The waterings of Arendonk: a flow pasture project with many faces.

The digging of the Dessel-Schoten Canal in 1845-1846 had far-reaching consequences for the population of Arendonk. It created jobs, new agricultural areas were created, new industries... The Vaart was even the cause of the foundation of a new parish community. In the absence of mechanical aids, until the beginning of the 20th century, sturdy men, called boat pullers or ketsers, were put to work pulling the boats along the canal embankment.
One of the industries established along the canal was the dynamite factory. From 1882 thousands of tons of dynamite were produced and used all over the world. The demise of the coal mines also brought the moth to the dynamite production. It was replaced by other industries. Subdivisions brought forth a weekend zone and remnants of old factory halls.
June 8, 1857: the Count of Flanders lays the foundation stone for the construction of a large gin distillery. Besides distilling nearly 20,000 Liters of gin a day, there were also steam machines for grinding grain and a furnace for making fertilizer.
The factory only operated for about five years, then it went bankrupt. The last walls of the buildings were demolished in the 1960s. The house of the factory director has been preserved until today.
At the time of the design of the waterways, the entire region was heathland. The heath land was first leveled. To make the land fertile, they used the calcareous water of the canal. It was tapped at a water trap, a "prisen d'eau" or "pris box" in Arendonks. This water was then led via an ingenious system over the land. The technique used for this was called whitening. The excess water was recaptured and returned to the Bocholt Herentals canal via the colateur.
In the waterings, there were initially five model farms along the avenues "Drève Leopold" and "Drève Louise". They had ringing names such as "Mijn Genoegen," "Wellust," "Wel Tevreden," "Grasrijk" and "Zomerzorg." Farms Zomerzorg and Wellust are the best preserved. During the flowering of the waterings, several more tenant farms were added. At the height of the project of the waterings, so many workers were working that a new hamlet was formed, the Watering. For them, the church of the center was so far away that, as in other hamlets, they were given a chapel to perform their Sunday duties. On May 3, 1852, the chapel was consecrated, as can be read on the plaque next to the chapel's portal.
The company that controlled the 300 acres set up a cheese factory here on the Dutch model. In 1859, about seventy cows from local farms provided the milk for a production of 5 cheeses a day and 15 pounds of butter. The last walls were demolished in the 1960s.
The long straight road used to be called "the Yzeren Weg", then "The Avenue Louise or Louisalaan " and now "the Wateringen".
If there is no wood available, one can use peat to burn, the inhabitants of swamp areas knew this for a very long time. Peat cutting is hard work, with special tools the thick layer of peat is cut off and laid out to dry on dikes. What remains are pits that can later serve as wet meadows, or heathland to graze the sheep. Here in Arendonk and Postel there was plenty of peat moor that could be exploited, Arendonk was known for it, witness the names Moerenstraat, Klotputten, Luif goor, Daries, Postelse Moeren, Reuselse Moeren.

📏 5.5 km
🕑 2h50
📍 Bicycle café Brug 4, Moerenstraat 83, Arendonk
🏁 Bicycle café Brug 4,