DUTCH RIVERS

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23014, 4 October 1944, Page 7

DUTCH RIVERS

Confusion Of Names Nijmegen On The Waal

The naming of the rivers in the Netherlands which are at present in the news is explained as follows by tire Netherlands Consulate:— The Rhine enters Holland near Lobit, and remains a border river until it reaches Milligen, about eight miles due east of Nijmegen. At Pannerden, about eight miles north-east of Nijmegen, and where is situated a Dutch fort •which held out right through the invasion battle of 1940, the River Waal branches off in a westerly direction, taking two-thirds of the Rhine water; Nijmegen is situated on the Waal. From the separation point at Pannerden the Rhine continues m a northwesterly direction, and at Westervoot. about three miles south-east of Arnhem. it loses one-third of its remaining water to the Ijssel, a river which runs roughly from south to north and reaches the Zuider Zee near Kampen. At Arnhem the Rhine turns due west, and as from Wijk-bij-Duurstede, about 23 miles from Arnhem, it is called the Lek. After the Lek reaches Rotterdam it is called the Nieuwe Maas (New Meuse). Then when it reaches Faassluis, about 10 miles west from Rotterdam, it receives the name of Nieuwe Waterweg until it reaches the North Sea near the Hook of Holland. The Waal, following a roughly parallel course to the Rhine after the latter has reached Arnhem, comes very close to the Meuse at Heerenwaarden, about 20 miles west from Nijmegen, and the two rivers are connected here bv a canal: There is another link between the Waal and the Meuse through a canal running from Nijmegen due south to Mook. The Rhine and the Waal are connected by a canal running from Vreeswijk, due south of Utrecht, to Gorkum. As from Gorkum the Waal is called Merwede, and at Werkendam the river splits into the Lower and the New Merwede. On the Lower Merwede Dordrecht is situated, and from there until this river joins the Nieuwe Maas west of Rotterdam it is called Oude Maas (Old Meuse). A branch of the Lower Merwede, called the Noord. runs in a northerly direction and joins the Nieuwe Maas east Of Rotterdam. : The Megsc joins the Waal at Gorkum. anewa branch of the Meuse, the BergschA aas, joins the New Merwede jtlSt eatSi li the Moerdijk bridge, a vital connection 1 in the main road from Ailtwerp to Rotterdam. From there on the river is called Hollandsch Diep, and flows into the sea around the Islands in the south-west of Holland. ■Of historic interest is the fact that tile Rhine in the Middle Ages ran from Wiik-bij-Duurstede, due north to Utrecht, and thence west to Leiden and Katwiik. where it reached the North ffen. The old course, called Kromme Rhine as far as Utrecht, and Old Rhine from there to the sea, still contains water but has no real connection with the Rhine any more and can now be considered a canal.