Easy hikes and walks in Pannenhoef

Nice place for a picnic, there are enough benches.

In April/May the many rhododendrons along the path are in bloom. A beautiful sight!

A bridge provides a connection between two banks. Usually a bridge is over water: a ditch, a canal, moat, river, lake, ravine, ...

The Drents heideschaap is the oldest sheep breed in Western Europe, according to the Dutch Breeders' Association "het Drents Heideschaap". Migrants probably brought the breed from France to the Netherlands, where it has been present since 4000 BC, particularly in Drenthe. Characteristics of the Drents heideschaap are a slender build, a long woolly tail that can reach beyond the hocks, stiff and somewhat sleek wool, dull hair on the head and legs and a straight nose. All kinds of colours are possible, but colourful black and white animals are not recognised. The breed is divided into the old and the new type. The new type originated from crossbreeding with the Schoonebeker heideschaap and has, among other things, a more curved nose and smaller horns. Most modern Drentse heideschaap are of the new type. Flocks can be found in the Dwingelderveld National Park, with a sheepfold outside Ruinen and in Dwingeloo. On the Holtingerveld between Havelte and Uffelte, the Holtinger Sheep Flock Foundation has about 400-600 sheep of the Drents Heideschaap in a herded flock on the heath. At night, these sheep stay in the sheepfold. Drentse Heideschapen also graze on the Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park, located between Holten and Nijverdal. Several flocks with a total of 1600 sheep graze on this largest heathland in Western Europe. The shepherd uses the sheepfold located in the Twilhaar area near the Paltheweg. The Sallandse Heuvelrug Sheep Flock Foundation facilitates the buildings and maintenance of the Twilhaar enclave. Because the flocks often graze too far from the fold, they spend the night within a fence.

Pleasant walk

The Sterrenbos is very special. It is a round forest in the shape of a cartwheel with 8 spokes. In the middle is a chapel, so that working outside and praying could still go together. It can already be recognized on a topographical map from 1899.

Originally, the dome was intended as a resting place for hunting parties. That is why the dome was also called the hunting dome. According to the stories, the former owner could see the bell of the church tower of Breda in clear weather! From this dome you have a beautiful view over the fields. If you sit in the dome and look down the long beech avenue, you can see the country house of Landgoed de Moeren at the very end.

A peat canal is a dug waterway that was constructed to transport peat from the extraction site, a peat area, to the outlet: a city. The peat was transported with a peat ship or peat barge. The word peat canal therefore refers to the traffic caused by the peat ships. Apart from that, the Turfvaart is also a specific name for one specific peat canal. The Turfvaart is a waterway of approximately 25 km in length that runs via the Pannenhoef and Vloeiweide nature reserves along Effen to Breda, where it flows into the Aa or Weerijs. Around the year 1400, peat was dug south of Breda to extract peat. Four brewers from Breda took the initiative to dig the Turfvaart in 1618. They needed fuel to brew their beer. The Turfvaart was then 12.3 kilometers long and ended in the Aa or Weerijs just below the Krabbenbossen. This branch is now connected to the Bijloop and still exists. On 20 November 1618 the first peat arrived in Breda. The ships were decorated with flags, trumpets were blown and the large bell of the church was rung. Thousands of people came to watch. Because the Aa or Weerijs was difficult to navigate, the Turfvaart was extended directly to Princenhage 30 years later. In 1743 all the peat had been dug up except for a small piece in the Matjens nature reserve. That is still there today.