Walking the Netherlands

Day 5: Pieterpad: Groesbeek- Gennep 14.5 km.

Today's trip requires some planning - neither town is on the rail network anymore - although Groesbeek still has a defunct railway line which we walked along some months ago - and Gennep was once on the main London - Berlin route. Both towns have a regular bus service to Nijmegen - but we anticipate the town being in chaos after the end of the vierdaagse and parking spaces to be in short supply. So we opt for the unecological option - take two cars and park one at each end. And just to make life more complicated why not take a friend's dog too?

Groesbeek has traditionally been quite geographically isolated - surrounded by hills and forests it occupies what must be a unique topography for the Netherlands, it is situated at an elevation of c. 40m, but lies in basin in a glacial moraine (the most southerly in the Netherlands) and surrounded by hills that rises to 70m or so. The town was also one of the major centres for the parachute drops that preceded Operation Market Garden and the liberation of the Netherlands. The town itself was almost completely destroyed during the fighting and memories of the time can be found in street names like parachutist street, a museum and a large war cemetry.

From the town centre we head out almost immediately into forest. Yesterday's rain was the heaviest of the year and the forest floor has been virtually swept clean of all it's detritus leaving an absolutely clear and clean soil surface. One can still the paths where the water flowed and little mounds of twigs that got stranded on the slightly higher patches of soil. Emerging from the forest we come across a vineyard (three farmers in the region are now turning their hand to growing grapes and wine production) and some maizes field surrounded by metre wide borders of planted wild flowers. Farmers have now come to see the benefits of planting borders of wild flowers beside their crops (and are being encouraged to do so) to attract insects and other predators and so reduce pest damage and/or pesticide usage. They are also very pretty so it is a win / win situation and the small strips lost to production are more than made up for by less expenditure on pesticides.

After a short spell of open countryside the path takes us back into woodland - this time the St. Jansberg Nature Reserve. Here we enjoy a 4km or so stretch of rugged wooded walking - with views opening up on both the south and north and where one feels part of the landscape. There are deep gullies and ravines, paths that drop off at really sharp angles - it is a mountain bikers paradise. Bella dog finds a pond that looks just the place for a cooling dip but when she gets there she finds herself up to her haunches in a thick porridge of mud and has to really struggle to pull herself out - before coming and shaking herself all over us! This is the edge of the moraine and falls away quite spectacularly to the plain below and to the Province of Limburg. It is quite an unexpected pleasure to enjoy such a steep and lengthy walk downhill.

The last stretch of the walk takes us along the Grensweg - quite literally the border between Germany and the Netherlands and then along a small country lane running directly south across a rather boring stretch of flat country. Here the architecture and breeds of cattle bear some Germanic influence. Halfway to Gennep a bull takes great offence at seeing a dog so close to his herd and lowers and brays at us until we are safely past his field. Bella dog to her credit pays not the slightest heed - neither responding nor cowering. parked on the northern edge of Gennep we don't get the chance to see the town - something to look forward on our next day's outing.

Picture 3 in this series, courtesy of RetArt Productions