Goin' down to lonesome town

At the weekend, we joined some friends on a trip to Doel, a little Flemish town only about half an hour's drive from our house. It now lies in the middle of the rapidly expanding port of Antwerp. Of course, it didn't always. After 700 years, it is being closed and demolished by the government, who have decided that the harbour needs more space.


The people of Doel did not take this lying down. Most of them seem to have gone by now, though. A lot of artists have moved in, and some squatters. Apparently gypsies have been and gone. A lot of houses have been bulldozed. Others have been stripped for parts. People have come in and even taken doors and windows. The houses that are lived in have signs saying "Please don't take anything, people live here." All around, you can see the harbour with its industry and its nuclear power plant. It really is the most peculiar place.

To get there, we drove to Lillo, a village the other side of the Scheldt river. It is allowed to stay. There is a free ferry going from Lillo to Doel. Apparently, both towns are normally very quiet and so is the ferry ride. We happened to go while a book fair was on in Lillo, so it was actually very lively.

I took some pictures, to show you just how interesting, weird and beautifully artistic this town is. They were taken on my phone because I forgot my camera. (I know, I was scandalously not thinking of my blog every single second of every single day. I'm slacking.)

Just for contrast, I'm showing you idyllic Lillo first, which is just across the river, yet also completely enclosed by the port.




Next, the ferry ride. On the left is the village, on the right the nuclear power plant. Reminds me of The Simpsons' hometown of Springfield.


View to the left of the village:


View to the right of the village:


A lot of plots in the centre of the village look like this:


but then some houses are obviously lived in:


Many, many buildings have art on display in the doors and windows. They seem unoccupied, but you can't be sure, which makes the town feel quite eery at times. The picture below is of "the whores of capitalism":


The next building stands in the centre of the town. It was probably built by Rubens' father-in-law, in 1613.


It may well be that the dock this town is being destroyed for will never be built due to planning and financing issues.