Zoetermeer 14

The last stop of the day was Zoetermeer, that I reached by train from Gouda. there I had a meeting with Cees Janssen. He coordinates the catalogue of Dutch datestamps and all collectors send scans to him to be included in the catalogue. We went for coffee in the city centre and I got the last postmark of the day at the parcel point in a public toilet. Apart from the new datestamp they also had the old one.

Zoetermeer is a city in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. A small village until the late 1960s, it had 6.392 inhabitants in 1950. By 2013 this had grown to 123.328, making it the third largest population centre in the province of South Holland, after Rotterdam and The Hague. It is part of the Haaglanden conurbation. The name Zoetermeer (Dutch for "freshwater lake") refers to the former lake north of the town (reclaimed in 1614). Because the name literally translates as "sweet lake" local residents have dubbed Zoetermeer "Sweet Lake City".

In the tenth century Zoetermeer was a small village primarily home to farmers and fishermen. In the 13th century a village centre was formed, which still exists as the historic Dorpsstraat. Until the 17th century there was a lake called the Zoetermeer. A reminder of this is the "Zoetermeerse Plas" in the Noord Aa recreation area at the northern edge of town; this artificial lake was created when tons of sand were needed to lay the foundation for new housing development, and the area north of Zoetermeer was a good source of this resource. Until 1935 the village centre was split into two villages, Zoetermeer and Zegwaard. The standard of living at the time was said to be higher in Zoetermeer than in Zegwaard. Seghwaert, an older way of spelling of Zegwaard, is now the name of a neighbourhood outside the old village centre.

Zoetermeer began to grow slightly when the first train service came around 1868. A few decades later the Numico factory started near the station. The real growth started in 1966, when there was an urgent need of houses from people around The Hague. From then they started to build new quarters around the old village centre, so Zoetermeer began to grow and became a city in the meantime.

Although contemporary Zoetermeer has the image of a modern city, there are still remains of the past. Like the old village centre with its small houses and the church with late medieval 15th-century clock tower, and the old farms, surrounded by modern houses nowadays.

Lake Dobbe divides the old town from the new city centre, with the medieval village centre on one side of the lake and the modern high-rise and skyscrapers on the other side.

City/town:         Zoetermeer

Municipality:     Zoetermeer

Area:                37,05 km²

Population:       124.947 (1 January 2019)

Website:           zoetermeer.nl

Parcel point

2theloo Stadshart Zoetermeer

Westwaarts 49

2711 AD  ZOETERMEER
(the parcel point closed somewhere in 2018)

stadshart.nl/2thelootoiletsmore

Date sent: 14 July 2017

Date postmark: 14 July 2017

Date received: 15 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 233

Gouda 11

From Gouderak I took the bus to Gouda. There was a choice of post locations in the city, but I went to the Primera on he Markt, the central square of Gouda. It is where the old town hall of Gouda is that features on the 'Mooi Nederland' stamp, so it was a logical choice to get a datestamp. They also had the old postmark Gouda - Markt, which they hadn't returned to PostNL because of the street name Markt. There were a lot of requests for it from tourists.

Gouda is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, between Rotterdam and Utrecht, in the province of South Holland, famous for its Gouda cheese, stroopwafels, many grachten, smoking pipes, and its 15th-century city hall. Its array of historic churches and other buildings makes it a very popular day trip destination.

Around the year 1100, the area where Gouda now is located was swampy and covered with a peat forest, crossed by small creeks such as the Gouwe. Along the shores of this stream near the current market and city hall, peat harvesting began in the 11th and 12th centuries. In 1139, the name Gouda is first mentioned in a statement from the Bishop of Utrecht. In the 13th century, the Gouwe was connected to the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) by means of a canal and its mouth at the Hollandse IJssel was developed into a harbour. Castle Gouda was built to protect this harbour. This shipping route was used for trade between Flanders and France with Holland and the Baltic Sea. In 1272, Floris V, Count of Holland, granted city rights to Gouda, which by then had become an important location. City-canals or grachten were dug and served as transport ways through the town.

Great fires in 1361 and 1438 destroyed the city. In 1572, the city was occupied by Les Gueux (Dutch rebels against the Spanish King) who also committed arson and destruction. In 1577 the demolition of Castle Gouda began.

