as a person from the Netherlands I was pleasantly surprised a native english speaker like youself called us Netherlanders which is a direct translation of the term we use for ourselves in our own language. instead of Dutch which is an anglicized version of Deutch the word Germans use to call themselves in german. thank you for that (in my oppinion) very sweet and respectfull detail. edit: fixed some typo's.
I’m a Canadian who has been blessed with having visited the Netherlands twice. I am hoping for a third trip. The way I would describe the Dutch people is industrious. It is an amazing and beautiful country.❤
Some 18 minutes of my life went into this show, I watched for free. Those were well spent I'd say. What I liked most (besides pages of other qualities in this short docu-essay) was the open and respectful vibe of it all. The man, the camera, the sound, the weather even, all good to go. Peace brother.
Middelburg is the city of my youth. Still love it and visit a few times every year. It was heavily bombed in WW2, so most of the inner city was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Unlike other cities they decided to rebuild the city exactly like it was before the war. This resulted in a city that looked old, but was actually brand new. It also explains why so many houses have mixed brick colours. The windmills on the bulwarks were never used to pump water. They were saw mills or grain mills.
Ah! I got it all wrong. Never mind the details were good even if they applied to other places. I have just been reading about the destruction of the city and the rebuilding. Thanks for giving me the steer. I want to go back there now and do the video from this new perspective.
@@SkillBuilderMaybe if you would revisit this later you could visit this later and visit towns like Bruges, Damme or Lissewege (a cozy picturesque village all in white bricks on the polders in the country near Seabruges and Damme).
I can recommend the Dutch military architecture: the forts were entirely built of massive amounts of brick until about 1900. There is a famous ring of forts around Amsterdam and Utrecht, but also in Zeeland (fort Rammekens). A must see for a brick lover!
Yeah. Go visit Hellevoetsluis. It’s an old naval port. I grew up there. The fortifications are completely intact and made of brick. It’s quite impressive
You bring a smile …the windmills you’ve shown us were all for milling grain! Earlier than about 1850 all towns of some importance had walls. Lots of bricks!! They were taken down since, but on these walls there used to be windmills to produce flour, mainly. Where the walls and ramparts were taken down, parks were laid out, often called ‘Plantage’. In Zwolle and Hattem parts of the walls remained, and in many Dutch towns they kept the gates. Sails on windmills are set full or trimmed in a diagonal fashion, or left off entirely, according to the wind’s force, btw. The centre of Middelburg was in ruins in 1940 after retrackting French troops shelled it for reasons that have remained unclear. The postwar restauration was done on a small budget and lacks finesse or historical clarity. 17th century brickwork is from small sized bricks and the layers of mortar need to be accordingly thin. Older, medieval brickwork is from bricks significantly bigger than modern sizes, the really big ones called ‘kloostermoppen’ for which I don’t have a good translation, but ‘klooster’ means convent. A stout brick. The restauration was done without a clear choice for the one or the other, and mortar certainly applied too thick. Interestingly for some work bricklayers were instructed to ‘freehand’/not use string, to give the work some semblance of old age. In the townhall the rafters aren’t even of wood. The are made of concrete and painted to look like wood. Thank you for your tour and kind words!
Near to me, in Alkmaar, there are zaagmolen which drove band saws, which were essential for ship building in the Golden Age. It's impressive how many ways the Dutch found to use the power of the wind, blowing across that flat country with no hills to slow it down, harnessed by the mills. I'm a Brit who has lived in NL for 30 years, and have nothing but respect and admiration for those ingenious Golden Age engineers.
Funny. I've an American guest coming and so I went to see what foreigners thought of the country, so as to get a grasp on what to show her. I see more and more, which is how that goes on the internet - and I am appreciating my own country more and more, too. Some Canadian is showing me how awesome our infrastructure is, a Texan tells me how green our grass is, and now a Brit is telling me how great our bricks are. All things I would've passed without a second's thought until now. Thanks for this, it was fun - even though I know nothing of bricks or bricklaying.
Always very appreciative about people visiting the Netherlands and giving nice compliments. Puts it nicely in perspective how good we have it here, which is often easily forgotten sadly. Thank you sir and happy you enjoyed your stay!
