A sunny day in Veere

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.Yet another highly amusing Dutch guide took us around the delightful village of Veere. This was once a very active fishing village but once the storm surge barrier was erected the fishermen didn't have such easy access to the sea anymore and now it relies on a little bit of tourism. The streets are cobbled and the old houses are very attractive. There was a huge influx of Scottish people in the 16th century when the local lord married a daughter of James 1st of Scotland and he allowed the Scots a monopoly on the wool trade. One of the largest and prettiest houses is the Scottish wool house now a small museum. The city hall from 1474 is also a very attractive building. We were very lucky that the sun was shining so sitting by the Marina having a beer was an obvious pastime.. In 1953 there was a huge flood in the area and many people lost their lives when the Dykes broke down. So the Dutch started on a huge project called the Delta Project which was to build dams across all the main water inlets to the land. We visited one of the largest and latest of these. Very much a man thing as I am not into engineering but you could not help but be impressed by the scale of the thing and the accuracy of all the project.

Later on we were treated to a Q&A session with Helen Yemm who writes "Thorny problems " for the Telegraph. She dealt with a lot of gardening problems very light heartedly and later joined us for drinks and dinner. A good way to end a very pleasant day.

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