Netherlands – Steenbergen - The Brabant Wal

Steenbergen is a municipality and a city in the province of North Brabant in the south of the Netherlands.

The municipality has 23,202 inhabitants (May 31, 2009, source: CBS) and covers an area of 160 km ² (of which 10 km ²). The municipality is mainly agricultural, but the capital of Steenbergen and town of Dinteloord also contain some light industry.

And in this beautiful place stays Yolanda who was kind enough to send me this beautiful card. Along the border area between the Dutch provinces of Noord-Brabant and Zeeland and the border of Flanders lies a remarkable landscape: The Brabant Wal (or Brabant Ridge). The Brabant Wal is an area of outstanding natural beauty. What is most striking is the steep rim or slope along the border area between the Dutch provinces of Noord-Brabant and Zeeland and the border of Flanders lies a remarkable landscape: The Brabant Wal (or Brabant Ridge). The Brabant Wal is an area of outstanding natural beauty. What is most striking is the steep rim or slope, which forms a physical geographical monument. The conspicuously sloping landscape starts around Ossendrecht, in the South-West near the Belgian border, and swings in a roughly northerly direction around the villages of Hoogerheide and Woensdrecht towards Bergen op Zoom and on further north towards the town of Steenbergen. In the past this natural sandy ridge marked the boundary of land and sea at the edge of the Scheldt estuary.

A little known historical fact about this place is that the famous Dam Busters of World War II are buried in the vicinity. Wing Commander Guy Gibson, the first CO of the RAF's 617 Squadron, which he led in the "Dam Busters" raid in 1943, crashed with his Mosquito aircraft in this municipality. Having returned to operational duties in 1944 after pestering Bomber Command, Gibson killed along with his navigator Sqn Ldr Jim Warwick, on a bombing raid on Rheydt (nowadays a borough of Mönchengladbach) operating as a Pathfinder Master Bomber based at RAF Coningsby, when his de Havilland MosquitoXX, KB267, crashed near Steenbergen on 19 September 1944, aged 26. It was assumed for many years that he had been shot down, but following the discovery of the wreckage of his plane, it was found that a fault with the fuel tank selector had meant that the aircraft had simply run out of fuel. An eyewitness account detailed how his aircraft circled Steenberge, and then heard its engines 'splutter and stop'. The graves are located in the RC church in Missouri, Steenbergen. A Street has been named after Gibson, and one of the aircraft's propellers is located in the city park called the Dam Busters Memorial Park.

Finland – Lapland

Lapland is renowned as being the land of fells and northern lights, a place with winters where there’s always snow and harsh temperatures. This is true, but Lapland’s nature has plenty more to offer. Lapland has four very distinctly different seasons, a limited but diverse flora and fauna, and expansive river waterways. Lapland’s nature has species typical for such climates, species that are well acclimatized to the changing conditions of the region. And young Alina who has sent me this card goes there often.