The story of this place
A port city running aground
Cycling beside the Noordhollandsch Canal today, you mainly encounter quiet. Water, reeds, a long road beside the bank and, now and then, a bridge slowly sliding aside for a passing vessel. In the nineteenth century, however, this was no silent edge of North Holland. It was a working transport artery filled with hoofbeats, taut ropes, shouts from the deck and people earning their living from the slow journey between Den Helder and Amsterdam.
Amsterdam depended on the sea, yet reaching it was becoming increasingly difficult. Large vessels could no longer enter the city with ease. The Zuiderzee was shallow, channels silted up and captains depended on wind, tide and favourable conditions. Ships sometimes waited for days. At other times, part of the cargo had to be transferred to smaller craft before the journey to Amsterdam could continue.
For merchants, this meant delay and financial loss. For the city, it threatened its position. King William I wanted to change that. He regarded roads, canals and harbours as ways to strengthen the Dutch economy. Engineer Jan Blanken was therefore commissioned to design a new shipping route between the deep harbour at Den Helder and Amsterdam.
A canal through an existing landscape
The canal was not dug as an entirely new line through the countryside. Existing canals, lakes and waterways were connected, widened and deepened. Even so, the project profoundly altered large parts of North Holland. Bridges appeared where the canal cut through roads and village connections. Embankments were strengthened where the water passed low-lying land. A towpath for hauling vessels was also created along almost the entire route.
Heaps of wet clay and peat lay along the future canal bank. Men dug with spades and wheelbarrows while the excavated soil was piled up to form new banks and embankments. The canal was therefore not only the design of engineers and administrators, but above all the result of thousands of days of hard physical labour.
Horses and people on the towline
Once the canal had opened, ships did not simply sail themselves to Amsterdam. The waterway was narrow and winding enough to make sailing impractical. The wind did not always come from the right direction, and tall masts caused difficulties at bridges and bends. Many vessels were therefore hauled from the towpath.
Horses walked steadily forward along the bank. A long towline ran from the vessel to the animals on the path. Large ships required several horses. They pulled for hours while skippers and crewmen ensured that the rope did not catch behind posts, trees or parts of bridges. At bends, they had to prevent the line from scraping across the bank or striking other road users.
A whole network of occupations developed around the passing ships. The canal provided an income not only for skippers, but also for horse keepers, innkeepers, bridge keepers and labourers.
Not every vessel could be hauled by horses. Smaller boats and short stretches were sometimes hauled by people. With a line across their shoulder or chest, they walked bent forward beside the water. Metre by metre they moved the vessel ahead. The moment a hauler slowed, he felt the weight of the ship directly through the taut rope.
As the haulers moved along the bank, vessel, towline and road traffic had to be coordinated again at every bridge. The floating bridges along the canal slid sideways across the water. Travellers had to wait, skippers had to reduce speed and the haulers had to keep the towline from becoming trapped.
A major work with a short leading role
When the canal opened in 1824, it was regarded as an impressive new connection. Large sea-going vessels could now travel from Den Helder across North Holland to Amsterdam. It soon became clear, however, that shipping was developing faster than the canal. Vessels grew larger, deeper and heavier. The route remained long and expensive, while the narrow waterway limited what could pass through it.
The opening of the Noordzeekanaal in 1876 gave Amsterdam a much more direct connection with the sea. The Noordhollandsch Canal consequently lost its leading role. It nevertheless remained in use for regional shipping, water management and, later, recreation.
What still remains beside the water
Standing beside the canal at Koedijk today, you no longer see horses walking in a steady rhythm along the bank. There are no crewmen calling out as they try to keep a towline clear and no innkeeper waiting with a fresh team.
The bridge still moves for passing vessels. The towpath remains beside the water and the long sightline suggests how far the journey once continued. Only those who hauled the ships are missing: the horses and the people on the towline.