Oud-Alblas: Mills, water management and cycling routes

Oud-Alblas combines the history of mills with insights into historic water management and cycling routes. If you are considering the town for a stay, you can weigh up different interests: De Hoop mills wheat for home bakers, while other mills are linked to earlier drainage or signaling. For tours, there is a named circular cycling route that passes through Oud-Alblas, and TOP Oud-Alblas as a starting point for various cycling and walking routes. The local details can help you decide whether mills, the history of water management, or outdoor activity will be the deciding factor in planning your trip.

Mills with different purposes

De Hoop mills about 500 kilograms of wheat per week for home bakers. This figure describes an ongoing activity with a clearly stated purpose. This sets the mill apart from the historic examples of water management: the focus here is on the weekly processing of grain, with the approximate amount providing a tangible measure.

The Peilmolen was built in 1819 on the site of a post mill destroyed by fire. Until the 1950s, it drained the 630-hectare Peilgebied Zuidzijde together with a motorized pumping station. Its construction and drainage function therefore belong to two clearly distinct historical periods: 1819 marks the construction of the Peilmolen, while its shared drainage task continued until the 1950s. The area figure gives a concrete sense of the scale of this task.

The history of the Kooijwijkse Molen includes water management and signaling. Together with the Noordelijke Kooijwijkse Molen, it drained the Noordzijde polder. It also formerly served as a beacon or signal windmill. A lifting frame for a lamp is still visible on its upper structure, linking its former signaling function to a specific feature. Its earlier history is also recorded: before 1866, the Kooijwijkse Molen replaced an older windmill that had been demolished because of its poor condition. Compared with the Peilmolen, whose history is associated with a large drainage area and a pumping station, the Kooijwijkse Molen also brings earlier signaling and a predecessor structure into the picture.

Cycling routes and getting oriented

The Molenroute Alblasserwaard begins in Alblasserdam, runs through Groot-Ammers, Bleskensgraaf and Oud-Alblas, and ends back in Alblasserdam. Oud-Alblas is therefore a place on the loop, not its stated starting or ending point. For planning your trip, the route description shows both its connection to Oud-Alblas and its course through several towns.

TOP Oud-Alblas offers parking and serves as a starting point for various cycling and walking routes. It therefore answers a different planning question than the Molenroute: while the named circular route specifies its starting point, return destination and stops, TOP provides a starting point for various tours. If you are choosing between a specifically described circular route and various cycling and walking routes, these different details can help guide you.

Discover more destinations: Ottoland, Nieuw-Lekkerland.

Back to the main travel overview: Molenwaard.