The brewery, each its own size

In this water walk, the former guesthouse occupies a strange place. But we start here, which provides the opportunity to tell something about it. The guesthouse was located near water. You can see this clearly on the figurative map. In the area were various watercourses, the so-called 'laken', small branches of the Demer - more about that later -. In the past, people also referred to it as the 'gasthuislaak' or the 'pekeslaak'. The latter probably because the guesthouse was set up for the care of the elderly after World War II.

Water in the guesthouse was important as drinking water, water as a basic ingredient in medicinal recipes, but also for washing the linens of the sick and brewing beer. When we can consider beer as a sublimated drink of water, it had a certain medicinal character. In the museum, you can also see various pewter cups that contained the measure of the beer to be drunk 'à la tête du client'. Actually, beer was mainly nutritious, strengthening, and easy to 'consume'.

The larger ponds were probably fishing ponds from which freshwater fish were caught for the gray sisters and patients.

These watercourses have today disappeared or are no longer visible because they were covered.

Jan Rymenams