Niebert is a village in Groningen Province, The Netherlands. Its windmill also had an open day while were were there last June.

Windmill:-

Sketch of how a windmill works:-

I spotted these in a display case inside the  Windmill. At first I thought they might be cigarette cards but no. They are matchbox cards:-

Interior:-

Gearing wheel:-

Stairs. These were quite scary to ascend:-

And to descend!:-

Upper floor:-

Coendersborg is a country estate in the village of Nuis in the Dutch province of Groningen.

Estate house:-

The hall:-

Painting in above photo:-

Fireplace in another room:-

Latin motto on a wall:-

Painting of house:-

Burg Verhildersum, Leens, Groningen Province, Netherlands is a kind of Dutch equivalent of the English Country House.

From approach path:-

Entrance:-

The Burg is surrounded by a moat. In many ways it reminded me of Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk which we had visited a few days before.

Moat and cafe from bridge to entrance:-

View to side. Note topiary:-

Further round moat going anti-clockwise:-

Gardens and topiary to rear:-

View of rear of the Burg:-

Reverse side view:-

Moat to left side of entrance:-

Last June we once again visited the good lady’s brother and his family in The Netherlands. They live on the outskirts of Opende, on the border of Groningen and Friesland provinces.

Imagine our surprise when we came across an outbreak of pirate iconography on our first walk into the village. This mock-up of a ship from what seemed to be items lying about a farmer’s field was our first inkling:-

In the village itself there was lots of bunting festooned on the houses and gardens. This house also has an araucaria (monkey puzzle) tree:-

As well as bunting, this house also had a flag of Groningen province on display. Many houses in The Netherlands fly their province flag:-

In the town proper the Valkery Festival seemed to be the source of the pirate theme:-

The entrance featured an inflatable octopus:-

More than a few houses had embraced the pirate theme:-

More from our trip to The Netherlands last year.

Canalside (former?) warehouse. Roof under repair:-

Closer view. Note circular company information:-

Old building. Looks like 1641!

Modern Fountain:-

Hanging garden. Wisteria:-

Boat in a courtyard:-

In a Dutch town you’re never far from a load of bikes:-

Good glazing on a shop in Groningen:-

There was interesting detail above the window’s centre. I’m assuming this was once a butcher’s:-

Curved glass on different shop:-

This shop’s owners are not much into tech it would seem. There’s something to be said for the old-fashioned virtues.

This shop has good glazing:-

The window has a lovely curve:-

Great horizontals here and the ironwork is delightful:-

There was some sort of annual celebration going on in early May so this is mostly hidden by a roller coaster. “Rule of three” in the gable windows though:-

More rule of three on windows, upper detailing and ironwork on roof:-

In a previous post on Art Deco in Groningen, The Netherlands, I showed two photos of a cinema. This year I took more views of that building. This is the rear view:-

This is the view from the street that runs beside it back to front:-

Lovely window arch on cinema wall:-

Detail on window arch, a sculpted head:-

Great columning and glazing towards front:-

The glazing has fantastic detailing:-

To enter and leave Groningen Museum you have to cross a branch of the canal:-

View outside through window almost at water level:-

Ditto only the other side of the museum:-

Just to the left of the above:-

I blogged about the outside of Groningen Museum here. On this May’s visit we actually took a look inside.

The first thing that strikes anybody on entering is this elaborate mosaic-tiled staircase:-

Similar tiling adorned another staircase:-

I was taken with this model of Groningen city centre made from fabric. It was under glass so it’s a little distorted:-

Thee was some not very aesthetically appealing German modern art as the main exhibit when we were there. I’m not averse to modern art but I must confess I preferred these traditional Dutch landscapes:-

In a history of Groningen section was this textile of a sailor and flags of different nations which was of Great War vintage though of course the Dutch were not involved in that conflict:-