The Aa Valley in Poppel

Appointment at the Sint-Valentinuskerk in Poppel, borough of Ravels (V). The church dates from the beginning of the 16th century and is a fine example of Kempen Gothic. Departure, along the busy steenweg, direction Tilburg. After 300 meters you will arrive at the Heemkundemuseum 't Kaske, the former town hall of Poppel 1. Go to the right and cross the footpath into the grass square with kiosk behind the museum. Now cross the Mierdsedijk and walk straight ahead. Soon you will be walking in the open field on a single-lane concrete road. The large stables on the left belong to a pig farm. • At the T-junction, turn right and 200 meters further to the right again on a wide earth road, towards walking junction 29 of the Antwerpse Kempen hiking network. Soon you will come to the Aa, a tributary of the Kleine Nete that drains the area north of Turnhout. Continue straight on the concrete track and then turn left. Ignore the exit to walking junction 27 on the right. The single-lane concrete road turns to the left and then to the right and brings you to a pair of rest benches and a striking information panel in the shape of a wooden clog 2. It is an info panel of the Smugglers' Route, a local cycling loop. The smugglers had clogs with an inverted footprint (heel and sole had been swapped) and literally misled the customs officers. • Now turn left towards walking junction 26, also on a single-lane concrete road. After 200 meters you cross the Aa again and at the forest turn right towards junction 13. On the left in the mixed forest you can see mainly Scots pine but also birch, native and American oak and a lot of rhododendron. The concrete road becomes paved dirt road. Walk straight ahead and ignore all exits and side paths. The wide dirt road turns to the right after 500 meters. In the bend there is a picnic bench. After 50 meters, turn left on the concrete track and 100 meters further left again. • The large stables on the right are pigsties again and here you can smell that well. Cross the Beekseweg 350 meters further and walk straight on a wide country road. Turn right at the forest and then straight on until the dirt road rejoins the Beekseweg after 700 meters. Now step along the wide concrete track for 250 meters and turn left at the first exit on an asphalt track. On the right you see a typical 'better' Kempen farmhouse. The asphalt track becomes a hard dirt road, turns to the left and now runs parallel to the Belgian-Dutch border that lies here on the right along the edge of the forest. • Now walk straight for a mile to hike junction 97. For those who are thirsty, there is café De Grens 3 75 meters further on the large road, at the former border crossing between Turnhout and Tilburg. At walking junction 97, turn left on a wide dirt road towards walking junction 05. Right behind the trees you can hear the traffic on the busy Tilburgseweg (N12). Ignore all exits and stay on the dirt road, parallel to the N12. After about a kilometer you walk along the edge of the forest and behind the gardens of houses along the Tilburgseweg. A few hundred meters further on the left at a crossroads of wide forest roads is a chapel. Walk to the left before the chapel on a wide dirt road. • Again, ignore all exits and go straight ahead after half a kilometer on the asphalt track. Walk to the right at the T-junction. After 400 meters you will come to a road sign 'Ravels Poppel' and on the right a small white chapel. Ignore the exit on the right and continue walking straight along the Beekseweg. Ignore all exits again until the N12 or Tilburgseweg and turn left towards the village and church. Just in front of the former town hall is the artwork Friendship 4, symbol of the friendship between Dutch and Belgians that makes Poppel unique and is portrayed by (it cannot be more stereotypical) a Dutchman with a ball of cheese and a Belgian with a bag of fries.