In the last quarter of the 16th century, Gouda had serious economic problems. It recovered in the first half of the 17th century and even prospered between 1665 and 1672. But its economy collapsed again when war broke out in 1672 and the plague decimated the city in 1673, even affecting the pipe industry. After 1700, Gouda enjoyed a period of progress and prosperity until 1730. Then another recession followed, resulting in a long period of decline that lasted well into the 19th century. Gouda was one of the poorest cities in the country during that period.

Starting in 1830, demolition of the city walls began. The last city gate was torn down in 1854. Only from the second half of the 19th century onward did Gouda start to profit from an improved economic condition. New companies, such as Stearine Kaarsenfabriek (Stearine Candle Factory) and Machinale Garenspinnerij (Mechanized Yarn Spinnery), acted as the impetus to its economy. In 1855, the railway Gouda-Utrecht began to operate. In the beginning of the 20th century, large-scale development began, extending the city beyond its moats.

From 1940 on, back-filling of the city moats and city-canals, the grachten, began. But because of protests from city dwellers and revised policies of city planners, Gouda did not continue back-filling moats and city-canals, now considered historically valuable. In 1944, the railway station was damaged during an Allied bombardment, killing 8 and wounding 10 persons. This bombardment was intended to destroy the railroad connecting The Hague and Rotterdam to Utrecht.

After the war, the city started to expand and nearly tripled in size. New neighbourhoods were built. Over the last years there has been a shift from expanding the city towards urban renewal and gentrification.

City/town:         Gouda

Municipality:     Gouda

Area:                18,11 km²

Population:       73.161 (1 January 2019)

Website:           gouda.nl

Parcel point

Primera Herman Kok (since 1 July 2019: Primera Markt)

Markt 68A

2801 JM  GOUDA

primera.nl/primera-gouda-herman-kok

facebook.com/primeramarkt/

Date sent: 14 July 2017

Date postmark: 14 July 2017

Date received: 15 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 232

Pernis Rotterdam 1

Two metrostations away from Schiedam lies Pernis. This village is part of Rotterdam, but still has its own postcode and name: Pernis Rotterdam. It was quite a walk from the metro to the cigar, chocolate and all-kinds-of-presents shop called 't Hoekje (the Corner). It was located on the corner of a street, so the name was no surprise.

Pernis is a neighborhood and submunicipality (2010-2014) of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Pernis was a full submunicipality of Rotterdam, but in 2014 the former submunicipalities were replaced by elected 'area committees'. Although surrounded by ports, Pernis has preserved its village-like atmosphere very well.

Pernis is best known for its petrochemical industry. Refineries define its skyline. Shell's sprawling complex located there is the largest oil refinery in Europe, and one of the largest in the world.

Pernis was merged with 's-Gravenambacht in 1832. It remained an independent municipality until 1934, when it was merged into Rotterdam.

The village already had its own church in 1307, making it one of the oldest in the region to have a church. Historically Pernis was a village of farmers. In the 18th century fishing became more popular and sea fishers travelled as far away as Iceland.

After the annexation by Rotterdam in 1934 harbours were constructed around the village making it isolated from the city. There was a bus to the nearest train and tram station, but only in 2002 the metro station was built, reducing the travel time to the city center to twenty minutes.

The stamp on the envelope was issued in 2012 in a series celebrating the 60th anniversary of Madurodam, the miniature city in The Hague. This specific stamp shows the harbour of Rotterdam where Pernis is a part of.

City/town:       Pernis

Municipality:   Rotterdam

Area:              1,60 km² (Rotterdam 325,79 km²)

Population:    4785 (2017) (Rotterdam 544.527, 1 January 2019)

Website:        rotterdam.nl

Post office

't Hoekje Sigarenmagazijn & Cadeaushop

Burgemeester van Esstraat 141

3195 AC  PERNIS ROTTERDAM

(the shop closed on 1 February 2018)

Date sent: 7 July 2017

Date postmark: 7 July 2017

Date received: 8 July 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 214

Delft 6

The last city on my tour of the region on 1 July 2017 was Delft. This city is located in the province of Zuid-Holland between The Hague and Rotterdam. Delft is a popular tourist attraction in the country. It is home to Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), regarded as center of technological research and development in the Netherlands, Delft Blue pottery and the currently reigning House of Orange-Nassau. Historically, Delft played a highly influential role in the Dutch Golden Age. Delft has a special place in the history of microbiology. In terms of science and technology, thanks to the pioneering contributions of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Martinus Beijerinck, Delft can be considered to be the true birthplace of microbiology. The painter Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was born in Delft. Vermeer used Delft streets and home interiors as the subject or background in his paintings.

