De Biezen

 De Biezen is a nature reserve consisting of wet deciduous forests on loamy soil. There is poplar plantation, dry oak forest, trouser forest and sparse flowery grasslands. 

At the edge of the Biezen that forms the border with the municipality of Gemert-Bakel, the hike follows parts of a land wall that formed the border of the former municipality of Aarle-Rixtel and Bakel. Such old country defences were usually constructed in the Middle Ages and consist of a raised sand wall. 

The moat in de Biezen dates from the period 1350 to 1450 and followed a natural stream called De Ymelbeke. A charter of May 1288 already mentions De Ymelbeke as a border, while at the same time mentioning the presence of a rampart. In the Biezen, the rampart is not immediately noticeable because in the 19th or 20th century the Biezen was laid out as a ravine forest, also raised sand walls with ditches in between for drainage.The Zuid-Willemsvaart is a canal in the provinces of Dutch Limburg, Belgian Limburg and North Brabant. Several other important waterways connect to it, including the other Kempen canals and the Wilhelmina Canal. On its nearly 122 km stretch, the Zuid-Willemsvaart passes cities such as Maastricht, Maasmechelen, Bree, Weert, Helmond and 's-Hertogenbosch. The South Willemsvaart is named after King William I of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, one of the pioneers of the project. In 1818, the royal decree for the construction of a can