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| Texel Roads from Den Helder - Texel on the horizon - its a massive anchorage |
The area south east of Texel known as the Texel Roads was a massive anchorage for military and merchant vessels throughout the Age of Sail. The kinds of things brought up from frequent salvage dives speaks volumes about Dutch naval heritage. If the French were the Baddies on land the English were definitely the Baddies at sea!
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| Admiral Togwit inspects the Fleet |
De Ruyter, The Tromps, Witte de With and others are writ large in naval history and each gets plenty of airtime if you look in the right places in Holland.
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| The orientation of the models and the activity on the water from smaller vessels is fascinating |
The diorama is a composite, not depicting a moment in time but rather a typical scene that would have been commonplace across centuries between 1580 and the 1800s.
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| Battle damage |
The onshore detail is as interesting as the offshore if a little less grand. The architecture, details of harbour areas, fortifications, smaller boats, activities performed by workers and labourers as well as dress is all part of the diorama.
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| Merchant ships arriving at Texel |
Elsewhere in the museum can be found cannon, an archaeological exhibition of thousands of items brought up from the anchorage and pieces of old vessels recovered in the North Sea.
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| Landward defences many of which are still intact and garrisoned by sheep |
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| On the beach - Charles II organized but failed to execute a landing at Texel |
I cannot recommend this place highly enough. It is a must see for anyone interested in our period or naval history in general.
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| Toggy and I reckoned the scale was 1/100th or a little smaller |
Just in case you missed Part 1 you can find it here at
Texel Part 1
Yup - this is what you like whilst doing the Texel Test
