Rotterdam was and is a world-class port city. But what do you do when you can't get there with your ship? Then you end up in Brouwershaven. That's how it happened around 1840. Silting up of the Brielse Maas and the Goereese Gat meant that sea-going ships could not get to Rotterdam. Nor in the port of Brouwershaven, which was far too small and the access channel was too narrow and shallow. So dukdalven were quickly installed, a kind of mooring posts near the sandbar “Dwars in de weg”. Hundreds of ships passed by and this made Brouwershaven bustle. Many sea and river pilots (people who know a lot about the local waterways) came to live there and er they got their own offices 'the Pilotage building.' A huge barrel warehouse also arrived. The barrels, which were stored here, were used to indicate the navigational route for ships. The red barrels on the right and the green barrels on the left. Between them is the safe navigation route. At the time, as many as 27 hotels and cafes could be found in the town, not to mention the luxurious seaside hotel Catsburg. But in 1870, Rotterdam got another connection to the sea. There was no more bustle. People moved away and the luxury seaside hotel was demolished. In Brouwershaven, peace returned. Question 3: What is the name of the luxury seaside hotel? Write down the 1st letter.
Because Brouwershaven's mill is on the town's ramparts, you can see it from afar. Built in 1724, grain was still ground here until 1954. Restoration began a few years later and found traces of an old mill that stood on the same spot. The last restoration took place in the 1960s by the millwright J. van den Hamer. So the little mill “windlust” has apparently been good publicity! Of course, this mill also has a name. Which one is that? You can find that on the cap of the mill. Question 4: On which dike is this mill located? Write down the last letter.
You can see very far here, not everything is overgrown. You see dune grassland, drifting sand and dune valleys. This is very rare in the Netherlands. To make sure it stays open, around 100 Shetland ponies walk around here. They eat dune reeds, saplings and tree bark. They also break up the soil. This allows the sand to be carried away by the wind, creating new sand dunes. Sand bees and sand beetles live in the sand and “sand plants” such as marram grass and sand seagrass grow there. This is how they protect the Sea Dunes from becoming overgrown. Handy gardeners, those Shetland ponies.
Take the 6th and 8th letters of these handy gardeners.