| • Diseased chestnut hoisted over house in Atjehstraat | ||
| • Multiple collision Burgemeester Patijnlaan | ||
| • Street news | ||
| • Photo campaign against child labour supported by locals | ||
| • Spot the mistake! | ||
| • Hilton interior on boarding round construction site | ||
| • Ructions on Bankastraat | ||
| • Terraces back on Frederikstraat | ||
| • Need a plumber? | ||
| • Fire in hofje off Sumatrastraat | ||
| • Late for school? | ||
| • What a way to start 2008 | ||
| • The lights went out at Christmas | ||
| • In our neighburhood | ||
| • One beautiful sunny day in 2007 in the Archipelbuurt | ||
| • What's in a name? | ||
| • Duly impressed | ||
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Diseased chestnut tree hoisted over houses in Atjehstraat
With great sadness owner Else Meeter said goodbye to the hundred-year-old tree, “I thanked the tree for all the good years. I’ve known for three years that it had chestnut blight but it proved impossible to cure. It was the only survivor of three trees in my garden, one of which was felled by the storm in 1953. I don’t know what happened to the other one. It was an expensive operation to remove the last tree so the repainting at the rear of the house will have to wait for a while. At least the tree is out of its misery now and that gives me peace of mind.” |
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Multiple collision on Burgemeester Patijnlaan 6 October 2008 – On this afternoon it all went horribly wrong on the increasingly busy Patijnlaan. Right opposite police headquarters three cars crashed into each other. Not all the drivers could break in time. Three ambulances and other assistance soon arrived at the scene. Backlash and damage to bodywork were the main problems. The road was cleared after a couple of hours and the stream of traffic - over the scene-of-incident chalk marks - soon got up to full speed again. |
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Street news 2 July 2008 – New today in Bankastraat: a paving stone bearing the words Schoon Den Haag (a clean The Hague). Are we being given a prod or a prize? They could have at least cleaned up the sand after themselves.
Photo: Peter de Ruiter |
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Photo campaign against child labour supported by locals 29 June 2008 – Many people in Archipelbuurt en Willemspark have spoken out against child labour. You can see them all here
If you have not already done so, you can support the campaign by sending your photo before 3 July to stop@kinderarbeid.nl The photo campaign is the idea of our fellow resident Peter de Ruiter. On 26 March he and scores of schoolchildren publicly requested Development Cooperation Minister Koenders, the Lower House of the Netherlands government and nine embassies to take an active stand against child labour. A book full of more than 350 photos entitled ‘Een wereld voor kindren’ (A world for children) backed up the lobbying. 3 July 2008 Musical conclusion to exhibition and national photo campaign against child labour
More information www.kinderarbeid.nl |
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Spot the mistake!
Bert Huisman |
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Hilton interior on boarding round construction site
Peter de Ruiter |
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Ructions on Bankastraat
10 June - It appears that a domestic row got out of hand and when objects started flying through the window, it was time to call in the emergency services. Bert Huisman |
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Terraces back on Frederikstraat
An extended pilot scheme in 2007 for a number of outdoor restaurant terraces in Frederikstraat proved a great success. Because of the positive response the council has again decided to grant permits for six such terraces located in parking bays along the street. A renovation of Frederikstraat is planned for the beginning of 2009, after which the terraces will be relocated on the pavement so that they integrate better with the overall street scene. |
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Need a plumber? I am living in archipelbuurt and I needed a plumber, so I did a search and [your] site came up. So via your site I found someone to fix my water boiler. Regards Kiri |
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Fire in hofje off Sumatrastraat
21 May 2008 - A person died in a fire in one of the homes in the hofje off Sumatrastraat early this morning. Neighbours phoned the fire brigade at around 8.50am to report the outbreak of a fire. The blaze was quickly brought under control but firemen had difficulty gaining entry to the house. Photo:www.NU.nl/Bob van Keulen Belongings had to be removed first before they could search the property. The victim found inside is thought to be the occupant of the house. The cause of the fire is still unclear. |
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Late for school? The bridge had to be opened! The opening of the cycle bridge across the Koninginnegracht, which was realized as the result of a buurtinitiatief, was opened at the crack of dawn on Monday morning 7 January 2008. Back to school after the Christmas holidays but first Alderman Smit and initiative-takers Bert Kreemers and Marin Engelhard, along with others involved from the Residents Association A & W, had to open the bridge. So young cyclists from the Wolters Institute, the Vrije school, the Montessorischool and the Aloysius College had to wait shivering in the cold. The opening ceremony by the Alderman did not go very smoothly, the speech was short and incomprehensible but the bridge was there and for the swarm of school kids crossing it (with their parents) the shortest and safest route to school. That day those late for school had the perfect excuse: the bridge wasn’t open… EPB |
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What a way to start 2008 Vandalism on New Year's Eve Damaged postbox in Bonistraat, the victim of an evening of firework fun. The postbox has now been removed: and our letters… The Weber Flats were hit too
The 'Alexanderveld Flats' complex was also vandalized on New Year’s Eve. Joke van Veen has lived in the flats since 1983 and is therefore a seasoned resident but she says, “I’ve never experienced anything like this before.” |
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The lights went out at Christmas
Around 14.15 on the day after Christmas Day all the Christmas lights went out in Madoera-, Soenda- Billiton- and Borneostraat. There appeared to be no electricity supply; and no central heating. Worried residents went outside and bumped into fellow sufferers. Just for a moment they experienced what it must have been like standing around the manger in the freezing cold in the year zero.
