The Nulandse Heide alternates between woodland, heathland, ditches and drifting sand. Nuland also has the Church of the Beheading of St John, built after its predecessor was destroyed, local blacksmithing and memorial sites commemorating the liberation in 1944. This offers a range of ways to focus your stay: nature, architectural history and remembrance.
Landscape and walking
Woodland, heathland, ditches and drifting sand make the Nulandse Heide a natural area with varied landscapes. The “Nulandse Heide, Part 1” walk can be combined with “Nulandse Heide, Part 2.” If you plan to do both sections, you can take the expressly described connection between the route sections into account when planning your walks.
Church and local craftsmanship
The present-day Church of the Beheading of St John was built in 1950, after its predecessor was destroyed by shelling in 1944. It was designed by architect J. Magis. The church is a three-aisled basilica with a solid west tower and a semicircular apse. The dates place its history in context: the present church was built six years after the destruction. The three architectural features give the church a clear description: its division into three aisles, the west tower and the rounded end of the apse.
Smaller historical traces add to this picture of local history. Two ANWB signs dating from 1940 to 1950 are protected as municipal monuments. The Schutskooi dates from 1936 and was made by local blacksmith Johannes van de Meulenreek. Three wrought-iron boats were made in 1950 in the workshop of village blacksmith Toon van Amelsvoort. The examples differ in material, date and function; together, they point to tangible traces of local craftsmanship and monument history. The surviving ground contours of the former Polderkerk were also made visible again after a series of excavations that began in 2006.
Remembering the liberation
The memorial to the victims of the Second World War was erected in 1990 at the initiative of the municipality of Nuland, in a corner of the green space on Heiweg. The occasion was the 45th anniversary of the liberation. The location was chosen because a temporary cemetery for fallen military personnel stood there during the war, when Nuland was liberated on 22 October 1944. Every year on 4 May, the memorial is the central location for the commemoration of those who died in the Second World War. In this way, the site connects a specific event in October 1944 with the annual act of remembrance.
A liberation route through Nuland takes walkers and cyclists to historic sites that played an important role in the liberation of Nuland, Rosmalen and ’s-Hertogenbosch in October 1944. The route therefore focuses not only on Nuland’s history, but also on events at the time in the two other places mentioned. Visitors interested in this period will find a thematic perspective here that differs from the church’s architecture and the craft-related monuments.
Activities at ’t Heike
Wallabies are among the animals at the petting zoo at ’t Heike. The petting zoo is wheelchair accessible. The swimming pool has two pools: one with a depth of 30 centimetres and one with a depth of 50 centimetres. These details make it possible to distinguish between the specific facilities on site without treating the two pools or their depths as the same.
In the education programme, the Heimannekespad learning trail is available at all times to children in grades 1 to 8. The supervisors offer schools the approximately two-hour Meneer Pauw programme for children in grades 3 and 4 by appointment. The formats for schools therefore differ both in organisation and target group: the learning trail is available at any time, while Meneer Pauw requires an appointment.
Discover more destinations: Vinkel, Geffen.
Return to the main travel overview: Maasdonk.
