Sand Excavation Tenellaplas

Before the Second World War, where the Tenellaplas in Rockanje is now located, there was a golf course, intended for the rich from Rotterdam. The Germans used the grass of that track to camouflage their bunkers. They also used the sand for concrete with which they built their bunkers. Later in the war there was a workshop next to the Tenellaplas where concrete poles were made. These served as support for bunkers and as barriers in the sea against a possible Allied invasion. One of those posts still stands to the left of the pond's visitor center.

After the war, a gaping hole remained in the dunes. The Haarlem garden architect Cees Sipkes had a pond dug on that bare plain by a suction dredger and laid out a botanical garden. Today we still recognize his efforts by the unique flora. Because the flowers and plants escaped from the botanical garden to the dunes, Sipkes indicated at the time that the dunes of Voorne are not nature, but a park that needs constant maintenance. As if he saw Natura 2000 coming just after the war.

The visitor center does not pay any attention to the war, but introduces young and old to flora and fauna in the dunes.

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Source

• Text: Rob van den Engel
• Photos: Rob van den Engel