[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Link to photos of this little harbour town? Who doesn't love a picturesque seaside place...

It is not very picturesque, as the seaside is separated from the town by a high dike and just has a yacht harbor and fish auction.
It mainly attracts visitors who either have a boat in the harbor or are on a hike or tour. It also has a couple of decent restaurants and some bars.


Colijnsplaat has a sandy beach right there ^. And 50 is a crowd...


The street where my father-in-law lived and mother-in-law still lives.


It would not be in the Netherlands if it had no windmills

In Roman times there was a temple for the goddess Nehalennia somewhere close to where Colijnsplaat is now, as large stones of it were found in the sea nearby, and it must have looked like this. There was a similar temple in Domburg with which it had tight connections.


The new dike (on the left) was built seaward, cutting off the old harbor from the sea. The old dike has several houses built on it and could therefore not be enlarged.
The old harbor was filled in and converted to a grassy field and a parking lot, but recently the grass made way for a big pond with a piece of contemporary art in it to symbolize the old harbor and a lack of good taste.

At the north sea flood of 1953 the harbor access gate in the dike wall was blocked by wooden beams locked in slots at the wall ends, but the waves lifted them out. The men in the village kept putting them back and tried to hold them down with their arms over them, getting soaked to the bones by the storm and the waves crashing against and over the beams.

Just when it got so bad that they were about to give up a large ship broke away from its moorings and landed athwart the gate, protecting it from the brunt of the waves.
The Miracle of Colijnsplaat saved the town while thousands of people drowned elsewhere.
The captain of the boat got a fine for not securing it properly, but was more than compensated for it by thankful villagers angry with that fine.