dates in 2017: Sunday 16 July, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 August, and Sunday 17 September. Take the opportunity to visit this unique site!