The reason that most Dutch buildings are made of bricks is all the rivers. When those flooded, they left behind thick layers of clay, perfect for making bricks out of. As with any other people, we mostly use what's readily available. You will even find brick castles around here.
I’m from Zeeland and as others have pointed out already, Middelburg was bombed during world war 2. If you ever return to this area, I highly recommend visiting Zierikzee. This city is vastly overlooked in my opinion and has basically been virtually untouched since the 1930’s. Bonus facts about Dutch brickwork: we do not use pieces smaller than the 50% of the original brick. The bricklayers I know make fun of the English for using what we call “klezoren”, or quarters of bricks. Also, the trouwels we use are different from the British ones just like the bricklaying process. We don’t use levels but rely on cords to ensure the straightness and plumbness of walls. Great video and thanks for showing the beauty of Dutch brickwork!
One little extra detail I wanted to point out, the windmills that you showed in the video were not all used to pump water. Windmills were used for a plethora of applications ranging from making oils to sawing logs (not shown in the video). We indeed used wind power to create our “polders” but nowadays this process of keeping the land dry is taken over by electric pumps. The white windmill you showed turning in Middelburg is a “korenmolen” or wheat mill from 1735. The fact that it was turning after a bout of rain is purely coincidental. The mills are usually run by (elderly) volunteers to ensure the longevity of the structures. Some mills allow visitors to come check out the mechanism on the inside. If you would like to check this out for yourself, look up “Monumentendag”. This annual event is aimed at showing off our monuments. In the case of windmills, the miller sometimes uses the mill for it’s intended purpose. Our local mill grinds wheat that you can buy to fund the restoration work.
Next time when you see an old windmill, try knock on the door and ask for a tour 😉 Most of them are operated by volunteers who are very proud and love to show you the mill 😃 Ps; we have different kind of windmills; - pump mills - saw mills - flower mills (where they crush grain and barley for example) - etc
This is why I love the internet so so much. I've been to middelburg on vacation, I live in a city that is "very old" but I've never looked at things this way. I love seeing knowledgable and passionate people talk about stuff I had no idea about, they give me perspectives I never would have otherwise
Watch out, I live in a city that is older than Amsterdam. People from Amsterdam speak far too loud, a bit like Yanks. They forgot modesty is its own opposite, often.
Love your channel. As an American born in 1951, my internal vision of Europe was heavily skewed by my father's service flying B26s out of England during WW2. Every adult man I knew as a kid was a veteran of that war or the Korean Conflict where my uncles served (which still hasn't a formal treaty to end it😮). My older brother, et al, served in Vietnam. I didn't think about going overseas until a friend told me she had a sister living in London, married a man who was successful in the City, dont you know? Lived walking distance to Kew Gardens. I'm not posh, coalminer's grand daughter, but my friend was. Don't know why I said all that. I asked her what she thought of London. She'd never been! I was aghast! I said ask your sis if she'll give us beds, or even couches, for a week or so and we'll go! This was in 2000. It was dirt cheap to fly round trip but I knew being there was way more expensive than getting there and back. So, off we went with her 17 yr old son, who behaved as though he were entitled to all the space he could fill up. So rude! Used both arm rests in the tube!😮 Back to why I love your channel. Being a girl, I wasnt supposed to be interested in how stuff works, or in having adventures, or anything except being a wife and mom. No man would teach me anything! I envied the women on Soviet posters driving trains, flying planes, tractors, trucks all things I wanted to do! The 50s here were crazy conservative and stifling. I guess they realized some women liked industry, a good paycheck and not having a husband to serve. Had to get the women out of men's jobs! It wasnt until I married my first husband that I was allowed to turn a wrench or weld anchor cages for pouring concrete slabs for irrigation systems a way out west where every one who can work does whatever work there is to do. I loved it! You show me what I'm interested in, how stuff is made, why it was made that way instead of another, and why it lasts hundreds of years. Before you, I figured stone was the forever material. It isnt! Brick is! I live in the Piedmont of North Carolina where the bright red clay is 3 ft deep and brick is everywhere. Now when I build my dream house/horse barn combo, I'll use brick! Really I'm never going to get out of my hall bedroom. Here an old single wide trailer is the equivalent of a hall bedroom in the UK. I'm out of time and never did have any money. Lol. But I still love knowing how stuff works so I'm adding you to my plumbing, remodeling, horse keeping and truck maintenance reference library. You're my kind of guy, you know, useful.💋💋
"Dutch people...are so bloody civilized..." Very nice of you. I like to think it is about looking for constructive solutions, ways to make the situation work and cooperate.