The city of Delft came into being beside a canal, the 'Delf', which comes from the word delven, meaning delving or digging, and led to the name Delft. It presumably started around the 11th century as a landlord court. From a rural village in the early Middle Ages, Delft developed into a city, that in 1246 received its charter.

The town's association with the House of Orange started when William of Orange (Willem van Oranje), nicknamed William the Silent (Willem de Zwijger), took up residence in 1572. At the time he was the leader of growing national Dutch resistance against Spanish occupation, known as the Eighty Years' War. By then Delft was one of the leading cities of Holland and it was equipped with the necessary city walls to serve as a headquarters. An attack by Spanish forces in October of that year was repelled.

After the Act of Abjuration was proclaimed in 1581, Delft became the de facto capital of the newly independent Netherlands, as the seat of the Prince of Orange. When William was shot dead in 1584 by Balthazar Gerards in the hall of the Prinsenhof, the family's traditional burial place in Breda was still in the hands of the Spanish. Therefore, he was buried in the Delft Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), starting a tradition for the House of Orange that has continued to the present day.

In Delfgauw I took the bus to the centre of Delft and I looked for a post office close to the train station. I found a package point in a Vivánt cigar shop. By coincidence the owner did not only have the new postmark, but also the old postmark for this location.

The stamp on the envelope is from the Mooi Nederland (Beautiful Netherlands) series from 2014 showing Delft blue ceramics. A nice matching stamp.

City/town:       Delft

Municipality:   Delft

Area:              24,06 km²

Population:    102.230 (May 2018)

Website:        delft.nl

Package point

Vivánt Delft Centrum

Brabantse Turfmarkt 49

2611 CL  DELFT

(this shop closed in October 2017)

Date sent: 1 July 2017

Date postmark: 1 July 2017

Date received: 4 July 2017

Number of days: 3

Envelope in collection: 210

De Lier 1

Saturday 1 July 2017 I took the bus for a trip along four towns in my own region. First stop was De Lier in our municipality of Westland. De Lier is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It lies about 1,80 m below sea level. As the lowest point in Westland De Lier suffers from flooding during heavy rain. De Lier used to be a separate municipality. On 1 January 2004, it merged with Naaldwijk, 's-Gravenzande, Monster, and Wateringen to form the municipality of Westland.

The stamp I used is a personal stamp designed and issued by Postzegelvereniging Monster (Monster stamp club) in the series 'Westlands mooiste' (Westland's most beautiful). It represents the De Lier based company Fransen Roses, producer of different varieties of roses. The stamp shows the rose Myrna+.

City/town:       De Lier

Municipality:   Westland

Area:              90,58 km² (Westland)

Population:    106.752 (Westland, August 2017)

Website:        gemeentewestland.nl

Post office

Bruna De Lier

Hoofdstraat 56A

2678 CL  DE LIER

brunawestland.nl

facebook.com/brunadelier

Date sent: 1 July 2017

Date postmark: 1 July 2017

Date received: 4 July 2017

Number of days: 3

Envelope in collection: 205

Rotterdam 39

A few days after 's-Hertogenbosch I travelled again, this time to Brussels for the European Equality Gala. I took the Benelux intercity train from Rotterdam Central Station. As it happens there is a PostNL package point in the Service Point shop in the shopping mall underneath the tracks.

Rotterdam is a city in the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland within the Rhine‑Meuse‑Scheldt river delta at the North Sea. Its history goes back to 1270, when a dam was constructed in the Rotte river, after which people settled around it for safety. In 1340, Rotterdam was granted city rights by the Count of Holland. A major logistic and economic centre, Rotterdam is Europe's largest port, and is the second-largest city in the Netherlands, just behind Amsterdam.

Rotterdam is known for the Erasmus University, its riverside setting, lively cultural life, and maritime heritage. The near‑complete destruction of the city centre in the World War II Rotterdam Blitz has resulted in a varied architectural landscape, including sky-scrapers (an uncommon sight in other Dutch cities) designed by renowned architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Piet Blom, and Ben van Berkel.

Rotterdam's logistic success is based on its strategic location by the North Sea, at the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas channel leading into the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. The rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt give waterway access into the heart of Western Europe, including the highly industrialized Ruhr. The extensive distribution system including rail, roads, and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nicknames "Gateway to Europe" and "Gateway to the World".

