Boekhoute, fishing village without harbour

Appointment at the H. Kruiskerk of Boekhoute, borough of Assenede. Boekhoute was a real port village until around 1600 and had a direct connection to the sea via the Braakman, a side arm of the Westerschelde. The construction of several dikes against the regular floods and the silting of the Braakman pushed the harbor channel further and further to the northwest, until the Braakman was completely closed in 1952 and Boekhoute became a fishing village without a port. The fishing boat BOU-8 in the village square and the fishing museum in the old town hall right in front of the church, together with the annual shrimp festivals, remind us of the fishing past.

Be sure to take a look at the boat and the beautifully landscaped water feature and walk past the church into the Noordstraat. As soon as you leave the village, the polders stretch for miles. After more than a kilometer you will see on the left the chapel Nood zoekt Troost (just past house number 152). Continue to the left and then right next to the Leopold Canal. The path takes you along the water to the Isabellage maal. This pumping station pumps the water from the East Flemish polders via the Isabella Canal to the Dutch Braakman Creek. Walk to the right along the main road and after 100 m to the left on the cobblestone road towards Philippine. On the left is a border marker: you are now walking in the Netherlands. At the end of Boekhouteweg, turn right along Dijckmeesterweg. After 350 m (and 20 m past the dike) you have a change on the right. Step over the fence and climb on the dike. The view of the polders from the dike (seawall until 1914) is miles wide. Leave the dike after 400 m via another change. You come to a gravel road that you follow on the left. 50 m further on is a small underground bunker complex on the left.

Continue walking between two rows of poplars on the Olmendijk. After 450 m, turn left down the dike and at the Dijckmeesterweg turn right towards Philippine. Follow this road for 1.2 km and at the beginning of the buildings turn right into Weststraat, until Philipsplein. In addition to the town hall and the Church of the Assumption, you also have numerous taverns and eateries where you can have a drink and taste the famous mussels from Philippine. Leave Philipsplein via Gentsebreedstraat and then Posthoornstraat. Continue straight for 1 km and at the border turn left into Hollekenstraat. You walk along the border and after 700 m you come to the bottomless pit, a reminder of the dike breach of 1808. Follow 400 m further to the right still the Hollekenstraat. At the Rode Polder you can step a few hundred meters next to and below the concrete road if desired. A little further on the right is a large water feature: the Red Trench. In the early Middle Ages, this area still consisted of salt marshes and mudflats. The creeks are remnants of gullies that were created during floods and dike breaches. After the restoration of the dikes, most of the creeks gradually dried up. The largest, such as here the Red Trench and a little further the Great Trench, remained as open puddles, a paradise for many species of waterfowl.

Walk 100 m further, on the Oude Molenstraat, a few meters to the left and continue along and left below the Hollekenstraat. The field road rejoins the concrete road after 300 m. Step 150 m further, before Café Passé, turn right on the cobblestone road, into the Doornendijkstraat. Climb 275 m further, before the bend via a staircase on the left on the dike and go up through a gate into the nature reserve. You now walk for almost 1 km on top of the dike between beautiful rows of canada poplars, with a left view of the Grote Geul. Leave the nature reserve via another gate, descend from the dike and walk through poplar lanes straight on to the asphalt road. Turn left, after 100 m to the right in the Knotwilgenstraat and immediately right again in the Kapellewegel. On the single-lane concrete road to the right (Wildestraat). After more than 1.5 km, leave the Peerbomestraat, continue for 200 m to the left and after another 50 m turn left again into the Ooststraat. After 500 m you are back on the village square.