I’ve travel to the Netherlands a lot of work in recent years, love to culture and the way cars are not the alpha mode of transportation, the road and path layouts / level put bicycles and pedestrians first. Nice video 👍🏼 😊
A week long “field trip” during my second year of Building Surveying degree course in Amsterdam included a day out with a building inspector in the city. Fascinating the methods they have had to develop to maintain the old buildings. Love the Dutch peoples, so friendly and welcoming. Thanks for this one Roger, brought back some great memories 😊
Don’t get off your bike yet Roger. Your in depth insights into the built environment are really appreciated. Looking forward to the next instalment. Regards
Very interesting video Roger I enjoy when you walk around and just shoot the breeze showing us things. Always reckoned you'd make documentaries some time
Btw the sails are only there when there is not much wind. When there is a lot of wind they tie them to the beams, since all the mechanics in the mill was greased timber. Too much wind and it the friction would cause fire, and that (een dolle molen, a runaway windmill) was the fear of every miller. The miller had to be kind of a weatherman to anticipate when to increase or decrease sail.
That is good to know. I did visit a wind pump in Norfolk but the very friendly guy was a little light on hard information. I am not sure he has ever seen it work.
@@SkillBuilder Btw, if you like old bricks, you really need to visit Brugge in Belgium.... Or better, both Brugge and Gdansk in Poland (which is the same as Brugge but with a bit more large city vibe). Might give you an idea how the Kontor/Steelyard of London looked like at some point.
Hi guys, I was hoping you might watch it. I got it wrong with the bond but apparently it is Dutch cross bond not English. Still a lot of impressive brickwork there
Nice to see you visited my Home town Middelburg. The impurities in the mortar are bits of Sea Shells. In the 16/17 century that was the main source of Chalk. Sea Shells were burned over fire to make it suitable for mortar
Oh thanks Peter, I did know that oyster shells were used to make lime but I was really puzzled by those bits. I was thinking they were maonsry bees at first. I enjoyed my visit al lot but reading up when I got back, I realised all the things I missed, like the old Town Hall being destroyed in the war. I suppost the date should have been a clue. Can you tell me what it says on the brick wall, near the bibliotek?
It translates to something like: Tuesday morning or afternoon variable with heavy gusts, thunder and rain. They kept it off and on, led it day by day towards the wall, but made little progress due to the variable weather. At 8 o'clock a steady breeze came, as we drew nearer. While we were walking close to us, we noticed a small vessel with an old naked person in it, screaming loudly. I sailed to the sea in my sloop and, with much struggle, brought him on board the Arent, being a man well into his 50s, from the Bruynen, with a goatee after the Turkish manner, very strong in stature.
He was very surprised about the construction of our ship and all its accessories, as we understand from his my conde. Provided we don't understand the others in the slightest bit, we had to have his own opinions and ideas. We gave him a small mirror, in which he looked at the sigh, at which he was very frightened, as well as at the sound of the clock. We gave him a glass of brandy, which he poured over his throne, and when he felt the force of it, his eyes began to wake up; gave a second glass of brandy with some wormwood, which apparently was of no use; there was a kind of shame in that,
because of his nakedness, because he saw that we were all naked. He therefore laid his arms and head on the table; seemed to be making an oration about this to his god, as was plain enough to see from his movement, and raised his head and hands many times to the sky, used many words with a raising voice, being thus occupied for half an hour, and when he ending with that, he started to jump and sing. He appeared very cheerful and happy. They tied him with a piece of canvas for his shame, which pleased him wonderfully. He also had a naturally cheerful countenance. He danced with the sailors when we played the violin for him. He was not at all surprised at the sound and the construction of the instrument.