The stamp on the envelope is not only a match, but a perfect combination. It shows the new Central Station, opened on 13 March 2014 by King Willem-Alexander. Rotterdam Centraal, as the station is now officially called - on the south side, at the explicit request of the citizens of Rotterdam, the name Centraal Station in the lettering that architect Van Ravensteyn had put on the old station, has returned - will obtain the status of world station, as it is on the international high-speed railway towards Belgium. Some modifications to accommodate security screening of Eurostar passengers from the UK are being made and are due to finish in March 2018.

In Brussels there was a very small post point in the supermarket next to my hotel, opposite Brussels South station. Of course I got a datestamp there as well and I took a photo of the whole post office.

City:                Rotterdam

Municipality:   Rotterdam

Area:              325,79 km²

Population:     639.587 (April 2017)

Website:         rotterdam.nl

Parcel point

Servicepoint CS Rotterdam

Stationsplein 14A

3013 AJ  ROTTERDAM

mcflek.ccvshop.nl

Date sent: 28 June 2017

Date postmark: 28 June 2017

Date received: 29 June 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 202

's-Hertogenbosch 2

Saturday 24 June 2017 I visited the city of 's-Hertogenbosch for Pink Saturday, the Dutch national Pride that is being held in a different city every year. This was the 40th edition. Fortunately I found a hotel room in the Hinthamerstraat. In this street my ancestors lived until 1896 when my great‑grandfather 'emigrated' to Delft. 

Nine years later my grandfather was born there.

In the Hinthamerstraat was a book store with a post office, so it is no surprise that this was the location to get my datestamp from.

's-Hertogenbosch ("The Duke's Forest" in English, and historically in French: Bois-le-Duc), colloquially known as Den Bosch (literally "The Forest" in English), is a city and municipality in the Southern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant. The duke in question was Duke Henry I of Brabant, whose family had owned a large estate at nearby Orthen for at least four centuries. He founded a new town located on some forested dunes in the middle of a marsh. At age 26, he granted 's-Hertogenbosch city rights and the corresponding trade privileges in 1185. The birthplace and home of one of the greatest painters of the northern Renaissance, Hieronymus Bosch, 's-Hertogenbosch suffered a catastrophic fire in 1463, which the then (approximately) 13-year-old Bosch probably witnessed; presumably, this fire provided inspiration for the fiery hell-scapes that would later make Bosch famous.

The wars of the Reformation changed the course of the city's history. It became an independent bishopric. During the Eighty Years' War, the city took the side of the Habsburg (Catholic) authorities and thwarted a Calvinist coup. It was besieged several times by Prince Maurice of Orange, stadtholder of most of the Dutch Republic. In the years of Truce, before the renewed fighting after 1618, the fortifications were greatly expanded. The surrounding marshes made a siege of the conventional type impossible, and the fortress, deemed impregnable, was nicknamed the Marsh Dragon. After the Peace of Westphalia, the fortifications were again expanded.

In 1815, when the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was established, it became the capital of North Brabant. Many newer and more modern fortresses were created in the vicinity of the city. A new canal was built, the 'Zuid-Willemsvaart', which gave the city an economic impulse. Trade, manufacturing and industry grew. Until 1878, it was forbidden to build outside the ramparts. That led to overcrowding and the highest infant mortality in the kingdom. At the end of the 19th century, the very conservative city government prevented industrial investment to avoid an increase in the number of workers and the establishment of educational institutions: students were regarded as disorderly. As a result, the relative importance of the city diminished.

The stamp I used is one from the sheet of stamps with Dutch treats from 10 of the 12 provinces, issued on 19 June 2017. From 's-Hertogenbosch comes the Bossche bol, cream-filled pastry covered with chocolate.

City/town:       's-Hertogenbosch

Municipality:   's-Hertogenbosch

Area:              39,98 km²

Population:    152.471 (January 2017)

Website:        s-hertogenbosch.nl

Post office

Kantoorvakhandel van Dijk & van Hees

Hinthamerstraat 131

5211 MJ  'S-HERTOGENBOSCH

dijkhees.nl

facebook.com/VanDijkVanHees

Date sent: 24 June 2017

Date postmark: 24 June 2017

Date received: 27 June 2017

Number of days: 3

Envelope in collection: 200

Honselersdijk 1

The third and last stop on my trip of 23 June led to the village of Honselersdijk, also in my own municipality Westland. Honselersdijk is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is home to the historic Huis Honselaarsdijk, former palatial estate of the Dutch Princes of Orange. Huis Honselaarsdijk was one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture and grounds in the history of The Netherlands. Today, only part of the outbuildings remain, and these are referred to locally as "De Nederhof".

