Welcome to the Moerputten bridge (former railway bridge) and its surroundings ~ in Den Bosch ~ The Netherlands π³π±
We will go for a long walk through a tree lined path - where once the train track wasβ¦ then we walk over the 600 meter long (railway) bridge itselfβ¦ across a large peat lake, to go further over a long trail around some fields. After that we will be circling back over a wooden footpath to the start of our walk. Does this sound fun? π€© Come along and join me today to see it all and much moreβ¦
With this post Iβm joining in at the Wednesday Walk #challenge. That is hosted by @tattoodjay every week on Wednesday.
βΌοΈHave a look: Here in the Wednesday Walk Community if you want to join in!β¦ the community is run by @tattoodjay
Look at his last #Wednesdaywalk post. It will tell you also the rules of joining in at the Wednesday walk posts π come join us!
Todayβs photographic selection will be of 28 PHOTOGRAPHS
Date : 15 August 2025
The Photographs in this post are taken with my iPhone.
I will follow the time stamps on them. So it looks like you are experiencing my adventures on this walk to #discover everything what I saw, like the little #details seen through my eyes.
Location of the Moerputten in βs-Hertogenbosch we find on the following screenshot of Google Maps :
Information about the bridge you can find here in english: Moerputten Bridge! and here: Hidden monuments - moerputten railway bridge.
Have a quick read about this area, it is interesting and many donβt even know it exists.
Letβs start our walkβ¦ here we go!
After parking the car (read Beth the Van π) we see some information signs.
We can read on it;
NL - Welkom in de Moerputten. In 1890 werd de Langstraatspoortijn 's-Hertogenbosch - Lage Zwaluwe in gebruik genomen. Diverse Langstraat-spoorbruggen werden gebouwd om het gebied de Langstraat te ontsluiten vanwege de daar bloeiende leerindustrie.
De spoorlijn liep door erg natte gebieden, waaronder het laagveengebied van de Moerputten. De Moerputtenbrug is een rijksmonument en een van de langste historische spoorbruggen van Nederland.
English - Welcome to the Moerputten. In 1890, the Langstraatspoortijn 's-Hertogenbosch - Lage Zwaluwe was put into use. Several Langstraat railway bridges were built to unlock the Langstraat area because of the flourishing leather industry there.
The railway line ran through very wet areas, including the lowland of the Moerputten. The Moerputtenbrug is a national monument and one of the longest historical railway bridges in the Netherlands.
Zooming in we see the yellow dotted walking route we will follow. We walk 4.8 km round. Are you up for it?
Another sign at the start once we are on the trail.
Right away we are greeted with beautiful shade from the tall trees⦠ooohhhh we so needed some shade as it is a very hot day during the heatwave we find ourselves in. 32 degrees Celsius.
After a while we reach the former railway bridge. On the side we see this plaque. We see it is renovated a while back to make it safe to walk over.
What a beautiful and long bridge⦠imagine it is 600 meters long that you can walk over.
Here we goβ¦ one step at the time. π
It looks like the bridge goes on forever. We walk and walk. The sun is getting really warm now and we canβt wait to reach the other side to cool down under the trees again.
Next to us we see hundreds of birds like herons, ducks and geese playing along the water lilies.
Back to the bridge⦠do you see the end yet?
Suddenly I see this group of ducks very close together. I take a photo. A shame they are rather far away.
I zoom in a bit but still they seem to be far away.
Looking back at the surroundings of the Moerputten bridge.
Finally we see the other side of the long former railway bridge. I do must say⦠some of the metal sheets were loose and some bolts undone. So it was an experience to walk over. Hahaha
Here we are, the last metersβ¦
The end of the bridge. I take these detail captures of it.
Here we find some history of the Moerputten bridge on a sign.
It tells us the following (I translated it to English for you);
Around 1850, trade and industry flourished in the Langstraat. There was a great need for a connection between 's-Hertogenbosch and Lage Zwaluwe, which is how the Langstraat Railway was created. The Moerputten, the name already indicates it consists of mull, wet swampy soil. It was part of the Bossche inundation area that served to protect 'S-Hertogenbosch from flooding.
In order to be able to build the Langstraatspoorweg, passage bridges had to be built. Over the Bossche ditch it became the Venkant bridge (33 metres) and over the wet ground the Moerputten Bridge of 600 metres long.
Construction began in 1888. Floods and mosquitoes slowed down construction, but from 1890 5 trains ran daily. During the construction, a double track had been taken into account. The rise of trucks and buses and the collapse of industry made the railway unprofitable. In 1987, a wrecker was given permission to remove the rails.
In the end, the Moerputtenbrug and Venkantbrug remained out of the hands of the demolition hammer.
The Moerputtenbrug and the Venkantbrug have been spared by the Federation's action to preserve the Langstraatspoorbruggen. Since 1998, the national monument de Moerputtenbrug has been in the hands of Staatsbosbeheer. The restoration of the bridge and pillars was completed in 2011. Several hiking trails have been built in the surrounding area.
As we walk further and finally find ourselves again in some shade I spot these red berries on a tree.
We walked down the higher grounds and are wandering between fields now. Along it we find signs with butterfly names that you can find here when the spring flowers bloom. It is way tooooo hot for spring flowers and everything looks barren / dry.
A peek over the fields, see what I mean. Not many flowers around.
As we walk further I spot this bare tree. Beautiful! It stands out to me.
I did find some flowers though like these cornflowers and yarrow.
We reach the wooden walk way. Letβs enter it and walk under the trees.
We go in and out of shaded areas.
Back on a wooden walk way. I find many blackberries around us. I pick a few and give them to you. Nom nom they are super sweet.
Some nice ferns in the more shaded areas.
I like it here and we cool down a lot. We walk slower.
Just to enjoy the coolness a bit longer before we reach the sunny part again.
β¦and here I say thatβs all for todayβs post my friends.
Join me next time for more updates, adventures, #stories and photographs.
Even my own artworks, once in a while, will come by.
Thank you so much for looking, and reading.
Ecency art by @irisworld
Any questions or comments, let me know. Always happy to help.
Have a great day all!
Grtz Jackie
Unless stated otherwise: All art and photos used in my posts are taken, created and owned by me. If you wish to use any of my photographs, please contact me first. As I have used some commercially myself. We donβt want that you or somebody else gets into trouble ;) So please donβt use them without my consent.
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!worldmappin 51.68738 lat 5.24813 long Explore with me the Moerputten and its bridge ~ in Den Bosch ~ The Netherlands π³π± d3scr
