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Pavlik_NL Says: Driel must be quite religious, but then a lot of countryside villages are (in contrast to the town). The other church is modern and has a high tower with a copper pointy roof. This roof is like a symbol of driel and visible from over quite some distance. This, Catholic,...
Pavlik_NL Says: After the battle was over, Driel became a frontline village. Most inhabitants left and parts of the "Betuwe" were inundated (set under water). During the fights in September some civilians already were killed, but the village became almost a ghost town in the winter 44-45....
The dark days of 1944 reached even acros the Rhine
Pavlik_NL Says: September 1944. The battle of Arnhem has been lost, but the mayor force of several thousand British are still trapped in Oosterbeek, North of the river Rhine. Surrounded and outnumbered by much better armed Nazi's they struggle to survive and then the command of withdrawl...
What would a river village be without the river
Pavlik_NL Says: Driel is situated on the Southern banks of the river Lower Rhine. Here it flows straight along the hills of the "Veluwe" that runs up to around 100 meter high North of the river. Driel itself is in the low riverlands and has had - like the rest of the "Betuwe" - it's share...
Turn around and admire the Welsh organ
Pavlik_NL Says: When in the church, you will be treated immediately by all there is to know about the building and it's history and contents. Mr. Willemsen will tell you everything in full enthousiasm. Also about the organ, that has been "inherited" from a Welsh village with which Driel has...
A "kansel" (preacher's chair) from 1714
Pavlik_NL Says: Trying to contact the family Willemsen for a look inside the church is surely worth while the effort. The small and old church holds a magnificent "kansel" (preachers chair) that dates back from 1714. The wooden sculpture is incredably fine and has spectacular great forms...
Pavlik_NL Says: Started as a Roman Catholic church, the most significant building in Driel is for sure the old Dutch Reformed church. The building dates back to 1400, the year that the village of Driel was already known in the environment as a fruit basket. Farmers here sold their products...
More explanation about the waterworks
Pavlik_NL Says: The "tap" within the river Rhine of course also can deliver difficulties. When it's closed, ships wouldn;t be able to get along, if not there was a seperate lock system running by the island that has been created within the river. Yes, to let migrating fish pass, there's...
Pavlik_NL Says: When you stand on the riverdike near Driel, you gaze upon one of the wonders of water engineering in The Netherlands. Here the Rhine has been tamed by actually putting a "tap" in it. This "tap" is a movable dam. Just twenty kilometres upstream the IJssel runs North and this...
Rutjensland B & B: In The Netherlands we say "Bed en Boterham"
Pavlik_NL Says: In Driel there are little facilities to stay overnight. One however I want to mention and for those who want seomthing different, surrounding themselves with rest and a typical Dutch landscape: Rutjensland is the place to be. The friendly family takes you in like an old...
Crossing the river by bike or foot
Pavlik_NL Says: There is no bridge near Driel. There's one 10 kilometers West (Heteren) and there's three crossing the Rhine in Arnhem. However, near driel is the little environmental friendly ferry for pedestrians and cyclists. The ferry is going on solar energy and connects the small...
Over the dike with a great view to Driel
Pavlik_NL Says: From Arnhem there is a regular bus connection to Driel and Heteren. This bus runs over the dike and offers you a wonderful view over the river and the rising hills on the other side. The same dike can be used by car or bicycle to reach the village of Driel.
From clay to stone, in the old days
Pavlik_NL Says: The river Rhine delivered for a long time the clay that was used to bake stones bricks from. Along the Lower Rhine alone there were almost a hundred brick factories, of which now-a-days only a few have survived. Some closed in the last decades, some already earlier....
Apples, pears, cherries: Betuwe fruit for sale
Pavlik_NL Says: Driving along the dike of Driel you will see them several times. Large signs, often in the form of fruit, that tell where, when and especially which fruits are to be bought here. In a farmhouse down the dike or somewhere else, one can buy fresh fruits straight from the tree...
Driel itself is totally "off the beaten path" and 99,99999% of the people will never go here or even hear about this place. Still, people that stay longer in Arnhem and have me as guide, will no doubt get a bicycle under their behind and are experiencing a ride along the dike to Driel and across the Rhine to Doorwerth and back. This bikingtour is short and definately one of my favourites. On a sunny day and finishing with pancakes at the nearby restaurant, a better day does almost not excist.
Written Jan 2, 2004
Favorite thing: Driel has been a place that lay on the start of my Western bicycle-tours. It's wonderful wide open landscape and country roads invited to speed up and get started for the 60 to 120 kilometers that were planned for the day. Other times the "skyline" of Driel invited to visit a friend. Gera and Charlotte, two nieces where I was always welcomed warmly. Charlotte now lives in England, Gera still nearby.
Fondest memory: Gera. She was an unexpected girlfriend that was a niece of a girlfriend from my high school. As crazy as I was, we had some great times and ... started different lifes. However, we are still friends, now and then contacting and getting together again.
Written Jan 2, 2004
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Fruity Betuwe-village on the dikes of the Rhine
In the flat country of the riverlands between the Rhine and Waal, Driel is pressed against the dike from where you almost can look over the whole village. The houses are spread throughout a green...
Build your own Driel page
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