Honselersdijk is part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 2,6 km southwest of the border of The Hague, with a population of approximately 5.180. Today, Honselersdijk is home to one of the largest flower auctions in the world, Royal Flora Holland.

The stamp I used is a personal stamp designed and issued by Postzegelvereniging Monster (Monster stamp club) in the series 'Westlands mooiste' (Westland's most beautiful). It represents the Honselersdijk based company GREENCO, producer of snack vegetables like baby cucumbers and baby sweet peppers. The variety on the stamp are Tommies snack tomatoes.

City/town:       Honselersdijk

Municipality:   Westland

Area:              90,58 km² (Westland)

Population:    106.752 (Westland, August 2017)

Website:        gemeentewestland.nl

Post office

The Read Shop Honselersdijk

Dijkstraat 50-52

2675 AZ  HONSELERSDIJK

readshop.nl/Winkel

facebook.com/readshopexpress

Date sent: 23 June 2017

Date postmark: 23 June 2017

Date received: 24 June 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 197

Poeldijk 1

After my visit to the Hoek van Holland post office I took the bus to the village of Poeldijk, part of Westland municipality. There is only one bus stop along the provincial road. There was not much time before the bus to the next town arrived, so I hurried to the village centre where the post office is located inside a Polish supermarket. Because of the great number of Polish workers many towns in the Netherlands now have a supermarket where local Polish products are sold. In the online location finder of PostNL the name of the supermarket is 'Od & Do', but on the shop front this name was replaced by 'Freshmarket'.

The stamp I used is a personal stamp designed and issued by Postzegelvereniging Monster (Monster stamp club) in the series 'Westlands mooiste' (Westland's most beautiful). It represents the Poeldijk based company Montana Lisianthus, producer of Lisianthus (Eustoma) flowers. The variety on the stamp is called Alyssa Blue.

Poeldijk is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 8 km southwest of The Hague. Poeldijk dates back to the 13th century as name of a dyke along the river Gantel where some farms were built together with a small chapel. The land was very fertile and therefore attracted farmers. After the introduction of heated glasshouses in 1897 Poeldijk became the centre of viticulture in the Netherlands. Poeldijk has the largest catholic church in Westland, St. Bartholemew Church built in 1924 to 1926.

City/town:         Poeldijk

Municipality:     Westland

Area:                90,58 km² (Westland)

Population:       106.752 (Westland, August 2017)

Website:           gemeentewestland.nl

Post office

Freshmarket (Od & Do)

Voorstraat 60

2685 EN  POELDIJK
(this post office closed in the course of 2017)

Date sent: 23 June 2017

Date postmark: 23 June 2017

Date received: 24 June 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 196

Hoek van Holland 1

On Friday 23 June 2017 I had part of the afternoon off and I decided to go get a few datestamps. There were only a few hours so I could not travel too far away. My first stop was the town of Hoek van Holland where the post office is located in the Bruna bookstore. Hoek van Holland (in English: Hook of Holland, literally The Corner of Holland) is a small town on the Nieuwe Waterweg ship canal near the North Sea coast in Rijnmond. It is well connected to the nearby regional hub, Rotterdam. Most notable for travellers is Hook's ferry port, which has had services to the East of England (Harwich and Hull) since 1893. Hoek van Holland is not an autonomous municipality, but part of the municipality of Rotterdam, although there is an advisory council for local affairs. The settlement came into existence when the Nieuwe Waterweg was dug to create a better waterway from the harbor of Rotterdam to the sea. Originally part of the municipality of 's‑Gravenzande, it was transferred to Rotterdam to give the city control over both banks of the Nieuwe Waterweg.

The stamp I used is a personal stamp designed and issued in 2014 by Postzegelvereniging Monster (Monster stamp club) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Hoek van Holland and the Nieuwe Waterweg. It is one of a series of four, depicting the lighthouse.

City/town:       Hoek van Holland

Municipality:   Rotterdam

Area:              14,1 km² (Hoek van Holland) / 325,79 km² (Rotterdam mun.)

Population:    10.200 (Hoek van Holland, 2017) / 639.587 (April 2017, Rotterdam mun.)

