Kallo-Bazeput-Groot Rietveld 8.5 km (derived)

From: Sint-Pietersstraat, Beveren, Oost-Vlaanderen, Vlaanderen
To: Sint-Pietersstraat, Beveren, East Flanders, Flanders

Routing: Manual, Walk - most beautiful

Departure at kallo town square.

Kallo-Bazeput-Groot Rietveld 8.5 km

Departure at kallo town square.

With the old town hall of Kallo in the back, take the Victoriastraat on the right and 50 m later keep right and follow the Zavelgelaagstraat until the Sint Ignatiusstraat where we turn right and after 60 meters on the left side follow the footpath that takes us back to the Sablon layer street. On the other side of the square with the cemetery on the right, we reach the wegel along the Watergang of the High Countries which we follow on the left until we reach the bridge over the Melkader. We cross the Melkader and keep right and follow the path along the left bank. The Melkader is a remnant of an old estuary of the Scheldt and has served as a drainage channel for the polders for centuries. It is still connected to the green belt around Kallo. We now enter the nature reserve De Lisdodde of 10 ha. Especially important for its wide variety of dragonflies: fourteen different species have been observed there.

Follow the first boardwalk on the left and the climbing path after it takes us to the edge of the golf course. We keep right until we descend 50 m further right to the Melkader which connects to the Bazeput further on. It was dug in 1866 for the construction of the ramparts and dikes of the Brialmont fort of Fort Sint-Marie in Kallo at the end of the 19th century. A fort had previously been built nearby in Kallo during the Eighty Years' War by order of Alexander Farnese, who in 1585 succeeded in blocking the Scheldt to Antwerp at Fort Sint-Marie and Fort van Sint Filips (on the other side on the right bank of the Scheldt). The city was forced to surrender, resulting in a disastrous destruction in which thousands of Antwerpers were murdered. This led to a massive exodus of Antwerpers, especially to the Netherlands and the north.

Via the Galgestraat we reach the Groot Rietveld south of the Scheldt dike. Over the remains of the Military dike from Het Lange Eind we step south. Sheltered by the elder bushes, there is a nice overview of the western Groot Rietveld where a lot of water game can be spotted. The Groot Rietveld is one of the exceptions in Flanders where the bittern can be heard again at dusk in April. An unremarkable, smaller, heron species that is very difficult to observe among the reed stalks due to its brown bract color.

We reach the Kwarikweg and cross it, we briefly take the Gasthuisstraat to step left along the railway verge and further parallel to the Melseledijk around the Rietveld Kallo. Back on the gasthuisstraat, we keep left and after 300 m we take the walking path through the park located behind Hof ten Damme on the right. Along the Hoog-Kallostraat on the left we come back to the starting point.