Autumn Light. Venkoelen, Het Zwart Water, Venlo, The Netherlands

The nature reserve (Limburgs Landschap) between Venlo and northerly Velden is called Het Zwart Water (Blackwater). It's a wooded marshy area once a meander of the Meuse River which now flows a couple of kilometers to the west. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century this wet place provided a meagre livelihood to poor peatdiggers. They and also river clay harvesters - making bricks - dug deep pits to provide for their hearths and homes. One of the particularly deep pit areas later became a lake called the Venkoelen (Fen Pits, 'koelen' a form of the Dutch 'kuilen'(= pits)).

Here's Autumn Light over the waters.

 

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