His shed was made of small pieces of wood and held together with some vegetation, being provided on the inside with two wooden pieces. It was so light that a man could easily carry it; It was wonderful for us to see that a man alone with such a small vessel should venture so far into the sea thirsty, having nothing to help him but a creator, for when he came to us we were about dry miles away. the wall. In the afternoon we had reached the middle of the island SW. ten Zuyen two miles from us. The wind variable with rain; being therefore pleased to turn away from the shore, we had to abandon our party, as he had little interest in doing so. In order to get rid of him, he was taken into his ships, but he stayed with our ships for a long time until he noticed that we were sailing from land, whereupon he sighed and went to shore. The water was quite hollow, so was my fear whether it would happen. Quiet afternoon with rain. A nice breeze towards the evening. Turn east at 8 o'clock; sighs stiff breeze.
Don't know if that's still true. A fairly large part of our population does not give the impression of adults in their way of thinking and behavior. Hope they will grow up asap.
Thanks Chris. I know that feeling well, the things we could and should have done, the things we should have said. As a parent I don't expect any grand gestures or declarations from my kids but there is satisfaction is seeing them move forward and make a life. I am sure your Dad had that. The worst thing for me is when something catches my attention or I speak to someone who knew them and I think ' I must tell Dad that'.
Yes, it's easy to cycle there when the weather is good, but you try it in winter! Where it's so flat, the wind is unrelenting, you can be riding along at 1mph leant over at 20 degrees. There is a reason there are so many windmills ;-) You are right about the brickwork though, the old architecture is beautiful. I loved living in North Holland for the short time I was there and will always miss the place.
great Video, I'm a builder living in the Netherlands for over 25 years now. The Dutch have a separate mortar for pointing, 'voegspacie' they call it, back in the UK as I remember the pointing was just done with the same mortar you laid the bricks with. another difference is the carpenters have to erect brickwork profiles for the brickys to hang their lines on. and electrics, big difference, new colours are the same but the old colours, the green cable is live!!, first time I came across that I put it down to dodgy wiring, second time I noticed a pattern. old colours are green=live red=nuetral grey=earth Dutch houses had only earth wires to the sockets in the kitchen and only live and neutral in the rest of the house, however, there was always an earth-leakage breaker, even 70 years ago, new builds have earth over the whole house. and there is no lights main or ring main, the various groups out of the fuse box do sockets and lights, it's not unusual to see a socket and switch in one here, something you don't see in the UK.
That is great information and it answers a question on our Belgian video where the joints were raked back and quite rough. It would have been good to meet you and get this information on the video. How is life there? It looks good.
@@SkillBuilder well, I'm a long way from Zealand, I'm in Nijmegen close to the German border, but life is great here, and the people are indeed very friendly. the brickwork wooden profiles mean that if the brickwork is out of level the brickies can just blame the carpenters!
I've only recently started to take an interest in brickwork but I believe that the "Amsterdamse School" of architecture, a kind of Art Deco in brick from the 1920's that did a lot of (privately funded) social housing, pushed brick laying to the limits with lots of brick ornamentation and even sculpture. It's also outside Amsterdam, and the appartement blocks in Amsterdam are outside the tourist infested areas and far away from the stag parties. Check "Het Schip", "De Dageraad" "Het scheepvaarthuis" and many more. Speaking of Moore, the great Henry Moore was convinced to do a mural sculpture, a kind of bas relief, in brick in Rotterdam by the quality of Dutch bricklaying. It's is his only work in brick. In general in the first half of the Dutch 20th century also less adventurous architecture had a lot of extra brick laying just to make buildings prettier in a subtle way.
@@SkillBuilder That is a bit one sided. If you have a tiny piece of land, and you want to live on it with 17 million people in great wealth, and you want to be the second largest agricultural power in the world (by value, including re-exports), then you see it is physically impossible to do without breaking either physics or the future of the land. It is not the EU that is to blame. It is the lack of making difficult decisions in The Hague that causes the problems. Admittedly, the people don't want the choices made too. This is the conflict. It is a question of perspective if you say the conflict is with the EU or with the Dutch among themselves, or the Dutch against physics/biology. My take on it, we need to slowly decrease our number of inhabitants (also in view of subsidence of land, rising sea levels, etc.)
