Our guide, Bert Finke, history buff and Van Gogh expert says: “The Boerdijk is now a busy road that runs straight through the industrial area of New Amsterdam. Now you hear the cars and trucks rushing by and the sounds of the industrial buildings around us. The Boerdijk was then a muddy road. We have a very nice description from the newspaper of March 1883. The people who lived here complained about the bad conditions of the road: muddy and with deep holes. of course it rained in October and November, so it was a rotten road to drive on. You could also choose a different road, then you had to go along the Hoogeveenschevaart and you ended up at the Holslootsbrug and you could take the paved road. But there it was a toll booth and that cost money. Most people opted for that heavy, muddy road. That’s what Vincent van Gogh and Hendrik Scholte did when they rode on the cart towards Zweeloo. That took a lot of time, so they were on the road for a long time been. In pitch darkness and that was also the reason they left early, at three o’clock, because the road to Zweeloo was really a three-hour drive.”
Drenthe Toen podcast: A day trip to Zweeloo part 1, wishes and dreams of Vincent van Gogh
