Route 28: The Ieme Jipsingboertange

A tange is a sandy ridge. From there, until shortly after the war, peat and iron ore were extracted, the shearers moved with their herds onto the moors and the fields were reclaimed and forests were created. The Westerwolde region and the neighbouring peat-colonial area experienced dire poverty. Working in peat extraction was no fun, neither for the villagers nor for the multitude of unemployed, who were put to work there in the 1930s. Apart from the pattern of allotment, little now in the elongated village of Jipsingboertange points to that history. The number of tourists who descend there in summer exceeds the number of inhabitants, some 150, many times over. They come for the tranquillity of the forests of the Sellingen forestry and the nearby natuurgebied Ter Borg. Not only tourists have discovered the village. People from other parts of the country, who wanted to call it busy busy busy , also find space and a friendly population there. Anyone walking there is greeted by everyone.

In 2000, the provincial government expressed its strong support for recreational development. For instance, in the nearby Ruiten Aa river valley - part of the Netherlands Nature Network (formerly known as the National Ecological Network) - considerable investments have been made in nature development and recreational facilities.

Those staying in Jipsingboertange do not have to go far to start their first walk. Almost half of the walk goes through open fields, offering true East Groningen vistas. The other part of the walk is set in old and young forests on well-trodden paths. You may encounter roe deer and buzzards.

There is also another bomb crater in the forest, close to the Weender Canal, as a result of an air battle during WWII. This crater will be fairly easy to spot by the observant hiker (see point 5 of the route description).

Jipsingboertange has traditionally had a warm relationship with bees, called 'iemen' as in Drenthe. Several local names testify to this.

Until the early 1920s, the so-called Iemberg was located in Jipsingboertange. This was a row of hills in the sand drift area where the iemkers or beekeepers from part of the former municipality of Vlagtwedde (to which Jipsingboertange belonged) placed their hives. For the purpose of building the gravel road between Kopstukken and Jipsingboertange, most of this row of hills was then excavated.

There is still an active beekeeping association in the Jipsingboertange area: the Westerwolde Beekeepers' Association (also a member of the NVB (the Dutch Beekeepers' Association)).

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This is a route of the Walking in Westerwolde Foundation. You can still sign up as a sponsor for this route by emailing info@wandeleninwesterwolde.nl.