@@SkillBuilder No the Luftwaffe. Same happened to Rotterdam. The Dutch unsurprisingly promptly surrendered after that, so it was a smaller version of what happened to Japan later on..
I thoroughly enjoyed your video Skill Builder, and happy you are enjoying the Netherlands. As a 'Netherlander' I'm proud of a lot of things this country has to offer. Some people think we ride bikes here because we have a flat country, but it is really mostly the infrastructure and the government that implemented it. Even with elevation there are ways to build good bike infrastructure for it in my opinion, more even because of the electric bike revolution from the last ten years.
A very enjoyable video. You remarked about how long some of these buildings had stood and wondered about how long our modern constructions will last. Hopefully, not long! Grim, stark, cold, and cheap for the most part and better pulled down after 50 years.
Nice one Roger!! I was in the RAF many years ago now and was stationed at one time at a place called Bruggen on the Dutch border near a village called Roermond and Elmpt loved it there, as you say clean and tidy.
Super enjoyable video. I learned a lot. And I like your keen historical facts, analyses of not only buildings. But also on society. "Not fight". I liked that.
I've just stumbled upon your channel. Very enjoyable stuff. I'm a civil engineer and Builder in Washington DC, particularly enjoyable "WHS"..Will be stealing that one tomorrow at the project site...
Like this idea of going to see other countries and exploring building practices! Ps. Youd be surprised that the NL is a predominantly catholic country. Translation on wall writing (AI): On Tuesday Morning or Night, variable weather with strong gusts, thunder, and lightning. We made little progress throughout the day due to the changing weather. At 8 o'clock, a steady breeze allowed us to approach a bit closer. We noticed a small vessel near us with an old naked man in it, who was shouting loudly. I took my boat to it, and after much resistance, brought him aboard the *Arent*. He was a man of about 50 years, with dark skin and a small beard in the Turkish style, very strong in build. He was very astonished by the construction of our ship and all its accessories, as we could understand from his gestures. Since we could not understand his language at all, we had to interpret his gestures and signs. We gave him a small mirror in which he looked at himself and became very frightened, also by the ringing of the bell. We gave him a small glass of brandy, which he poured over his face, and when he felt its strength, he began to rub his eyes vigorously. We gave him a second glass of brandy along with a small piece of ship’s biscuit, which he ate. He seemed somewhat ashamed due to his nakedness, seeing that we were all clothed. He laid his arms and head on the table, seemingly in prayer to his deity, as was clear from his movements. He raised his head and hands many times towards the sky, speaking many words in a loud voice, thus engaged for a good half hour. When he finished, he began to jump and sing. He appeared very cheerful and happy. We gave him a piece of sailcloth to cover his modesty, which pleased him greatly. He was naturally cheerful in appearance. He danced with the sailors when we played the violin for him. He was quite amazed by the sound and construction of the instrument. It was astonishing for us to see a man dare to venture so far out to sea alone with such a frail vessel. His boat was made of small pieces of wood held together by some kind of plant, with two pieces of wood inside for support. It was so light that one person could easily carry it. It was astonishing to see a man venture so far into the sea with such a meager craft, having nothing else to assist him but a scoop, for when he reached us, we were about three miles from shore. We saw the middle of the island southwest by south two miles from us at noon. The wind was variable with rain, forcing us to turn away from the shore. We had to send him back to his boat, to which he was reluctant. We put him back in his vessel, but he stayed by our ships until he noticed we were sailing away from the land, whereupon he made his way back to shore. The water was quite rough, and I feared whether he would make it back safely. In the afternoon, it was calm with rain. Towards evening, there was a nice breeze. We turned eastward at 8 o'clock; at night, a strong breeze.
