The Sailing Dutchman - interesting bit of history

That's fascinating, thanks.
The Dutch seem to have an ability to just get on with things without years of arguing.
 
Thanks for sharing.
There is an equally fascinating story of the flooding of Walcheren at the end of WWII. The dyke was broken as a result of targeted Allied bombing in order to flush out the Germans. It took quite some time and an enormous effort to close the gap and pump the Island dry again. Another example of the continuous fight of the Dutch against the North Sea.
 
It surprises me that land that was under seawater, and therefore likely to be salt contaminated, can be used for farming so quickly after pumping out the water. Do the Dutch have some method of neutralising the salt, which is poisonous to most plantlife?
 
It surprises me that land that was under seawater, and therefore likely to be salt contaminated, can be used for farming so quickly after pumping out the water. Do the Dutch have some method of neutralising the salt, which is poisonous to most plantlife?

North Holland would probably have been brackish due to the Afsluitdijk dam being completed in 1932
 
I visited the museums at Lelystad last year. There was a lot about the Afsluitdijk and reclaiming the polders but I don't recall this event being mentioned. Perhaps the Flevolanders don't care what happens in North Holland?
 
Thread drift for which I apologise.
I visited Leylystadt and Flevoland as part of my Masters in Urban and Regional Planning. We were shown a map of the polders and when they were created. I saw very clearly how they had changed with each passing generation. Getting larger and larger each time with fewer and fewer settlements. What also struck me is how the road network was changing with each new polder as transport technology changed from horse and cart, to canal, to train to motor vehicle. In short, the map showed how all economic activity and urban form is governed by the transport paradigm.

Enough philosophy, the vid was lovely.
 
In reply to Norman E my copy of “Facts and Figures - the IJsselmeer Polders”, states that polders are drained via canals dredged when the Land is still under water and when the water table is reduced to 1m or 1.5m below ground level, enclosed Land is first seeded with reed by aircraft, and when capable of bearing the weight of caterpillar tracked vehicles is then ( after say 5 years) planted with Colza which has apparently “from time immemorial” been used as a specific reclamation plant.
Later ( but my pamphlet does not say how much later) grain crops of wheat barley and oats generally follow, before the ground is mature enough to support “more intensive development”.
So there you have it!
 
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