Website:        rotterdam.nl

Post office

Bruna Hoek van Holland

Prins Hendrikstraat 291

3151 AK  HOEK VAN HOLLAND

Date sent: 23 June 2017

Date postmark: 23 June 2017

Date received: 24 June 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 195

IJmuiden 1

On 17 June 2017 the Harbour Festival was held in the coastal town of IJmuiden. I went there to visit the former HMS Naaldwijk, a minesweeper from 1955. It was of course named after our town of Naaldwijk and the municipal council of Westland decided in 2016, on my proposal, to sponsor the ship for 5000 euro. So I wanted to see how the ship was doing. Of course I stopped at the local Primera for a datestamp. The stamps I used were the North Sea pier at IJmuiden, destroyed in 1869, from the series 'The Netherlands and the water' and the provincial flag of North Holland from 2002.

IJmuiden is a port city in the Dutch province of North Holland and is the main town in the municipality of Velsen. It is located at the mouth of the North Sea Canal to Amsterdam, and lies approximately 17 kilometres north of Haarlem. The internal capitalization in the city's spelling is because IJ is a digraph in Dutch, and is therefore sometimes considered to be a ligature, rendering it a single letter. The port of IJmuiden is a deepwater port suited to fully laden Panamax ships, and fourth port of the Netherlands.

In the Roman era, this Velsen district was already inhabited, and archaeological finds at the impoldered lake of Wijkermeer indicate there was a North Sea port of some regional importance built here. Present day IJmuiden includes four harbors: the vissershaven (Ship's code IJM), a fishing dock (visafslag), the haringhaven, the IJmondhaven and the Seaport Marina IJmuiden, a harbour for pleasure craft. IJmuiden became the largest fishing port of the Netherlands after the island of Urk became closed in by the Afsluitdijk. The town suffered heavy damage and demolition during World War II, because of its maritime importance.

City/town:         IJmuiden

Municipality:     Velsen

Area:                63,05 km² (Velsen)

Population:       67.585 (Velsen, April 2017)

Website:           velsen.nl

Post office

Primera Prince

Planetenweg 62

1973 BH  IJMUIDEN

facebook.com/Primera-IJmuiden-Prince

Date sent: 17 June 2017

Date postmark: 17 June 2017

Date received: 20 June 2017

Number of days: 3

Envelope in collection: 181

Post office photo not yet available. :-(

Monster 2

It is only a fifteen minutes ride by bus from 's‑Gravenzande to Monster, also a town in my municipality. I didn't have much time before the next bus would arrive, so I went to the Hoogvliet supermarket. There was a bit  of a consternation because initially they could not find the datestamp. It was still brand new and not everybody was told about its existence. Fortunately I got it before the next bus came.
The stamp I used is a personal stamp designed and issued by Postzegelvereniging Monster (Monster stamp club) in the series 'Westlands mooiste' (Westland's most beautiful). It represents the Monster based company of Koppert Cress, producer of cress (edible plants).

Monster is a town in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Westland, and lies about 10 km south-west of The Hague. The village of Monster has a population of around 13.900 (2017). Until 2004 it was a separate municipality and covered an area of 20.15 km². The former municipality of Monster also included the towns, Poeldijk and Ter Heijde. Monster and Ter Heijde are towns on the North Sea coast and have a popular beach.

In the 13th century a great deal of the Westland, Loosduinen and The Hague were administered by Monster. When The Hague came to be constructed, a split was made in Haag-ambacht and Half-Loosduinen. The latter village was separated from Monster in 1812. Remains of the former glory can still be seen between The Hague and Monster at such estates as Ockenburgh, Bloemendaal, Solleveld and Langeveld. There is a great deal of uncertainty over the origin of the name "Monster". It is probably derived from the Latin monasterium, meaning monastery. The name was also used for the ground that belonged to a monastery. Another explanation was that Monster was derived from the old-Dutch word monster, which meant amongst others "big church" (from Latin: monstrum), which is supported by the fact that Monster had those days one of the largest churches in the area.

Monster was previously a destination for pilgrimage, because Machutus parish possessed some relics of its patron Machutus, who is also known as Machuut. People came to be healed of the "falling sickness", which was possibly epilepsy.

City/town:         Monster

Municipality:     Westland

Area:                90,58 km² (Westland)

Population:       106.752 (Westland, August 2017)

Website:           gemeentewestland.nl

Parcel point

Hoogvliet Monster

Molenstraat 46

2681 BS  MONSTER

facebook.com/hoogvliet.monster

Date sent: 16 June 2017

Date postmark: 16 June 2017

Date received: 17 June 2017

Number of days: 1

Envelope in collection: 174