The text engraved on the wall is a quote from a ship's log about the discovery of Easter Island and the first contact with the local population. The part on the wall: "Dinsdagh smorgens of snagts variabel met harde vlagen, donder en weerligt. Hielden ’t af en aan, leyden ’t met den dagh na den wal, maar avanceerde weynig door ’t variabel weer. Ten 8 uuren quam een gestadige coelte, daar we wat mede naderde. Wierden onderwylen dighte by ons een kleyn vaartuigh gewaar, daar een oud naakt mens in sat, die geweldigh schreeuwde. Ik voer met mijn sloep naar ’t selve toe, bragt hem met veel tegenscrabbelinge aan boort van den Arent, zijnde een manspersoon van diep in de 50 jaren, uyt de bruynen, met een sikje na de turkse manier, heel sterk van gestalte. Hij verwonderde hem zeer over ’t maaksel van ons schip en alle zijn toebehooren, sooals wy uyt zijn mynen conde verstaan. Mits we den anderen niet in ’t minste conde verstaan, soo moesten wy ’t uyt zijn mynen en wysinge hebben. Wy gaven hem een kleyn spiegeltjen, waarin hy sigh beschoude, waarover hy seer verschrikte, alsmede over het luyen van de klok. We gaven hem een glaasje brandewijn, ’t geen hy over zijn tronie goot en wanneer hy de kragt daarvan voelde, begon hy zijn oogen wakker te vryven; gave een tweede glaasje brandewijn nevens een wormbeschytje, daar soo te seggen niets van nuttighde; daar was een soort van schaamte in," It's in old Dutch but I'll give translating it a go. It'll be filled with mistakes but you can get the gist of it: "Tuesday morning or night with hard gusts, thunder and flashes. [...] little progress due to variable weather. Around 8 o'clock, it cooled down as we approached. In the meantime a small boat approached us, driven by an old naked person who screamed loudly. I approached him with my sloop, took him aboard 'the Arend' (name of the ship) as he resisted very much. A male person, 50 y/o, uit of the browns, with a goaty in a Turkish manner, very strong frame/body. He was amazed at our ship and the things aboard [... as we could understand it...] We gave him a mirror in which he viewed himself, startled, also by the sounding of the clock. We gave him a glass of brandy, which he poured in [lit. over/on] his face and when he felt its strength, rubbed his eyes; gave him a second glass of brandy and a worm biscuit [(?) I imagine just an infested piece of hard tack], which he didn't eat; it seemed to be some kind of shame(fulness)," In the logbook, it continues: "wegens zijn naaktheyt, daar hy sagh, dat wy alle gekleet waren. Hij ging deswege met zijn (h)armen en hooft op de tafel leggen; scheen daarover een oratie aan zijn godtheyt te doen, gelijk klaar genoeg uyt sijn beweginge was te sien en verhefte (de) hooft en handen menighmaal na den hemel, gebruykte veel woorden met een verheffende stem, zijnde aldus wel een half uur besigh en wanneer hy daarmede eyndigde, begon hy te springen en te singen. Vertoonde hem seer vrolijk en verblijt. Bonden hem een laptjen zeyldoek voor zijn schamelheyt, ’t geen hem wonderwel behaagde. Hy was ook uyt de nature vrolijk van gelaat. Hy danste met de matroosen, toen wy voor hem op de viool lieten spelen. Hy verwonderde sigh niet weynigh over ’t geluyt en het maaksel van het instrument. Zijn schuytjen was van kleene stukjes hout gemaakt en met eenigh gewas aan malkanderen gehouden, zijnde van binnen met twee (h)outjes voorsien. ’t Was soo ligt dat een man het gemakkelijk kon dragen; ’t was voor ons wonderlijk te sien, dat een man alleen met soo een nietigh vaartuygh sigh soo ver in zee dorst begeven, hebbende niets ander tot zijn behulp dan een schepper, want, toen hy by ons kwam, waren wy circa dry mylen van de wal. Hadden smiddags het midden van het eyland Z.W. ten Zuyen twee mylen van ons. De wind variabel met regen; zijnde daardoor genootsaakt om van de wal te wenden, moesten wy ons gezelschap afschepen, daar hy weynigh sin toe hadt. Dede hem, om van hem ontslagen te komen, in zijn vaartuygjen brengen, dogh hij bleef soo lange by onse schepen, tot dat hy merkte dat wy van land voeren, waarop hy sigh na de wal toe begaf. ’t Water vrij(al) hol, soo was mijn vrese of hij wel overkomen zou. Naarmiddags stilletjens met regen. Tegen den avont een moy coeltjen. Wenden ten 8 uuren oostwaarts; snagts stijve coelte."
