Through the coulters of the Westhoek

Appointment at the late Gothic St. Victor Church (V) in Proven, borough of Poperingen. Leave, with your back to the church, on Alexis Square to the right, away from the main road. You pass the municipal school De Kastanje and the Sint-Jozefzaal and after a left turn you already walk in the open field. On the right a typical hop field, but otherwise a lot of corn. Cross the Haringebeek and immediately turn left at the fork on a narrow tiled path. This road takes you to the main road after 400 m. Cross the stone road and walk straight ahead into the Bromstraat. After a right and a left turn you will see a few beautiful puddles on the right with dense reed collar and associated moorhens. Ignore a field road on the right and an asphalt road on the left and continue straight on in the Bromstraat.

The views remain wide and far and the fields show a nice sample of the intense agricultural activity of the region. Large farming activities are alternated with here and there a small, abandoned and almost dilapidated farmhouse. The asphalt road will continue to be called Bromstraat, but now in the municipality of Alveringem. Another kilometer further you come to the main road. From here to the church of Haringe: watch out for traffic, which sometimes passes by very quickly!

Walk to the left along the main road, soon cross the Haringebeek again, and after another 500 m turn left into the Molenwalstraat. The church on the right in front of you is the Sint-Martinuskerk of Roesbrugge. After just over a kilometer, cross the N308 and go straight ahead into Heybrugstraat. At the fork, with a beautiful chapel on the left in honor of Our Lady of Consolation, you walk to the right and then to the left along the main road to the village of Haringe. Admire the monumental St. Martin's Church (1). It dates from the late 16th century and retained its Romanesque architecture of around 1100. The late baroque furniture and interior and especially the unique Van Petegehem organ date from the late 18th century and are particularly beautiful. Continue walking along the main road and bend to the left in the Moenaardestraat. In the bend is the statue of the saga figure Charles the Blue (2). The region, here near the French-Belgian border, was a paradise for 'blues' or smugglers. The image and the annual election of Karel de Blauwer keep the memory of this marginal 'profession' alive.

Walk 50 m further right into Nachtegaalstraat. After 400 m you are at the Haringhe (Bandeghem) Military Cemetery (3). It is one of more than 1,000 war cemeteries here in the Westhoek and in France where more than 750,000 Commonwealth soldiers died on the Western Front during The Great War. Definitely worth thinking about. Continue walking along the asphalt of the Nachtegaalstraat and ignore all side roads. Walk to the right at the T-junction and after 100 m to the left, still in the Nachtegaalstraat. The views remain wide and far with large farms. The church at the end on the right is that of Houterque, just over the 'schreve', and in front of you you can see the tower of the Sint-Bavokerk in Watou. After another kilometer you turn left into the Terenburgseweg. After 500 m you cross the Haringe-Watou stone road and walk straight ahead into the Terenburgseweg. Also at the next two intersections you go straight ahead. Soon you will see the silhouette of the church of Proven. Just turn right into Baron Mazemanlaan and at the T-junction to the left. After 200 m you cross the N308 again and you are back at the Peperbus, as the people here call the beautiful celebration tower of the Sint-Victor church.