JdV |
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In our neighbourhood
Antoinette van der Maas, Riouwstraat |
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One beautiful sunny day in 2007 in the Archipelbuurt
Archipel residents were already looking forward to a quiet hour in the garden: reading the newspaper or a book; tending and preparing the garden for the summer. A tray of pansies waiting to be planted; the neighbour already had the trowel in her hand. She looked around once again: the roses are in bud; the jasmine will be early this year, the rhododendron too. In fact everything will blossom earlier this year. The moment the next-door neighbour opened his paper realizing that life is not so bad after all, it began … Perhaps it's the gremlins at work... but just as the first rays of sun broke through in the spring, it started again! The piercing sound of the machines and tools of contractors and of neighbours doing a bit of home-improvement. Sanding machines – sometimes two in unison – for hours on-end, day-in day-out, with increasing zeal shattering the peace in gardens throughout the neighbourhood. There is no district in The Hague where quite so much home-improvement and rebuilding work goes on as in the Archipelbuurt. Compared to other districts, in Archipel and Willemspark it’s become almost too much to bear. Perhaps it’s time to purchase modern silent tools. They’ve been available in the trade for ages. What’s more, a little moderation and consideration wouldn’t go amiss either. Is such extensive building work really necessary? Couldn’t it be curtailed just a little? Last year for example on a really hot day in July, there was a national health warning: on that day all construction worked ceased and factories were closed because of the high pollution level. But in the Archipelbuurt it was disregarded. Apparently here nobody knew about it and just carried on. Demolition work continued – with all the windows open – and the street became white as all the dust settled … Listen, imagine sitting in your garden on a Saturday morning with a view of a bank of roses surrounded by the perfume of flowering jasmine, and for hours on end from March through July, perhaps even into August, whenever the weather is dry or a beautiful day full of promise breaks, you have to listen to this … Click MP3 or WMA What a shame. Enjoy the summer! A.G. |
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What's in a name?
Members of the Goudkamp family obviously want to be found and have made it easy for postman and friends alike by naming the "street" on which they live after themselves. |
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Duly impressed
I will figure out the right spot on the [municipal] website to make a link to your website. Congratulations on a great initiative! Municipality of The Hague |
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9 October 2008 - In Atjehstraat this morning a 35-metre-high hydraulic crane hoisted parts of a diseased chestnut tree over houses in the street. The smaller branches went straight into the shredder.
Their photos will be presented on the giant 3-d letters in the Hun Grote Kerk on Spui opposite Spuiplein, where there is an exhibition based on the book made by local resident Peter de Ruiter (see below).
Caroline De Bruijn (KidsRights, GTST), the Haags Musical Choir (42 voices), Nicole Hermans, Maria Alejandra Castro Espejo, Marjatta Fehres, (our own, here on the right) Bert Huisman and Maaike Toirkens will all be there to make sure the final ‘a-chord’ of the national campaign against child labour in the Grote Kerk is one hell of a party! The evening is free and starts at 20.30 with a surprise guest appearance.
16 June 2008 - One of our eagle-eyed volunteers spotted this street sign by the tram stop oppositie Riouwstraat recently. It certainly won't win any prizes for clarity and what happened to the spelling-checker! (It is certainly accurate in one sense: the tram is sometimes "late".)
The energy company Eneco sent out three service engineers who exposed the fault under the pavement in Madoerastraat. A fused “coupling sleeve” (a connection socket between the supply cable under the ground and the branch piping system to individual homes). The engineers swiftly replaced the faulty coupling sleeve and by 16.30 all the (Christmas) lights were shining again. 
Spring had arrived; the sun was shining; the temperature rising. The weather was fair and the meteorological office had forecast a week of beautiful weather. Doors to gardens were thrown open and the garden furniture placed outside in anticipation.