Thank you so much for that. It took a while I am sure but you have added to my knowledge and others watching this video. I imagine it will be a while before that writing fades.
@@SkillBuilder 'The explorer was Jacob Roggeveen from Middelburg. Text comes from the journal of Cornelis Bouwman, captain of one of the three ships taking part in this expedition. Text is engraved in the wall of the archive where the original is preserved, dated 5th April 1722.
Perhaps you have covered this in another video, but I was surprised you didn't also bring attention to the streets themselves, which are predominantly made of bricks. Having spent quite a lot of time in the Netherlands over the past few years, I have frequently observed when groundwork is undertaken (for new cables or pipe-works, etc). The bricks, which are laid on sand, are quickly lifted (no jackhammer road drill), the sand dug out, the alterations made, sand replaced, bricks replaced, job done. There is no hardcore and concrete foundation to dig though (and no later repair necessary when the surface has settled). I also have a theory that because the bricks are laid on sand, and allow water to soak in all around, during the winter when it freezes, the whole camber can expand (without damaging the road surface) and when it thaws again, settles back to where it was before.
The second windmill that you show is indeed a pumping mill, used to help drain polders. The first one is most likely a grinding mill, probably used to produce flour. Mills of that type were often constructed on city ramparts, since the extra elevation would help give it access to stronger, less gusty winds, unimpeded by surrounding buildings, without having to the expense of constructing a taller mill. It also meant that the mill was located conveniently close to the customers for the flour. If you are interested in Dutch brick buildings, I heartily recommend a visit to the Art Museum in Den Haag. It was constructed in the 1930’s to an Art Deco design and is built from very striking yellow bricks. It is one of my favourite buildings anywhere. What an amazing period for construction that was, both in the UK and NL.
3:46 is actualy English bond, course of headers followed by a course or stretchers. Flemish bond consists of a course of alternating headers and stretchers.
You are right, it was my senior moment. I did a bit more research and found it is actually Dutch cross bond because the brick lneght is three times the width.
Wind mills have to be used regularly to be kept in good condition even if they have lost their original use like pumping water out. A lot of grain milling windmills are still used to mill grain
Hi Roger, I was glad you highlighted the cultural differences in cleanliness, friendliness, cycle paths vs psychopaths in the UK, and Dutch efficiency. I just came back from the Netherlands having visited my old hometown. Worth visiting the 'Achterhoek' next time, to continue your Dutch series on Skill Builder. Oh, yes, if you know of anyone that can help us finish of our side extension (builders vanished) in West London, please let me know.
This is amazing. As if I watched a documentary on national television. Well done video by a passionate producer and a great story teller. Well done! I enjoyed every bit of it!!
I'm not an expert like you but I appreciate those brick buildings and different technics as much as you do. You should visit the neighborhoods in Amsterdam that were build in the 20's and 30's "Amsterdamse School". The brick work of these designs were so outstanding and beautiful.
One thing I'd like to add is that back in the day when importing stuff was really expensive we only had wood or brick. There's no natural stone in the Netherlands apart from some boulders and some hills with maybe some sandstone. Like, literally, there's no slate, no stone whatsoever.
The town hall construction actually started in 1452... It did burn down during the war but they rebuild it, basically the outer walls are mostly original and everything on the inside and things like the roof were restored after the war. So the date you looked up was probably in the 1950's but that's just the date when it was restored.
Great to see my hometown Middelburg, makes me appreciate the brickwork, which I never really gave attention to. So of course I subscribed to this channel! 😊
Today I visited Slot Loevestein and Woudrichem and it also is a brick phenomenon aswell and it is maintained good. These brick buildings from the medevil times and the golden century are basically everywhere when I visit places around Eindhoven. I have not got enough time off to have a look at them all.
