Marrum/Westernijkerk is a twin village and falls under the municipality, Ferwerderadeel, Friesland/Fryslxe2n.
We arrived in Marrum, it was a very cold, windy raw day, but thank goodness not raining.
School where Marja gave lesson.
We came across a building that was a school, and Marja told us she has given lessons there on health, (gezondheidszorg).
Cat weathervain.
We passed a house that had a cat on a weathervain (usually you find a rooster), I thought this was unusual but seen that the Marrumers nickname were cats (Katten), it is now understandable, how quaint.
Reformd Church, (Hervormde Kerk), Marrum.
There were some unusual houses in Marrum, there were quite a few different styles, you do not see this much in variation, like in this village.
I believe that .quite a few noble people lived in Marrum in the past.
In both villages were "stinzen" (stately fortified houses), where several noble families lived.
In Marrum was the Ponga-state, where the families Ponga, Wynia, Walta,Coenders, and Van Idsinga had resided.
In 1757 the last family to live in Ponga-State was, Gijsbert Arentsma van Idsinga, who was in service with the College of Admiralty Amsterdam, (Dienst bij het College van de Admiraliteit te Amsterdam), who had the original Ponga-State, demolished in around 1757, and a farm now stands in its place today.
In todays style it is known as a (Kop-hals-rompboederij), in Dutch.
I guess if one was to break the words up it would be something likethis in English, head-shoulder-torso-farm, (though not matter offactly), you understand.
Old Fashion Lamp.
I also like the old lanterns that they still have in the streets there.
Marrum/Westernijkerk twin-village. (courtesy of FOTW)
Marrum/Westernijkerk is a twin village in Ferwerderadiel municipality, Fryslxe2n.
from Genealogysk Jierboekje 2001.
CoA:
in gold a cat and a rook, both black and turned; the first sitting and the second standing on a green embattled base; the cat's tail in the green base; a blue chief charged with three silver six-pointed stars.
by Jarig Bakker, 24 Aug 2003. Adopted 25 Nov 1999; Design: J.C. Terluin.
Flag:
two equally wide horizontal stripes of blue and green; over all a yellow lying lozenge, touching all sides of the flag, charged with black eradicated heads of a cat and a rook, facing each other.
In both villages were "stinzen" (stately fortified houses), where several noble families lived.
In Marrum was Ponga-state, where the families Ponga, Wynia, Walta, and Van Idzinga resided. The arms of these families were mainly blue with silver and gold.
In Nijkerk (not to be confused with (Ooster)Nijkerk in Dongeradeel and the municipality of Nijkerk in Gelderland province) the Jeppema's lived.
They had arms with the imperial eagle in black on gold with a blue heartshield charged with a silver six-pointed star.
After them the families Gerbranda and Unema, and finally the Grovestins lived there.
The Grovestins family were very important in Fryslxe2n; they had arms with the Frisian half eagle, black on gold, in blue three six-pointed stars of gold, placed per pale.
The glory of these families is long forgotten, there only remain a tombstone, a name, a fragment of a ditch, an inscription, as Hendrik Algra wrote in "De Historie gaat door het eigen dorp", part V, p.88.
This was a reason for including colors and elements of theit arms on the village CoA and flag.
Another item was irresistable to use: the village nicknames:
The Marrumers are "katten" (cats) and the Nijtsjerksters "roeken" (rooks).
In the village CoA we see both animals facing each other, not in order to indicate a contrast, but to emphasize that they belong to each other.The colors gold and black are derived from the doubleheaded eagle and the Frisian semi-eagle in the arms of the noble families. Furthermore black is the proper color of both animals.
The green embattled base signifies that remnants of both fortified houses are only the ground on which they were built, and that it is used for agricultural purposes.
Green is the color of meadows and arable land.
The blue chief is for the sea, and of the clay, deposited here by the sea. Blue is also found in the old family-arms. The stars have also been derived from those arms. They have also been inspired by the municipal arms of Ferwerderadiel.
In the flag the cat and the rook are central, but with only their heads, as pars-pro-toto. They are in a lying yellow lozenge, derived from the Walta family (which once resided on Ponga state). Lozenges are connected with law administration. They can be compared with a spearhead of a bailiff. Like the lozenge touched all four sides of the flag, so far reached the domain of the village judge, the village borders.Colors and meaning of it have been derived from the municipal arms.
Design: J.C. Terluin, 25 Nov 1999.Source: Genealogysk Jierboekje 2001.Jarig Bakker, 24 Aug 2003
We continued our walk, and Annie (a new addition to our group), saw another church, in the distance, (not knowing that this was the twin village to Marrum).
We crossed the main road, (again ducking between busy traffic), just like in Hallum, crossed a muddy field, and visited the church, which we then found was Westernijkerk, Hervormde Kerk.
We found the graves of some noble people, who had their coat of arms on, it was half a eagle on one half of the shield, three acorns or clover, I think on the other half and stars of three-six pointed above, (I am not so sure any-more).
Wester Nijkerk
We continued our walk came across another Kop-hals-rompboerderij, with a sloot surrounding the parameter, with a little wooden bridge running across, in the sloot they had nests on poles standing in the water, (I think for the ducks), and at the edge of the garden was another wooden bridge leading to a little island with a tree and some ducks sitting under the tree. (I think perhaps this was another stinsen), like Ponga-state.
Head-Shoulder-Farm/Kop-Hals-Boerderij.
As we continued the road was built with several bends in and along these bends were just, farms dotted everywhere, so I guess this tells us that it is a farming community, one was a horse farm and the others I do not know, some I think are agricultural.
We then wound our way back to Marrum, to the car, on our way back we realised we were walking on a road called station road, (station weg), and my curiosity got the better of me, I then called Marja, and we both crept along a back of a garden thinking it was the back to where they housed the locomotives and as we were looking a back door opened to a house, flanking the garden and asked us in Fries, xa8could she help usxa8?,we then asked her if this was where they housed the locomotivesand she said xa8no, this was a drying factory for the hay and fodder, for the horses and animals in the old days, and across the road from her used to be the milk factory before.
How interesting, but if we wanted to see the station we must follow station road and turn into a little side road (which was once the rail tracks), to see it.
Marrum-Westernijkerk Old Train Station
We got,into the car and drove there on our way home, it was beautiful, it had been renovated outside and they are busy inside, there was still wooden signs up, 2nd class,and 3rd class.
I stood there on the platform and could imagine all the activity on this platform, and the steam train coming in whistle blowing, (how one's imagination can run), this was the line running from Leeuwarden to Dokkum, (you see I am crazy about trains and stations), as my father was a sign writer on the Rhodesian Railways, in Salisbury, Rhodesia, (where my mother and father had immigrated to) in the year 1952.
Now you have to go there by bus, nearly an hour to get there, (no windows open, no fresh air, and lots of stopping and starting,).I have tried this trip to Dokkum by bus with my mother in 1993 when I came here on holiday, (before immigrating to The Netherlands), was I ill when I arrived there, and to think I had this trip again going back waiting for me......
I am also interested in ships, boats, harbors.I still think that this line should still run today.
Flower bush with new buds.
You can see spring is trying to approach, the flower bushes are showing new buds.
A yellow little pansy face, peeping through, to welcome us.
Come spring I'm waiting in a baited breath, I am sure Marja will be happy,
she can find some more interesting plants and herbs, and Annie............(?). I do not know Annie's interests.
Till next week we go to Ferwerd.
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