Huins (Dutch)-Hxfans (Fries).

These are two separate twin-villages, which share one flag, but each own a CoA.
Hxfans (Dutch: Huins), village in Littenseradiel, it used to be in the former municipality of  Baarderedeel.

It was a very clear day, blue sky but very cold and very windy.  We had been the week before by the village leons
which is a twin village to Hxfans.  When saying twin I do not by mean at all that it is exactly the same as Leons.
Whenyou walk in Leons it feels very much of the past, and is still verymuch of the past, but Hxfans, feels like it is from the past but is stillliving, going forward.

When entering Hxfans, the main road runs through the middle of the village, the church is very quaint and has a wooden bell fry.
Justoutside the proiry (pastorij), pastor's house, there is a statue of amuskrat, it has an inscription in Fries on a brass plate, 'De Hxfanzer,wes Hoeden, It is in stjonkert'.
What it actually means I do not know my Fries is not very good.

Across from the church, (which is built on a man made hill, terp,mound), is a green with a line of houses flanking the road running nextto the side of the green.

By the front door of one of the houses was a wooden glass showcasewith home made pottery on view, which I found very quaint and unusual,
(this attracts me a lot), when I visit the villages, the ideas one has.

Different pictures of Huins.

Whenwe left the church grounds Marja and I noticed that the steps to thechurch gate was from nobelity as there was a coat of arms on two of thesteps, which had been badly damaged from (I think ) many causes, mainlyfrom the Napoleonic time, with Bonaparte, weather, people walking overthe CoA when walking into the church ground.   One of the stones had aname I could just make out 'Jacobsun'.

Dutch water mill.

Walkingout of Hxfans, back towards Leons , we saw a Dutch water mill, and walkedthere, it was very interesting the sails were not one of white canvassheeting , but of lots of stripps of sheeting on a sail hangingdownwards, most interesting.

Muskrat catcher.

Wealso saw a musk rat cage hanging along the side of the ditch (sloot),obviously this must be a problem around these parts as there were a fewof these cages about.

On the side of a house I came across this stone plaque mentioningwho were the first church leaders of Hxfans, and who were the firstpeople to lay the first brick on the house in 1854.

The church was named after Saint-Nicholaas.  Though it is now 'Hervormde Church', no longer Catholic.

The church however was built around the 13oo's, and sorry to say Icannot find any more information over this church, or its history, apity as I like learning about the bell fry's, churches etc.

In the 19th century a brick-factory was founded (c. 1829-1893).

Nickname: Hxfanzer mudden (polecats, notorious for their foul smell).

>Huins C.O.A.

Hxfans CoA: insilver two lying red bricks, placed alongside, in chief and in basewith a red tile; a green shieldborder, charged with six silver clovers,placed 3:2:1.

The green border with the clovers represent agricultural activities and the green meadows of the village.

The red bricks and tiles represent the brick-factory, which was located along the Bolswarder Trekvaart.

The bridge over that canal is still called the "Panwurksbrxeage", brickfactorybridge.

Huins-Leons Flag.

Hxfans-Leons flag:three vertical stripes, red, white, red, each charged with a tilecountercharged, placed between 1/10 and 9/10 of glagheight, and theleft and
right ends coninciding with hoist and fly; the white tiles charged with a green clover
of 1/2 flagheight.

The cornsheaf from the Leonder arms is from the CoA of the Siccama family, which owned a "state"in the village.

The shield border refers to the meadows and cattle-breeding.

For both villages one flag was designed. The tiles not onlyrepresent the brickfactory, but also the fact that people need to havea roof over their heads, otherwise they
would be roofless.

The white tiles are charged with clovers to designate theagricultural character of the villages. (according to : Jarig Bakker, 7Sep 2003, F.O.T.W. Flags of the world).

It was so cold that in the end we had to turn back and walk back to Hxfans and back to the car.

I loved this little village, it is very nice, and is really worth avisit, also Leons and the watermill, but do take a picnic as it is alovely part of Friesland and it would be adviseable to take a whole dayto enjoy.  It is lovely to cycle as well as walk around in.

It is very typical dutch scenery, of the watermill and its openmeadows (waailand) which beleive it or not I thought meant windland, orwaveland as the dutch use the word waai and that means to wave, so yousee my English really gets me into the most strangest  scrapes now andagain, and as I told marja what I thought, she just said 'that is quiete
good Grace to think that', but she never laughed at me' this is very understandable of the Friesian-Dutch people.

Well till my next trip.