Ice Skating Kinderdijk

Nowadays, no-one worries about water levels. The cold winter weather is an opportunity for recreation, even the millers on the Kinderdijk have time off for skating. There they go, just as in centuries past: left, right, left, right. Anyone for another lap? But if needs must, most of the windmills can still pump up a storm. For centuries they saw to it that the Alblasserwaard remained more or less dry. The once so wild and marshy wetlands were brought to heel. These windmills were built around 1740 and took early retirement in the late nineteenth century. Steam-driven pumping stations took their place until they too were superseded by more modern technology. But the windmills remain, hubs in an ingenious network of canals and other waterways. They have since been declared part of UNESCO's world heritage. But that's not the only reason their silhouettes stand proud and self-confident against the skyline. For they know that wind energy is the future.