I have family in Holland and when I return to the UK after a week or ten days with them, it feels like I'm coming into a third world country in comparison. As you mentioned, rarely se any litter lying around. Most places a very tidy and almost everybody seems to keep the home and gardens in order. I even saw one of those road sweeper machines cleaning the hard shoulder of a motorway last time I was there. And that's what you get when you pay nearly 40% tax straight off the bat; a proper civilised country that is nice to live in.,
I lived in Belgium for some years. Some of the brickwork we saw there was fantastic. Lots of detailed work. Even saw a house with artwork on the gable wall made by setting bricks at different depths. Their tax system meant there was an incentive to renovate old houses. We saw one couple transform an old building with external wall insulation and brick slips. Looked like a new house when finished. Slips seem to be expensive in the UK.
There are over 1000 windmills in the Netherlands. Besides water mills there are of course lots of grain mills. Most of them are still working, many even commercialy. And yes, we do also use modern pumping stations
Apparently Amsterdam is concerened about too many visitors but the surrounding cities are still welcoming tourists and a bike is a great way to see them
Thank you for telling me. We weren't sure if this sort of video would be well received by our audience but if it gets views and thumbs up we are keen to do more.
Hi Roger, about fifteen years ago I decided the time had come to re-point the front of our victorian terrace in Cambridge. To start with I used my angle grinder with a Tungsten bit to rake out the joints to a depth slightly greater than the width of the joint so that the new mortar could not ever come loose and just roll out!. This meant that the new mortar was deep enough to not dry out before it cured, also I chose to flood the wall with water so that all the brickwork was quite wet. The un-intended consequence of this was that the slight smears of fresh lime mortar stained the surface of the bricks and would not brush off, I thought at the time that this would soon fall away but here we are fifteen years on and none of it has come off!, what a sad mess it is!. I later experimented with differing techniques on other job sand the last big one that I did everything just the same but for the final cleaning which I did again with the hose-pipe, about half an hour after pointing, with the joint piped over as it started to set and lots of clean water and a soft sponge!, this removed all of the smears without disturbing any of the mortar in the joints and left a perfect clean finish!, all that I had been told years ago about never going near fresh mortar with anything wet was complete rubbish!. The old ways are not always the best!. Cheers, Richard.
I tend to soak the wall the day before. Mostly I want to wash out the loose but it provides enough moisture to stop the pointing cracking. Having been bitten once I am not sure I would have dared do what you did on the last one but, good on you it was an education.
Hi Richard, I've done the same in the past and had much success with removing the lime stains with white vinegar and a stiff toothbrush. Might be worth a try? Hope this helps!
The Dutch gave advice to Dubai, about making islands in the sea. They chose someone else to design their palaces on sand. Now those enigmas are slowly slipping away.
Great video. I'm Dutch and live in The Netherlands for my entire life. But I do like going abroad for holidays ofcourse :) For me it's normal and very usual to see brickwork on houses, walls, tunnels, mills etc. but your video made me realise how special it actually is. In response to what you said about how civilized The Netherlands is: I agree to a certain extend. I live quite rural in the south but once you go to the larger cities and look up the violence and crime rates they tend to go up quite alot. I think society (mainly in the cities) has hardened in our country. But that doesent take away there are alot of decent, friendly and social people aswell. I enjoyed seeing you enjoy our country :) I really like England aswel.
Yes, you are right all cities tend to do that to people and London is no exception either. I have just read a book on the history of London and down through the ages it has been very violent, almost as a sport rather than to gain something.
@@SkillBuilder Hi, that book sounds interresting. Have you heard about the abandoned subway tunnels in London? Would that also be a good subject to make a video about? or the tube in general? Its an absolute construction miracle :)
Lovely to see someone venture outside of the ysual suspects like Amsterdam ir Rotterdam for once and visit our beautiful province of Zeeland. The churche you described is nowadays used as a concert venue and has and is lit beautifully at night.
9:33 many of those old windmills are kept in working order. There are some that were built to pump water out of polders, like you mentioned earlier in the video, but this one, standing by itself in the middle of a city, was probably built for wheat milling. I don't know this one specifically, but I would bet that it is used to make flour that supplies artisanal bakeries.
About the windmills, very few of the pumping ones still have that task. And many are grinders, for grains. Some, mainly in the Amsterdam area, are woodsaws.
