Beeuwsaertmolenpad

From Saint Andrew’s Church, the route heads through the countryside towards Steenstraete. The present church dates from the reconstruction of the 1920s, after the original village was completely destroyed during the First World War.

Steenstraete, beside the Ypres–Yser Canal, is closely linked with 22 April 1915. That afternoon, German troops opened thousands of cylinders of chlorine gas along several kilometres of front between Steenstraete and Langemark. The yellow-green cloud drifted towards the French lines and marked the opening of the Second Battle of Ypres. It was the first large-scale use of chlorine gas on the Western Front.

Today, Steenstraete is a quiet hamlet again. During the 20th century, the bridge also became an important loading point for sugar beet. Especially after the Second World War, local farmers brought their harvest here to be loaded onto barges for transport to the sugar factories.

From Steenstraete, the walk follows the towpath beside the Ypres–Yser Canal for a while. It is peaceful today, but during the First World War the front line ran directly through this landscape.

From the spring of 1915 until the summer of 1917, Allied troops held the left bank while German forces occupied the right. Memorial trees now mark parts of those former front lines and make their position in the modern landscape easier to recognise.

Farther on, the route reaches Boezinge Lock. The waterway between Ypres and the Yser has medieval origins, but the canal was extensively altered during the 17th century and a large lock was built here. Its strategic position also gave the site an important military role.

Under Louis XIV, the area became part of the French frontier defences. Around 1695–1699, the existing works around Fort Saint-Nicolas were strengthened under Vauban with a ravelin and other earthworks. Traces of that old defensive landscape can still be recognised around the lock today.

After the lock, the route returns to open farmland and heads towards the Beeuwsaert Mill. A windmill has stood on this site since 1635, and its history is one of repeated destruction and rebuilding.

The mill burned down in 1830 and was rebuilt soon afterwards. In 1884, it passed to the Beeuwsaert family, which gave it the name still used today. When the First World War reached the area, French troops referred to it as the 'Moulin Bleu'. It turned for the last time on 19 October 1914.

During the gas attack of 22 April 1915, the mill was completely destroyed by shellfire and fire. After the war, Lucien Beeuwsaert decided to rebuild it using parts from two other mills: the Leenhoudersmolen at Roesbrugge and the Blanckaertmolen at Leisele. The new mill was inaugurated in 1922.

Disaster struck again during the severe storm on the night of 2–3 January 1976. The mill ran through its brake, the windshaft broke and the sails were torn away. A complete reconstruction came much later. Since 2010, the Beeuwsaert Mill has once again stood above the Bikschote landscape and can be visited on selected days.

If you start at the Beeuwsaert Mill, this is where the official route finishes. Because I began in the village, I continued for one final stretch back towards Saint Andrew’s Church.

The last part once again crosses the open farmland around Bikschote. The walk is never difficult, but the mixture of country lanes, canal-side walking and historical stops gives it enough variety throughout.

Back in the village, you pass the church and war memorial again. The loop therefore ends in the centre of a small village that was completely destroyed during the First World War and rebuilt afterwards.